the wright brothers, flight test and nasa a centennial of flight story 1903 - 2003
TRANSCRIPT
The Wright Brothers,Flight Test
andNASA
A Centennial of Flight Story1903 - 2003
The Wright Brothers
• Orville and Wilbur• Dayton, Ohio• Wright Cycle Company• Brain synchronicity• Systematic in their
experimental approach
The Wright Brothers
• Read the research• Talked with
colleagues• Determined problems
to be solved• Delineated a process
for solving problems safely
The Wright Brothers
• Problems to be solved– Balance during flight: a way to
safely control the airplane’s motion
– An engine to move it through the air
– Wings needed to lift an airplane into the air
The Wright Brothers
• Problem– Balance during flight:
a way to safely control the airplane’s motion
The Wright Brothers
• Balance Solutions– Horizontal rudder– Wingwarping– Hip cradle
The Wright Brothers
• Problem– An engine to move it
through the air• Lightweight
• Minimal vibration
• Powerful enough to turn the propellers
The Wright Brothers
• Engine Solutions– Small, powerful, gas engine– Powered 2 propellers
The Wright Brothers
• Problem– Wings needed to lift
airplane into the air• Determine the length-
to-width ratio
• Proper amount of camber
• Most efficient angle of attack
• The center of pressure
The Wright Brothers
• Wing Solutions– Throw out previous
tables and theories
– Devise a better method of testing wings
– Use new test results to design a better wing
Wright Brothers
• The Wright Brothers’ Results– A set of highly accurate tables that predicted in
advance the performance of an aircraft’s wings– Changes in their aircraft design
• Biggest glider yet
• Longer wings
• Narrower wings
• Tail section
Flight Test
• What is Flight Test?
Flight Test
• Early Flight Test Pilots– Tower Jumpers
• Oliver of Malmesbury• Giovanni Dante• Marquis de Bocqueville
Flight Test
• Flight Test Pilots who were Contemporaries of the Wright Brothers
– Cayley– Otto Lilienthal– Octave Chanute and
his young test pilots
Flight Test
• Flight Test Pilots who were Contemporaries of the Wright Brothers – Lawrence Hargrave– Percy Pilcher– Professor John
Flight Test
• Wright Brothers as Flight Test Pilots– Early tests used kite models– Performed in Dayton, Ohio
Flight Test
• Wright Brothers as Flight Test Pilots– Birds helped flight test– Gave idea for “wing-warping”– Tested first on bi-winged kite
Flight Test
• Wright Brothers as Flight Test Pilots– Needed location for piloted flight tests– Researched for best place– US National Weather Service– Outer Banks of North Carolina
Flight Test
• Wright Brothers as Flight Test Pilots– 1901 - 1902– Tested gliders
• First flown pilotless (like kites)• Then piloted
Flight Test
• Wright Brothers as Flight Test Pilots– 1903– Flight testing power-driven aircraft– Ran ground tests on engine first– Made changes based upon ground tests– Then successfully flight tested
Flight Test
• Later Flight Test Pilots– Hanna Reitsch– Charles Lindberg
Flight Test
• Flight Test progresses
Flight Test
• NACA
• National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Flight Test
• NACA grows
• Wind tunnel complex built at Ames
• Tunnels get larger
• Airspeeds get faster
• Testing becomes more specialized
Flight Test
• Muroc
• Early flight tests – Chalmers Goodlin
– Chuck Yeager
NASA
NACA evolves into NASA
NASA
Ames Research Center
• Early Flight Test– Wind Tunnels– Kuiper– XV-15
• Present testing– Rotorcraft– Computer
simulations
NASA
Dryden Flight Research Center
• Early Flight Test– Scott Crossfield– X-15– Lunar Landing
Research Vehicle
• Present testing– ERAST– Hyper-X
NASA
• Flight Test in the Future