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Detroit, 7:26 PM
Sun Nov 15
11 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of HoonThatFerrari HoonThatFerrari
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Instead of the BWB, they were originally going to call this design the Boeing Aerospace Blended Aerodynamic Wing And Widebody Aircraft... until they found out they'd have to pay royalties to SNL if the acronym was BABA WAWA.
     Reply
    HoonThatFerrari was starred HoonThatFerrari was unstarred
    Image of evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Boy, I can't decide what's cooler; that monstrous old wind tunnel or the model Boeing is testing in it.
     Reply
    evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was starred evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was unstarred
    Image of philibuster philibuster
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    They were going to demolish it earlier, but Jackie Chan needs to film another fight scene in it first.
     Reply
    philibuster was starred philibuster was unstarred
    Image of CopterBob CopterBob
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    You'd think some big corporations would buy it for use as an emergency high volume document shredder.
     Reply
    HoonThatFerrari promoted this comment CopterBob was starred CopterBob was unstarred
    Image of Mobius Mobius
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    I like peace. I really do. But without a single hint of an impending conflict of a reasonable scale, it s hard for governments to gather the motivation to push the boundaries of technology and budgets. Sure, education and health are important, but I miss the bravado of NASA in the space race, the meticulously gorgeous but deadly Spitfire drawn up by a man in his last months and inspired a country to victory, the awesome capabilities of the F-22 Raptor since deemed unnecessary.

    Humanity thrives in troubled times, and stagnates in comfort. I surely don't want a nuclear war that ends this world, but the world would be a worse place if everyone was a couch potato.
     Reply
    Mobius was starred Mobius was unstarred
    Image of evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars
    10/09/09

    @Mobius: Well said.
     Reply
    evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was starred evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was unstarred
    Image of UdeleWildfowl UdeleWildfowl
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    I'm an engineer at Langley and as much as I hate to see tunnels closed down, LFST was past its prime. Max speeds were limited by vibration to under 100mph and there was no provision for a rolling road for automotive testing. With the proliferation of quality facilities in NC (AeroDyn, WindShear, etc.), its capabilities were far eclipsed. Most of the ODU work has been moved to the 14x22 ft tunnel which has the capability of 250mph.
    Historically, most of the fighter aircraft produced by the US from WWI through WWII went through the tunnel for final cooling and drag reduction tweaks.
    The number of large tunnels in operation at Langley (the first NACA/NASA center BTW) has been in decline for years now as the cost to maintain them could not be supported by their customer base. We're down to one low speed tunnel (14x22), 2 transonic tunnels (the National Transonic Facility, the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel) and the 8ft High Temperature Tunnel for hypersonics work.
     Reply
    evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars promoted this comment UdeleWildfowl was starred UdeleWildfowl was unstarred
    Image of avconsumer2 avconsumer2
    10/09/09

    @UdeleWildfowl: Wow. Thanks for the comment. Was about to bash the government for demolishing a perfectly good wind tunnel.
     Reply
    FTGDWolverineEdition'09 promoted this comment avconsumer2 was starred avconsumer2 was unstarred
    Image of GreenN_Gold GreenN_Gold
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    I would be afraid to stand near it. In the same way I don't like to put my hand down the garbage disposal even when it's turned off.
     Reply
    GreenN_Gold was starred GreenN_Gold was unstarred
    Image of TimTim TimTim
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Save the Wind Tunnels now... seriously? Next run of t-shirts should be "Save The __________" Send 'em out with Sharpies and we'll fill in the blank like Home Depot aprons.
     Reply
    TimTim was starred TimTim was unstarred
    Image of BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom
    10/09/09

    @TimTim: But what about 'Save The Blank White T-Shirts'? How is that one going to work?
     Reply
    HoonThatFerrari promoted this comment BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom was starred BaconSandwich and the generic grey civic of doom was unstarred
    Image of ricepuddin ricepuddin
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    just a little fun fact, this is just down the street from Langley Raceway.

    Sad to see it go, That are will never be the same without it.
     Reply
    engineerd promoted this comment ricepuddin was starred ricepuddin was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    10/09/09

    @ricepuddin: When I worked at Langley last year (3 weeks), I could hear cars practicing across the street at the track. It was cool.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Farewell, LFST. You served our country well, and played a crucial role in the advancement of aeronautics throughout the world. You were built with the assistance of Orville Wright in a time before there was a NASA. Your history is priceless.

    /sappy stuff

    The LFST has been under lease to ODU for the last 15 years or so. The reason why NASA walked away from it in the mid-90s was it wasn't getting enough use to justify the expense of keeping it running. Boeing, Lockheed, Airbus, etc. all have their own facilities with similar capabilities, plus NASA kept raising the usage fees on their facilities driving potential customers away.

    ODU is going to be working in another tunnel at Langley and didn't want to pay to upgrade/maintain this aging giant.

    It's sad to see something like this go away, but only for sentimental reasons. This facility just isn't practical in the 21st century.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of jjana79 jjana79
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Get it right, it's TURBOFAN!
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge promoted this comment jjana79 was starred jjana79 was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    10/09/09

    @jjana79: Nope, not in the scale demonstrators. If they ever go full-size with it, though, it'll be turbofans.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of dedgsus dedgsus
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Wow, this blows :(

    /pun
     Reply
    FTGDWolverineEdition'09 promoted this comment dedgsus was starred dedgsus was unstarred
    Image of Fat Tire Fat Tire
    10/09/09

    @dedgsus: If you look at it from the other side though, it kinda sucks too.
     Reply
    skitter promoted this comment Fat Tire was starred Fat Tire was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    Turbofan, not turbojet.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of Ray Wert Ray Wert
    10/09/09

    @Jeb_Hoge: From the press release: "They are powered by turbojet engines"
     Reply
    Ray Wert was starred Ray Wert was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    10/09/09

    @Ray Wert: OK, I see what they did there. All of the full-size artist conceptions I've seen have turbofans illustrated, but of course this is not that.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of f86sabre f86sabre
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    While resources like this aren't frequently needed in today's world of CFD it is a crying shame that they are going to demolish the place. There is just no substitute sometimes for being able to put a model into a big tunnel and seeing how it does. Beyond that, as mentioned in the article, this place just reeks with aeronautical history and would probably make a great museum if it were not for all the asbestos and lead (educated guess).
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla promoted this comment f86sabre was starred f86sabre was unstarred
    Image of Ben Wojdyla Ben Wojdyla
    10/09/09

    @f86sabre: CFD is cool and all, but for me, there's no replacement for air displacement.
     Reply
    Ben Wojdyla was starred Ben Wojdyla was unstarred
    Image of zacarious zacarious
    10/09/09

    In reply to Giant NASA Wind Tunnel Blows One Last Time For Concept Plane
    "and the environmental liability associated with the materials used in its construction" can you say Asbestos!!!!
     Reply
    zacarious was starred zacarious was unstarred
    Image of evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars
    10/09/09

    @zacarious: Unfortunately in a building with giant fans.
     Reply
    evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was starred evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars was unstarred
    Image of HoonThatFerrari HoonThatFerrari
    10/09/09

    @evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars:
     Reply
    HoonThatFerrari was starred HoonThatFerrari was unstarred
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