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It is in the breaking news sidebar!
Posted on 07/12/2003 7:31:42 PM PDT by BenLurkin
At celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of powered flight this summer, there will be replicas of the famous Wright Flyer, and there will be many modern examples of flying machines.
However, at three events in the Midwest in the coming weeks, there will be an aircraft that combines both.
NASA's Active Aeroelastic Wing is an F/A-18 fighter jet modified to use the same wing-warping techniques employed by Orville and Wilbur to control their 1903 Wright Flyer.
The aircraft, crew and engineers - based at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base - will travel to Dayton, Ohio; Kokomo, Ind. and Oshkosh, Wis. for static display at airshows marking the Centennial of Flight.
"The Active Aeroelastic Wing aircraft - especially this year - is unique in that it's going back to the way the Wright Brothers flew," said David Voracek , chief engineer for the project.
The project is designed to show how twisting an aircraft's wings can be used to control roll, a concept first explored by the Wright Brothers.
In this case, the F/A-18 will test the ability of the wings' natural tendency to twist at high speeds to make the entire wing a control surface, which should result in improved roll control.
"We're trying to reproduce in a high-tech way the kind of wing-warping Orville and Wilbur used," said research pilot Dana Purifoy.
Voracek will make a presentation about AAW and its relationship to the Wright Brothers' aircraft at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' symposium held at the same time as the Dayton event.
"Wing-warping was how they controlled their aircraft," Voracek said. "They controlled theirs with strings, we control ours with nice control surfaces."
Some of the same issues the Wrights faced are coming up in this modern-day program, he said.
Not only are the mechanics similar, but the Wrights used much of the same research techniques employed by today's engineers.
"The basic process that the Wright Brothers used, we're still using today," Voracek said.
The AAW project has completed preliminary flight tests to understand how the control surfaces affect the loads on the airplane and the flight dynamics.
Engineers will use the data collected in these test flights to create models for future flight tests using the wing-warping techniques. Those flights are expected in late spring 2004.
The AAW will be a centerpiece for NASA's display regarding the centennial of manned flight. In honor of its connection to the Wrights' first flight, it is the first aircraft to carry the official "Centennial of Flight" logo.
"We're pretty excited about it," Purifoy said.
"I think Dayton is going to be huge this year," he said. As an example of the crowds expected, Purifoy said he had to go to Cincinnati in order to find a hotel room for family wanting to attend the event.
The AAW test aircraft will be featured as part of NASA's Centennial of Flight exhibit at the Dayton International Air Show at Dayton International Airport, Dayton, Ohio, July 17-20. It will be parked in the static aircraft display area near the main air show entrance.
Following its appearance at Dayton, the AAW will head to Grissom Air Reserve Base north of Kokomo, Ind., for display at the Grissom Community Air Show July 26-27.
It will be in Hangar 200 at the main entrance to the air show, directly across from the public parking area.
The final stop on the Midwest air show circuit for the NASA team will be at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis., for the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture 2003. The highly instrumented research craft will be displayed at AeroShell Square (west ramp) adjacent to the "Countdown to Kittyhawk" pavilion at AirVenture from July 29 through Aug. 4.
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