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The Langley Memorial Aeronautical
Laboratory was established in 1917 as the Nation’s
first civil aeronautics research laboratory under
the charter of the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (NACA). With a primary mission
to identify and solve the problems of flight, the
highly productive laboratory utilized an extensive
array of wind tunnels, laboratory equipment, and
flight research aircraft to conceive and mature
new aeronautical concepts and provide databases
and design methodology for critical technical disciplines
in aircraft design. Prior to World War II (WWII),
research at Langley on such diverse topics as airfoils,
aircraft structures, engine cowlings and cooling,
gust alleviation, and flying qualities was widely
disseminated within the civil aviation community,
and well-known applications of the technology to
civil aircraft were commonplace. During WWII, however,
the facilities and personnel of Langley were necessarily
focused on support of the Nation’s military
efforts. Following WWII, aeronautical research
at Langley was stimulated by the challenges of
high-speed flight and the associated problems that
were exhibited by high-speed aircraft configurations
operating at relatively low speeds, such as those
used for takeoff and landing. Much of Langley’s
research during that time would ultimately be useful
to both the civil and military aviation industries.
With the emergence of the new National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, Langley
retained its vital role in aeronautical research
and assumed a leading position as NASA Langley
Research Center, along with Ames Research Center,
Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center),
and Dryden Flight Research Center.
Langley’s legacy of
critical contributions to the civil aviation industry
includes a wide variety of activities ranging from
fundamental physics to applied engineering disciplines.
Through the mechanisms of NASA technical reports,
technical symposia, meetings with industry, and
cooperative projects, the staff of Langley Research
Center has maintained an awareness of the unique
problems and challenges facing the U.S. civil aviation
industry. With a sensitivity toward these unique
requirements, Langley researchers have conceived
and conducted extremely relevant research that
has been applied directly to civil aircraft. These
applications have resulted in increased mission
performance, enhanced safety, and improved competitiveness.
This document is intended
to be a companion to NASA SP-2000-4519, Partners
in Freedom: Contributions of the Langley Research
Center to U.S. Military Aircraft of the 1990s.
Material included in the combined set of volumes
provides informative and significant examples of
the impact of Langley’s research on U.S.
civil and military aircraft of the 1990s. As world-wide
advances in aeronautics and aviation continue at
a breathtaking pace, documenting the significant
activities, individuals, and events that have shaped
the destinies of U.S. civil and military aviation
has become increasingly important. In the research
and development communities, many instances have
occurred where fundamental, groundbreaking efforts
have been forgotten or confused because of turnover
of staffs, loss of technical records, and lack
of documentation.
This volume, Concept to Reality:
Contributions of the NASA Langley Research Center
to U.S. Civil Aircraft of the 1990s, highlights
significant Langley contributions to safety, cruise
performance, takeoff and landing capabilities,
structural integrity, crashworthiness, flight deck
technologies, pilot-vehicle interfaces, flight
characteristics, stall and spin behavior, computational
design methods, and other challenging technical
areas for civil aviation. The contents of this
volume include descriptions of some of the more
important applications of Langley research to current
civil fixed-wing aircraft (rotary-wing aircraft
are not included), including commercial airliners,
business aircraft, and small personal-owner aircraft.
In addition to discussions of specific aircraft
applications, the document also covers contributions
of Langley research to the operation of civil aircraft,
which includes operating problems. NASA’s
role in the dissemination of research information
and partnerships with the civil aircraft industry
differs considerably from its relationship with
the military. Competitive pressures in the marketplace,
the sensitivity of proprietary information, and
even international trade agreements can constrain
NASA’s interactive role for civil aircraft
research and development. These constraints become
especially visible during the startup and development
of commercial aircraft involving huge industry
investments and sensitivities. Nonetheless, the
extremely valuable technologies provided by NASA’s
fundamental generic research, general guidelines
for advanced design, unique facilities, and specialized
expertise have been valued and applied by industry
to a large number of current civil aircraft.
This document is organized
according to disciplinary technologies, for example,
aerodynamics, structures, materials, and flight
systems. Within each discussion, examples are cited
where industry applied Langley technologies to
specific aircraft that were in operational service
during the 1990s and the early years of the new
millennium. This document is intended to serve
as a key reference for national policy makers,
internal NASA policy makers, Congressional committees,
the media, and the general public. Therefore, it
has been written for a broad general audience and
does not presume any significant technical expertise.
An extensive bibliography is provided for technical
specialists and others who desire a more in-depth
discussion of the contributions.
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