Paresev
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| Paresev | |
|---|---|
 Paresev 1 in landing, 1962 |
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| Type | Flexible-wing research glider |
| Manufacturer | NASA |
| Maiden flight | 1962 |
The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) was an experimental NASA glider aircraft based upon the kite-parachute studies by NASA engineer Francis Rogallo.
The tests performed between 1961 and 1965 were designed to study the ability of the Rogallo wing, also called Parawing, to descend a payload such as the Gemini space capsule safely from high altitude to ground.[1][2] Specifically, the Paresev was as test vehicle used to learn how to control this parachute-wing for a safe landing at a normal airfield.
Publicity on the Paresev and the Fleep aircraft inspired hobbyists to adapt Rogallo's flexible wing airfoil onto elementary hang gliders, soon producing the most successful hang glider configuration in history.
[edit] Development
NASA began a series of experiments testing the flexible Rogallo wing, which was renamed Parawing, in order to evaluate it as a recovery system for the Gemini space capsules and recovery of used Saturn rocket stages.[3][4]
It is worthwhile to distinguish the fully flexible Parawing format and that that incorporated stiffening devices such as in the Paresev 1, 1A, 1B, and the inflatable air beams of the Paresev 1C. The designer of the collapsible four-tube Rogallo wing used in the Paresev was Charles Richard in 1961-1962, while under a directive by Paul Bikle. The Paresev 1 wing was radially foldable from the nose plate for tight and easy transporting and had a Dacron sail.
Notice that "paraglider" was a term used for the experimental wing, which is different from today's sport glider called paraglider.
[edit] Design & construction
The Paresev 1A and 1B were unpowered; the 'fuselage' was an open framework fabricated of welded 4130 steel tubing referred to as a 'space frame.' The keel and leading edges of the wing were constructed of 2 1/2-inch diameter aluminium tubing. The leading edge sweep angle was held constant at 50 degrees by a rigid spreader bar. Additional wing structure fabricated of steel tubing ensured structural integrity. The basic vehicle was slightly more than 11 feet high from the top of the paraglider's wing to the ground, while the length of the center keel was 15 feet. Total weight was about 600 pounds.[5] On August 24th. 1962, seven weeks after the project was initiated, the team rolled out the Paresev 1.[6]
[edit] Control
The Paresev was controlled by moving the tensionally hung pilot's and fuselage's mass relative to the position of the wing. This mass-shifting was effected by tilting the wing from side to side and fore and aft by using a control stick in front of the pilot that descended from the wing above. Another version translated the same weight-shift control via cables.[1] As the Paresev was towed in a kite mode, it usually rose from the ground at about 46 mph and had a maximum air speed of about 65 mph. [7]The Paresev control pendulum weight-shift control system was presaged by the earliest control wing of George Spratt in the 1920s.[citation needed]
[edit] Variants
- Paresev 1 - first flight on January 25, 1962, crashed on March 14, 1962.[8] Frame fitted with a linen membrane wing and the control stick coming from overhead in front of the pilot's seat.
- Paresev 1A - first flight May 18, 1962, last flight was on June 28, 1962.[9] Used a rebuilt frame from the Paresev 1 but had a regulation control stick and a Dacron membrane wing.
- Paresev 1B - first flight on July 27, 1962. Last flight on Feb 20, 1963.[10]
- Paresev 1C - first flight March 4, 1963. Last flight on April 14, 1964.[11] It had a modified frame with a half-scale version of an inflatable parawing.
Paresev flight log (NOTE – This log is incomplete*): Paresev Flight Log
* The Paresev vehicle was flown 341 times. Thompson made numerous ground-tow flights and claimed about 60 air-tow flights. Peterson claimed 228 flights (ground and air tows). Grissom made two flights. Champine made four flights. Kleuver made at least eight flights. It is unknown how many times Armstrong, Hetzel, and Slayton flew.
[edit] Operational history
The Paresev completed nearly 350 flights during a research program from 1962 until 1964.[12][13] Using the fully-flexible parawing or the tube-stiffened paraglider of the Paresev 1A, 1B, 1C as an alternate to spacecraft recovery was deemed too unreliable upon unfolding so round parachutes for water landings were used instead. The Paresev and other flexible-wing projects such as the Fleep stopped being funded by NASA on 1965. Although Francis Rogallo wrote about, modeled, and spoke about recreational applications including hang gliding, NASA was not in the business of applying Rogallo's family of airfoils to personal aircraft such as kites, hang gliders, and powered light aircraft.
The Paresev was transferred to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located in Washington, D.C. for display.
[edit] Test pilots
- Milton Orville Thompson, NASA FRC
- Robert Apgar Champine, NASA LRC[14]
- Neil Armstrong, NASA FRC[15]
- Bruce A. Peterson, NASA FRC[16]
- Charles Hetzel, North American Aviation
- Maj. Emil “Jack” Kluever, U.S. Army
- Donald K. Slayton, NASA MSC
- Gus Grissom, NASA MSC
[edit] Tow pilots
- Fred Harris
- Bruce Peterson, NASA FRC
- Capt. Richard L. Johnson, USAF
- Neil A. Armstrong, NASA FRC
[edit] Tow Aircraft
- Piper PA-18 Super Cub (N-68P)
- Cessna O-1 Bird Dog (50-1675)
- Stearman (N69056)
- Boeing HC-1A helicopter (58-5515)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Aviation News article:[1]
- ^ Re-entry glider:[2]
- ^ Space Flight Revolution -article by NASA:[3]
- ^ On 1965 Jack Swigert, who would later be one of the Apollo 13 astronauts, softly landed a full-scale Gemini capsule using a Rogallo wing stiffened with inflatable tubes along the wing’s edges
- ^ Specs: [4]
- ^ Construction & dated NASA images: [5]
- ^ Abstract: Flight tests of unpowered, manned paragliders. NASA Center: Dryden Flight Research Center Publication Year: 1963 Added to NTRS: 2006-11-06 Accession Number: 63N14429; Document ID: 19630004553; Report Number: NASA-TN-D-1826 NAS-TN-D-1826
- ^ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Paresev/HTML/index.html Paresev index: Paresev Photo Gallery Contact Sheet]
- ^ Paresev index: Paresev Photo Gallery Contact Sheet
- ^ Paresev index: Paresev Photo Gallery Contact Sheet
- ^ Paresev index: Paresev Photo Gallery Contact Sheet
- ^ Total of 350 flights performed: [6]
- ^ Paresev project description: [7]
- ^ Apgar Champine, biography: Robert Apgar Champine
- ^ Neil Armstrong - Test flies the Paresev: [8]
- ^ Bruce Peterson: [9]
[edit] External links
- NASA Dryden Paresev Photo Collection
- FIRST re-entry glider - astronautix article
- Paresev photo collection by NASA: [10]
- Link to videos of Paresev in flight: [11], [12]
- Paresev Flight Log, compiled by Peter W. Merlin, NASA History Department
- Flight movies of Paresev 1B
[edit] See also
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