Eight-Foot High Speed Tunnel - Hampton, VA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

NOTE: This waymark is located INSIDE the security perimeter of Langley Air Force Base. You MUST have access privileges for this facility in order to visit the waymark.

As interest in the field of high-speed aerodynamics increased in the early 1930s, Langley’s existing wind tunnels proved too small and underpowered for effective high-speed aircraft testing. Understanding that a new facility would give U.S. engineers a decided advantage in the aeronautical field, Langley’s director of research George W. Lewis authorized the design and construction of a larger high speed wind tunnel in 1933. Construction of the 8-Foot High Speed Tunnel (HST) was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and completed in 1936 at a cost of $266,000.

The world’s first large high speed tunnel, the HST proved vital during World War II. Evaluating stability-control problems of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter in the 8-Foot HST, Langley engineers devised the “dive recovery flap,” a wedge-shaped flap on the lower surface of the wings that allowed sufficient lift for a pilot to pull out of steep dives. This ingenious feature subsequently was incorporated in the design of a number of U.S. fighter aircraft, including the YP-38 Lightening, the P-47B Thunderbolt, the A-26B Invader, the P-59 Airacomet (the first U.S. jet aircraft), and the P-80 Shooting Star.

In the postwar years, Langley physicist Ray H. Wright observed that interference from wind tunnel walls could be minimized by placing slots in the test section throat, a concept that came to be known as “slotted throat” or “slotted wall tunnel” design. By the end of 1948, the 8-Foot HST had been retrofitted with the new slotted test section configuration, allowing speeds in excess of Mach 1 (the speed of sound, or approximately 761 mph at sea level). Wright and his team used the tunnel to refine the slotted-throat design, and—after modifications—the facility was re-designated the 8-Foot Transonic Tunnel (TT) in October 1950.

In the mid-1950s, the 8-Foot TT facilitated important research in body/wing design for supersonic aircraft. Langley engineer Richard Whitcomb used the tunnel to develop the revolutionary “area rule” principle that — in practical terms — prompted the use of a compressed, or “wasp-waisted,” fuselage design for supersonic jet fighters, allowing them to break what was popularly known as the “sound barrier.” Subsequent testing of area-rule aircraft designs was conducted in the adjacent tunnel, the 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel. Whitcomb’s once controversial area rule achieved widespread acclaim in the scientific community and the popular press, and he was awarded the Collier Trophy for the greatest achievement in aviation in 1955.

The TT continued in use until 1961, when it was deactivated by NASA. The facility was kept in operational condition until 1976 when critical parts were sent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and used in the construction of a new facility. Since then, the 8-Foot TT building has been used as office and storage space. The historical significance of the facility and its many contributions to aerospace technology (first continuous-flow high-speed wind tunnel for large test models and actual plane parts and also the landmark 'slotted-throat' design) were recognized when it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.

The office portion of the structure was remodeled and leased to the Langley Air Force Base in the early 2000s, while the tunnel circuit was left to deteriorate. In 2011, the tunnel circuit was demolished.

Street address: NASA Langley Research Center Building 641 Hampton, VA United States 23681 County / Borough / Parish: Hampton (Independent City) Year listed: 1985 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Science, Engineering, Military, Other Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949 Historic function: Education, Transportation Current function: Vacant/Not In Use Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] National Historic Landmark Link: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed

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