On the Frontier: Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981
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ON THE FRONTIER 4 Hugh L. Dryden v I a * ON THE FRONTIER Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981 Richard I? Hallion The NASA Histo7y Series Scientific and Technical Information Branch 1984 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC One advantage of working in contemporary history is access to participants. During the research phase, the author conducted numerous interviews. Subsequently he submitted parts of the manuscript to persons who had participated in or closely observed the events described. Readers were asked to point out errors of fact and questionable interpretations and to provide supporting evidence. The author then made the changes he believed justified. The opinions and conclusions set forth in this book are those of the author; no official of the agency necessarily endorses them. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hallion, Richard. On the frontier. (The NASA history series) (NASA SP ; 4303) Bibliography: p. 363 Includes index. 1. Dryden Flight Research Facility - History. I. Title. 11. Series. 111. Series: NASA SP ; 4303. TLb21.312.H34 1984 629.1’072079488 83-14136 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, DC 20402 (paper cover) Contents Page FOREWORD ............................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................... ix PROLOGUE: A MOST EXOTIC PLACE ........................... xi I . EXPLORING THE SUPERSONIC FRONTIER: 1944- 1959 .......... 1 1. Confronting the Speed of Sound: 1944- 1948 ........... 3 2 . Pioneer Days at Muroc: 1948-1950 ................... 23 3. Testing the Shapes of Planes to Come: 1950-1956 ...... 41 4 . Through Mach 2 and 3: 1951-1959 .................. 63 5 . Testing Service Aircraft: 1953- 1959 .................. 87 I1 . INTO SPACE: 1959-1981 ............................... 99 6 . The X-15 Era: 1959-1968 ........................ 101 7 . Serving Gemini and Apollo: 1962- 1967 .............. 131 8. Prelude to Shuttle: The Lifting Bodies. 1962-1976 ..... 147 9 . Mach 3 Again: 1966-1979 ......................... 177 10. A Center with Diversity: 1962-1981 ................. 201 11. A Center at the Crossroads: 1976- 1981 .............. 235 APPENDIX A-Organization Charts. 1948- 1981 ............... 261 APPENDIX B-Personnel Summary for FRC/DFRC, Other OART/OAST Centers. and NASA as a Whole ..... 273 APPENDIX C-HSFS/FRC/DFRC Technical Facilities ............ 275 APPENDIX %Authorized Funding for Research and Program Management at FRCIDFRC. Other OART/OAST Centers. and NASA .......................... 277 APPENDIX E-HSFS/FRC/DFRC Research Aircraft. 1947- 1980 . 279 APPENDIX F-X- 1 Program Flight Chronology. 1946- 1958 ..... 285 V ON THE FRONTIER APPENDIX G-Douglas D .558 Program Flight Chronology. 1947-1956 ................................. 299 APPENDIX H-X-2 Program Flight Chronology. 1954- 1956 .... 315 APPENDIX I-X-3 Program Flight Chronology. 1954- 1956 ..... 317 APPENDIX J-X-4 Program Flight Chronology. 1950-1953 ..... 319 APPENDIX K-X-5 Program Flight Chronology. 1952- 1955 .... 323 APPENDIX L-XF-92A Program Flight Chronology. 1953 ...... 327 APPENDIX M-X- 15 Program Flight Chronology. 1959- 1968 ... 329 APPENDIX N-Lifting Body Program Flight Chronology. 1966-1975 ................................. 339 APPENDIX 0-XB - 70A Program Flight Chronology. 1967-1969 ................................. 347 APPENDIX P-YF- 12 Program Flight Chronology. 1969- 1978 ... 349 APPENDIX QSpace- Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Tests Program Flight Chronology. 1977 .......... 357 APPENDIX R-Accident Statistics. 1954- 1975 ................. 359 A NOTE ON SOURCES ..................................... 361 SOURCENOTES.......................................... 363 INDEX .................................................. 377 THE AUTHOR ........................................... 387 vi Foreword A stillness was on the desert. Daylight settled unhurriedly down the hilltops bordering the triangular valley. The indigo sky above and to the west was pierced with the gleam of a solitary planet and the flicker of an occasional second- or third-magnitude star. The valley bottom was an immense expanse of flatness. Miles of mirror-smooth clay were marred by neither hummock nor furrow. No tree or bush could be seen on this seemingly endless waterless lake. No sound from animal or bird punctuated the silence. Wild creatures found little to attract them on the vast empty platter. It was one of nature’s quiet hideaways, an outpost of serenity. There were intruders. On the western shore of this “lake,” figures scurried around a strange assemblage. A small shark-sleek craft was being attached to a much larger mother craft. The shark‘s midsection was banded with ice crystals; puffs of ashen vapor wafted upward and disappeared into the clear sky. The juxtaposition of ancient geology and modern technology, curiously, seemed to fit. By the mid-twentieth century, the science of aeronautics had grown to substan- tial maturity. Aircraft were speeding faster and faster and threatening to outrace their own sound. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had a trio of laboratories to study the fundamental problems offiight. They had a wide variety of test facilities and a cadre of bright, able, and dedicated scientists who had per- formed with remarkable success over the years surrounding the second World War. For the testing of very-high-speed aircraft, however, they needed a new laboratory: a laboratory in the sky. And so it was that the researchers came to Antelope Valley in California, a valley blessed with clear and uncrowded skies, a sparse population, and Muroc Dry Lake, a natural aerodrome where runway length and direction were, for most practical purposes, unlimiting. On the shore of Muroc, NACA established its High-speed Flight Station and began its challenge of the unknown. The mysteries were numerous and perplexing. The search for solutions was tedious, pro- tracted, and often dangerous. The research methods placed men and machines at the boundaries of understanding. On occasion, fine men were lost at those boundaries in the pursuit of knowledge. Their sacri- fices will be remembered. vii ON THE FRONTIER At the dawn of the Space Age, the researchers on the shore of the dry lake were already actively engaged in its planning. After NACA became NASA, their considerable contributions were of substantial signifi- cance in the evolution of America’s manned spaceflight program. This book is the story of those researchers and their efforts. Richard Hallion has recorded the history of their flights and captured the spirit of a remarkable and unique institution in the evolution of aerospace progress. He tells of the place, the projects, and, most important, the people. It is a story of men and machines, of success and failure, of time and circum- stance. I had the pleasure of living some of the events recorded here. I take great personal satisfaction in those years, the projects in which I was privileged to participate, and the wonderful and able people I worked with and whose friendship I cherish. October 1983 Neil A. Armstrong ... vi11 P P * Acknowledgments This account of flight research at Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center resulted from cooperation between the History Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Science and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. It would have been impossible to undertake and complete this study without the support and assistance of a large number of persons within NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Depart- ments of Aerospace Engineering and History of the University of Maryland. My debt to all of them is great. I owe special gratitude to Michael Collins, the former director of the National Air and Space Museum; Melvin B. Zisfein, deputy director; and assistant directors Howard S. Wolko, Donald S. Lopez, and Frederick 6. Durant 111, together with Dr. Tom D. Crouch, Dr. Paul A. Hanle, Dr. Robert Friedman, and Dr. Richard Hirsh of the curatorial staff. Staff members of the NASM Library, especially Catherine D. Scott and Dominick A. Pisano, were most cooperative in locating obscure reference materials. The staff of the NASA History Office encouraged me at every step. I am especially appreciative of the assistance and cooperation given by Dr. Monte D. Wright, Dr. Frank W. Anderson, Dr. Eugene Emme, Dr. Alex Roland, Lee Saegesser, Leonard Bruno, Carrie Karegeannes, and Nancy Brun. Staff members of the National Archives and Records Service, especially John Taylor and Jo Ann Williamson, were of great assistance in tracing NACA and NASA record groups. I wish to thank Charles Worman of the Air Force Museum, Carl Berger of the Office of Air Force History, Dr. Lee M. Pearson of the Naval Air Systems Command, and J. Ted Bear of the Air Force Flight Test Center for their assistance. I am grateful to the faculty of the University of Maryland for assistance and wise counsel, especially Professors Alfred Gessow, John D. Anderson, and Jewel B. Barlow of the Department of Aerospace Engineering; and Wayne Cole, Keith Olson, and Walter Rundell of the Department of History. Professor Roger E. Bilstein of the University of Houston at Clear Lake City was most helpful during my research and initial writing, as was Professor Richard E. Thomas, director of the Cen- ter for Strategic Technology, Texas A & M University. ix ON THE FRONTIER It is, of course, to the participants in this history that I owe my greatest debts. With unfailing