Advanced Fighter Model - Model shop

CALF/JAST X-32 test program: the LSPM (Large Scale Powered Model), Lockheed's concept for a tri-service aircraft (Air Force, Navy, Marines) CALF (Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter) as part of the Department of Defense's Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) is being tested in the 80x120ft w.t. test-930 with rear horizontal stabilizer

A Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) inlet model installed in the test section of the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Engineers at the Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center, and Rockwell International designed two pilotless subscale HiMAT vehicles in the mid-1970s to study new design concepts for fighter aircraft in the transonic realm without risking the lives of test pilots. The aircraft used sophisticated technologies such as advanced aerodynamics, composite materials, digital integrated propulsion control, and digital fly-by-wire control systems. In late 1977 NASA Lewis studied the HiMAT’s General Electric J85-21 jet engine in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory. The researchers charted the inlet quality with various combinations anti-distortion screens. HiMAT employed a relatively short and curved inlet compared to actual fighter jets. In the spring of 1979, Larry Smith led an in-depth analysis of the HiMAT inlet in the 8- by 6 tunnel. The researchers installed vortex generators to battle flow separation in the diffuser. The two HiMAT aircraft performed 11 hours of flying over the course of 26 missions from mid-1979 to January 1983 at Dryden and Ames. Although the HiMAT vehicles were considered to be overly complex and expensive, the program yielded a wealth of data that would validate computer-based design tools.

Robert Cubbison examines a model of the Lockheed YF-12 Blackbird in the test section of the 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. The YF-12 was an experimental fighter version of Lockheed’s A-12 reconnaissance aircraft which had been developed into the renowned SR-71 Blackbird. NASA possessed two YF-12s at its Dryden Flight Research Center which could be used by researchers at all the NASA centers. During its nine-year life, the Dryden’s YF-12 research program logged 297 flights with approximately 450 flight hours. Lewis researchers were studying the YF-12’s inlet airflow in the 10- by 10-foot wind tunnel in late 1977. The advanced supersonic cruise aircraft of the time used mixed-compression inlets. These types of inlets were prone to flameout during atmospheric disturbances. Researchers at Lewis and Dryden developed a program to study these flameouts by artificially introducing flow disturbances. Testing at Dryden with a specially-equipped YF-12 aircraft yielded limited results. Lewis’ tests in the 10- by 10 were unsuccessful at inducing upstream disturbances. The researchers used two methods—a falling plate and a servo-driven wing.