History

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09.03.08
X-1E with Pilot Joe Walker

Welcome to the NASA Dryden History Home Page. This page contains information about the history of what is now called the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The Milestones in Dryden History provides an overview and highlights. In the Publications section are a variety of publications with detailed information about the history of the Center. The other entries should be self-explanatory, with the NASA Headquarters History Home Page providing information about the history of the entire agency.



1966 Collision of XB-70, F-104 Drew Attention to Wing Vortex Issue

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an initiative endorsing the development of an American supersonic transport – SST for short – capable of flying three times the speed of sound.

The ill-fated June 8, 1966 formation flight centered on the XB-70, flanked by a T-38A, F-4B, Walker's F-104N (orange tail), and an YF-5A. The ill-fated June 8, 1966 formation flight centered on the XB-70, flanked by a T-38A, F-4B, Walker's F-104N (orange tail), and an YF-5A. NASA photo. As part of that initiative, NASA's Flight Research Center (today the Dryden Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., began flight experiments with a Navy A-5A Vigilante in 1963, exploring landing approaches of such a high-speed aircraft in a crowded air traffic environment. Pilots flew the aircraft on approaches to Edwards, but also into Los Angeles International Airport for more realistic simulations of integrating an SST into landing patterns in a high-volume commercial airport.

The next phase of the effort would involve North American Aviation's XB-70.

The Valkyrie, as it was named, was enormous for its time: its cockpit was three stories in the air, its delta wings stretched 105 feet and it was 185 feet long. Six General Electric YJ93 jet engines could propel the plane at speeds up to Mach 3, three times the speed of sound. Weighing a half-million pounds due to its stainless steel rather than aluminum construction, the Valkyrie was designed as an intercontinental bomber and it featured an advanced aerodynamic design, including canards and drooping wing tips. The program was cancelled before the aircraft went into production, however, leaving two prototypes that became research aircraft...Read more

Information


Past Research: Completed and discontinued projects from Dryden's long history of flight research.
Biographies: Photos and biographies of past and present Dryden center directors.
Fact Sheets: Documents about the research projects, facilities, people, and history of the Dryden Flight Research Center.
Historic Aircraft: General information about Dryden's aircraft history.
History of Flight: This presentation explores the drawings, concepts, inventions, successes and failures of the early pioneers of flight research from Leonardo da Vinci to the Wright brothers.
Publications: On-line versions of Dryden's major books.
Speeches: Text and pictures of research pilot Bill Dana's lecture at the National Air and Space Museum.

Related Pages

The Gallery: Contains photos, movies and drawings of many of the unique research aircraft flown at Dryden.
Milestones in History at Dryden Flight Research Center: Key Dryden events from 1946 to the current year.
NASA Headquarters History Home Page
 
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