Pushing the limits

Air Classics, Dec 2001 by Hulett, George

CHCECLIST

The importance of flight research

Flight research takes up where the other instruments of aeronautical research wind tunnels, fluid dynamics, and mathematical analyses - leave off. No matter how the equations suggest an aircraft ought to fly, only by studying actual flight, often in demanding, complicated, and dangerous maneuvers, can researchers discover the limits of flight and the true characteristics of experimental flight vehicles. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (started in 1915) and its successor, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1958), led the world in these endeavors.

Expanding the Envelope by Michael Gorn (University Press of Kentucky, 800-839-6855, $35) explores the full panorama of flight research history. The author describes the early experiments conducted by Britain's Sir George Cayley, who in the 19th century tested kites and gliders by subjecting them to experimental flight, and the Wright brothers' work in the redesign and calibration of flight surfaces in order to achieve the greatest lift and control He details the creation of NACA and the pivotal discoveries it made in the areas of pressure distribution, flying qualities, and transonic research and brings the story to the present cutting-edge aeronautical research conducted today. The author also explores the vital human aspect of the history of flight research, including contributions by James Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, and A. Scott Crossfield.