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| Date: |
07.03.1991 |
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| Title: |
X-31 Capture |
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| Description: |
NASA engineering technician, Robert F. Bryant, Jr., awaits the countdown from ground controllers to release the X-31 drop model. The X-31 is an experimental aircraft designed to examine high angle-of-attack flying tactics. The model weighs 510 pounds and is 12-feet long with a six-foot wing span. The model is dynamically scaled and ballasted. Thus, the model's behavior at high angle-of-attack flight closely replicates that of the full size configuration. Drop models, being fully unconstrained, unlike wind tunnel models, allow investigation of large magnitude, dynamic flight maneuvers. They are piloted by remote control and tracked visually from the ground, the flight recorded with video. The radio-controlled drop-model technique is used for studies of stall, spin entry and post-stall motion. The tests are conducted at NASA Langley Research Center's Plum Tree Test Site near Hampton, Virginia. It is a remote facility surrounded by uninhabited dry salt marsh which provides a soft landing surface for the model. |
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| ID: |
EL-1996-00007 |
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| Other ID: |
L91-7486 |
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| Credit: |
NASA Langley Research Center
(NASA-LaRC) |
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