The Research Culture

As part of the broad scope of aeronautics research, the rotary wing efforts spanned the full range of research activity, including theoretical study, wind tunnel testing, and ground-based simulation. Flight-test NACA rotary wing research began in the early 1920s with exploratory wind tun­nel tests of simple rotor models as the precursor to the basic research undertaken in the 1930s. The Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, established at Hampton, VA, in 1917, purchased a Pitcairn PCA-2 auto­giro in 1931 for research use.[269] The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been formed in 1915 to "supervise and direct scien­tific study the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” Rotary wing research at Langley proceeded under the direction of the Committee with annual inspection meetings by the full Committee to review aeronautical research progress. In the early 1940s, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, now known as the Ames Research Center, opened for research at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, CA. Soon after, the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory, known for many years as the Lewis Research Center and now known as the Glenn Research Center, opened in Cleveland, OH. Each NACA Center had unique facilities that accom­modated rotary wing research needs. Langley Research Center played a major role in NACA-NASA rotary wing research until 1976, when Ames Research Center was assigned the lead role.

The rotary wing research is carried out by a staff of research engi­neers, scientists, technical support specialists, senior management, and administrative personnel. The rotary wing research staff draws on the expertise of the technical discipline organizations in areas such as aero­dynamics, structures and materials, propulsion, dynamics, acoustics, and human factors. Key support functions include such activities as test apparatus design and fabrication, instrumentation research and development (R&D), and research computation support. The constant instrumentation challenge is to adapt the latest technology available to acquiring reliable research data. Over the years, the related challenge for computation tasks is to perform data reduction and analysis for the

increasing sophistication and scope of theoretical investigations and test projects. In the NACA environment, the word "computers” actu­ally referred to a large cadre of female mathematicians. They managed the test measurement recordings, extracted the raw data, analyzed the data using desktop electromechanical calculators, and hand-plotted the results. The NASA era transformed this work from a tedious enterprise into managing the application of the ever-increasing power of modern electronic data recording and computing systems.

The dissemination of the rotary wing research results, which form the basis of NACA-NASA contributions over the years, takes a number of forms. The effectiveness of the contributions depends on making the research results and staff expertise readily available to the Nation’s Government and industry users. The primary method has tradition­ally been the formal publication of technical reports, studies, and com­pilations that are available for exploitation and use by practitioners. Another method that fosters immediate dialogue with research peers and potential users is the presentation of technical papers at confer­ences and technical meetings. These papers are published in the con­ference proceedings and are frequently selected for broader publication as papers or journal articles by technical societies such as the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)-Aerospace and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Since 1945, NACA-NASA rotary wing research results have been regularly published in the Proceedings of the American Helicopter Society Annual Forum and the Journal of the AHS. During this time, 30 honorary awards have been presented to NACA and NASA researchers at the Annual Forum Honors Night cere­monies. These awards were given to individual researchers and to tech­nical teams for significant contributions to the advancement of rotary wing technology.

Over the years, the technical expertise of the personnel conducting the ongoing rotary wing research at NACA-NASA has represented a valu­able national resource at the disposal of other Government organizations and industry. Until the Second World War, small groups of rotary wing specialists were the prime source of long-term, fundamental research. In the late 1940s, the United States helicopter industry emerged and estab­lished technical teams focused on more near-term research in support of their design departments. In turn, the military recognized the need to build an in-house research and development capability to guide their major investments in new rotary wing fleets. The Korean war marked

the beginning of the U. S. Army’s long-term commitment to the utiliza­tion of rotary wing aircraft. In 1962, Gen. Hamilton H. Howze, the first Director of Army Aviation, convened the U. S. Army Tactical Mobility Requirements Board (Howze Board).[270] This milestone launched the emer­gence of the Air Mobile Airborne Division concept and thereby the steady growth in U. S. military helicopter R&D and production. The working relationship among Government agencies and industry R&D organiza­tions has been close. In particular, the availability of unique facilities and the existence of a pool of experienced rotary wing researchers at NASA led to the United States Army’s establishing a "special relation­ship” with NASA and an initial research presence at the Ames Research Center in 1965. This was followed by the creation of co-located and inte­grated research organizations at the Ames, Langley, and Glenn Research Centers in the early 1970s. The Army organizations were staffed by spe­cialists in key disciplines such as unsteady aerodynamics, aeroelastic- ity, acoustics, flight mechanics, and advanced design. In addition, Army civilian and military engineering and support personnel were assigned to work full time in appropriate NASA research facilities and theoretical analysis groups. These assignments included placing active duty mili­tary test pilots in the NASA flight research organizations. Over the long term, this teaming arrangement facilitated significant research activity. In addition to Research and Technology Base projects, it made it possi­ble to perform major jointly funded and managed rotary wing Systems Technology and Experimental Aircraft programs. The United States Army partnership was augmented by other research teaming agreements with the United States Navy, FAA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), academia, and industry.