Full Scale 30- by 60-Foot Tunnel

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Full Scale Wind Tunnel
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Open test section of the Full Scale Wind Tunnel
Open test section of the Full Scale Wind Tunnel
Location: Hampton, Virginia
Coordinates: 37°4′51″N 76°20′30″W / 37.08083, -76.34167Coordinates: 37°4′51″N 76°20′30″W / 37.08083, -76.34167
Built/Founded: 1929-1931
Architect: Smith L. DeFrance
Designated as NHL: October 3, 1985[1]
Added to NRHP: October 3, 1985[2]
NRHP Reference#: 85002796

The Full Scale 30- By 60-Foot Tunnel is an active wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center. It is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1929, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics began construction of the nation's and the world's first full-scale wind tunnel. The design team was led by Smith J. De France. The tunnel was completed in 1931 at a cost of $36,900,000. It was a double-return tunnel capable of moving air at speeds up to 118 miles an hour (190 km/h) through its circuit. It had a 30 ft by 60 ft (9.1 m x 18.3 m) open throat, which is capable of testing aircraft with spans of 40 ft (12.2 m).The wind tunnel is a double-return, atmospheric pressure tunnel with two fans powered by 4,000 hp electric motors.

The tunnel was used to test virtually every high-performance aircraft used by the United States in World War II. For much of the war, when it was operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the full-scale tunnel was the only tunnel in the free world large enough to perform these tests.

Since the war, many types of aircraft have been tested in the tunnel including the Harrier Jump Jet fighter, the F-16, the American supersonic transport, the Space Shuttle and Lunar Landing Test Vehicle. The wind tunnel is still in use today, modified to allow new testing procedures, such as free-flight and high angle of attack.[3][4]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985.[1][4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Full Scale 30- By 60-Foot Tunnel. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  2. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  3. ^ NASA Langley's National Historic Landmarks
  4. ^ a b Harry A. Butowsky (May 15, 1984), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: 30- by 60-Foot Tunnel / Full Scale TunnelPDF (32 KB), National Park Service  and Accompanying nine photos, from 1931, c. 1938, 1950, 1959, 1978, 1981, and 1983PDF (32 KB)

[edit] External links

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