NASA 834, an F-14 Navy Tomcat, seen here in flight, was used at Dryden in 1986 and 1987 in a program known as the Variable-Sweep Transition Flight Experiment (VSTFE). This program explored laminar flow on variable sweep aircraft at high subsonic speeds. An F-14 aircraft was chosen as the carrier vehicle for the VSTFE program primarily because of its variable-sweep capability, Mach and Reynolds number capability, availability, and favorable wing pressure distribution. The variable sweep outer-panels of the F-14 aircraft were modified with natural laminar flow gloves to provide not only smooth surfaces but also airfoils that can produce a wide range of pressure distributions for which transition location can be determined at various flight conditions and sweep angles. Glove I, seen here installed on the upper surface of the left wing, was a "cleanup" or smoothing of the basic F-14 wing, while Glove II was designed to provide specific pressure distributions at Mach 0.7. Laminar flow research continued at Dryden with a research program on the NASA 848 F-16XL, a laminar flow experiment involving a wing-mounted panel with millions of tiny laser cut holes drawing off turbulent boundary layer air with a suction pump.
NASA 834, an F-14 Navy Tomcat, seen here in flight, was used at Dryden in 1986 and 1987 in a program known as the Variable-Sweep Transition Flight Experiment (VSTFE). This program explored laminar flow on variable sweep aircraft at high subsonic speeds. An F-14 aircraft was chosen as the carrier vehicle for the VSTFE program primarily because of its variable-sweep capability, Mach and Reynolds number capability, availability, and favorable wing pressure distribution. The variable sweep outer-panels of the F-14 aircraft were modified with natural laminar flow gloves to provide not only smooth surfaces but also airfoils that can produce a wide range of pressure distributions for which transition location can be determined at various flight conditions and sweep angles. Glove I, seen here installed on the upper surface of the left wing, was a "cleanup" or smoothing of the basic F-14 wing, while Glove II was designed to provide specific pressure distributions at Mach 0.7. Laminar flow research continued at Dryden with a research program on the NASA 848 F-16XL, a laminar flow experiment involving a wing-mounted panel with millions of tiny laser cut holes drawing off turbulent boundary layer air with a suction pump.
The synthetic aperture radar pod developed by JPL is slung beneath NASA's Gulfstream-III research testbed during flight tests.
The UAVSAR underbelly pod is in clear view as NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft banks away over Edwards AFB during aerodynamic clearance flights.
The effect of the underbelly UAVSAR pod on the aerodynamics of NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft was evaluated during several check flights in early 2007.
An eight-foot-long pod designed to carry a synthetic aperture radar hangs from the underbelly of NASA's Gulfstream-III research testbed.
NASA's Gulfstream-III research testbed lifts off the Edwards AFB runway on an envelope-expansion flight test with the UAV synthetic aperture radar pod.
Shimmering heat waves trail behind NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft as it departs the Edwards AFB runway on a UAVSAR pod checkout test flight.
A forest of tufts are mounted on the underbelly and pylon of NASA's Gulfstream-III research aircraft to help engineers determine airflow around the UAVSAR pod.
A half-dozen test flights in early 2007 evaluated the aerodynamic effect of the UAVSAR pod on the performance of NASA's Gulfstream-III research testbed.
NASA's Gulfstream-III research testbed lifts off from Edwards AFB on a checkout test flight with the UAV synthetic aperture radar pod under its belly.