Impact Landing Dynamics Facility Crash Test

Photographed on: 08/03/75. -- By 1972 the Lunar Landing Research Facility was no longer in use for its original purpose. The 400-foot high structure was swiftly modified to allow engineers to study the dynamics of aircraft crashes. "The Impact Dynamics Research Facility is used to conduct crash testing of full-scale aircraft under controlled conditions. The aircraft are swung by cables from an A-frame structure that is approximately 400 ft. long and 230 foot high. The impact runway can be modified to simulate other grand crash environments, such as packed dirt, to meet a specific test requirement." "In 1972, NASA and the FAA embarked on a cooperative effort to develop technology for improved crashworthiness and passenger survivability in general aviation aircraft with little or no increase in weight and acceptable cost. Since then, NASA has "crashed" dozens of GA aircraft by using the lunar excursion module (LEM) facility originally built for the Apollo program." This photograph shows Crash Test No. 7. Crash Test: Test #7

Crash test

TRACT 2 Frame Drop Test AT NASA Langley Research Center's Landin

Fairchild C-82 Packet Destroyed in NACA Crash Fire Tests

A Fairchild C-82 Packet is purposely destroyed by researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. In response to an escalating number of transport aircraft crashes in the mid-1940s, the NACA researchers undertook a decade-long investigation into a number of issues surrounding low-altitude aircraft crashes. The tests were conducted at the Ravenna Arsenal, approximately 60 miles south of the Lewis laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. The aircraft were excess military transports from World War II. The aircraft was guided down the runway at speeds of 80 to 105 miles per hour. It came into contact with poles which tore open the 1500-gallon fuel tanks in the wings before reaching the barriers at the end of the runway. Fuel poured from the tanks and supply lines, resulting in the spread of both liquid fuel and a large cloud of spray. Solomon Weiss developed a method of dying the fuel red to improve its visibility during the crashes. This red fuel cloud trailed slightly behind the skidding aircraft, then rushed forward when the aircraft stopped. The nine-crash initial phase of testing used Lockheed C-56 Lodestar and C-82 transport aircraft to identify potential ignition sources and analyze the spread of flammable materials. The researchers were able to identify different classes of ignition sources, fuel disbursement patterns, the time when a particular ignition source might appear, rate of the fire spread, cabin survival times, and deceleration rates.

Langley’s historic Impact Dynamics Facility for full-scale aircraft crash testing stands on the western corner of the NASA Langley campus. In its original configuration, the “gantry” was used to train the Mercury 7

NASA Langley Research Center Impact Dynamics Facility

(TRACT) Transport Rotorcraft Aircraft Testbed

McDonnell FH-1 Phantom Destroyed for the NACA Crash Fire Program

Researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory purposely wreck a McDonnell FH-1 Phantom as part of the laboratory’s Crash Fire Program. NACA Lewis researchers created the program in 1949 to investigate methods for improving survival rates for take-off and landing-type crashes. In these types of crashes, the passengers often survived the impact only to perish in the ensuing fire. Previously there had been little information on the nature of post-crash fires, and it was difficult to use analytical studies in this area. Irving Pinkel, Chief of the Lewis Flight Propulsion Division, was the primary researcher. He enlisted flight safety specialist and aeronautics researchers G. Merritt Preston and Gerard Pesman, mechanical engineer Dugald Black, and others. The tests were conducted at the nearby Ravenna Arsenal using decommissioned Air Force fighter and transport aircraft. The pilotless aircraft were accelerated down a rail on a 1700-foot track at take-off speeds and run into barriers to simulate a variety of different types of crashes. The first barrier stripped off the landing gears and another briefly sent the aircraft off the ground before it crashed into a dirt mound. Telemetry and high-speed cameras were crucial elements in these studies. NACA Lewis photographer Bill Wynne developed a method for inserting timekeeping devices on test film that were able to show time to one thousandth of a second.

NACA Study of Crash Fires with a Fairchild C-82 Packet

Researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory purposely crash a Fairchild C-82 Packet aircraft to study flame propagation. A rash of passenger aircraft crashes in 1946 and 1947 spurred a White House call for an investigatory board staffed by members of the Civil Aeronautics Board, military, and the NACA. The group addressed fire segregation, extinguishment, and prevention. The NACA established a Subcommittee on Aircraft Fire Prevention in February 1948 to coordinate its efforts. The Lewis team simulated situations in which an aircraft failed to become airborne during takeoff resulting in crashes into embankments and other objects. The Lewis researchers initially used surplus C-46 and C-82 military transport planes. In these situations, the aircraft generally suffered damage to its fuel system and other components, but was structurally survivable. The aircraft were mounted to a rail that ran down a 1700-foot long test runway. The aircraft was secured at the starting point with an anchor pier so it could get its engines up to takeoff speed before launching down the track. Barriers at the end of the runway were designed to simulate a variety of different types of crashes. Telemetry and high-speed cameras were crucial elements in these studies. The preliminary testing phase identified potential ignition sources and analyzed the spread of flammable materials.

Orion Drop Test Series Begins

On April 6, 2016, engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, kicked off a series of nine drop tests of a representative Orion crew capsule with crash test dummies inside to understand what the spacecraft and astronauts may experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean after deep-space missions. The high-fidelity capsule, coupled with the heat shield from Orion's first flight in space, was hoisted approximately 16 feet above the water and vertically dropped into Langley’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin. The crash test dummies were instrumented to provide data and secured inside the capsule to help provide information engineers need to ensure astronauts will be protected from injury during splashdown. Each test in the series simulates different scenarios for Orion’s parachute-assisted landings, wind conditions, velocities and wave heights the spacecraft may experience when touching down in the ocean.