After 63 years of research across the entire flight range, NASA Langley Research Center’s 16-Ft. Transonic Wind Tunnel is running its final test. This test ¿ a NASA-Air Force-Boeing cooperative study of a single-engine test demonstrator launch configuration ¿ underscores the tunnel’s legacy: research from propeller-driven aircraft through scramjets.
Retiring the tunnel is part of a national initiative to optimize government-owned wind tunnels. A NASA-Department of Defense alliance studying investment planning in wind tunnel assets recommended the shutdown in 2002.
Since November 1941, the tunnel has supported Agency initiatives, all major aircraft companies and most major military programs in their development stages and in ongoing propulsion integration research.
Its heritage reads like a “Who’s Who” of famous aircraft and spacecraft: Corsair, Bell X-1, Buffalo, Thunderbolt, Hustler, Aardvark, Eagle, Hornet, Harrier, Galaxy, X-15, Apollo, Reusable Launch Vehicle, Shuttle, Tomcat, B-1, B-2, X-43, to name a few.
The 16-Ft. tunnel tested everything from high-speed propellers to the shapes of the first atomic weapons to today’s scramjet-powered vehicles.
