[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The joinedaircraft then began a climb to around 13,000 feet on a pre-determined tracktoward the launch point.After release, the pilot flew a series of test points andevaluations, culminating in a deadstick landing on the lakebed.Radio communications between the C-47 pilot and the M2-F1 pilot leftsomething to be desired.Engine noise and other factors made it difficult tohear each other.The C-47 had an observer that watched the M2-F1 at all timesthrough the bubble sextant dome on top of the fuselage, and he kept the towpilot informed about the condition of the lifting body.One of the most undesirable flight characteristics of the M2-F1, and otherlifting body aircraft that followed, was the vehicle s sensitivity to sideslip.Asmall amount of rudder input resulted in a severe roll reaction.This was furthercomplicated by the fact that the vehicle s roll control system was not powerfulenough to counter the roll, and the pilot could very easily encounter atremendous  Dutch Roll instability.On two different occasions, Air Forcetest pilot Jerry Gentry encountered this instability shortly after the C-47 hadtaken off.He actually completed a slow roll on the towline behind the C-47before he could pull the release. I m the first one to roll this toad, Jerry saidafter making a safe landing on the lakebed.Jerry went on to fly the heavyweightrocket-powered lifting body test vehicles with no problems.During this time, FRC was also involved with another unique researchprogram involving the Paraglider Research Vehicle (Paresev).Kite-parachutestudies by NACA Langley engineer Francis M.Rogallo spawned a triangularwing formed from several long spars with fabric in between.Forward velocityallowed air to fill out the shape of the wing as it pushed upward on the flexible115 Smell of Kerosenecloth.This wing developed reasonable lift and could be controlled by shiftingthe location of the load or vehicle attached below, and also applying inputs tothe wing itself via control lines.NASA engineers evaluated the  Rogallo Wing as a possible recoverysystem for spacecraft returning to Earth after reentry from orbit.This systemwas viewed as an alternative to parachuting returning spacecraft into the ocean.It offered greater crossrange, controllability, and the option of landing on arunway or lakebed.Two cloth parawings of various sizes, and one inflatableversion, were alternately mounted on a framework above a simple aluminumtube tricycle with a pilot s seat and controls.The Paresev was built  in-houseat FRC for a mere $4,280 in construction and materials.Several pilots fromFRC, Langley, and the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas madeflights in the Paresev.The vehicle was towed behind a utility vehicle and variouslight aircraft, then released in a similar manner to the M2-F1.The Paresevproved challenging to the pilot and difficult to handle.North American Aviation built a larger paraglider with a mock-up Gemini-type capsule and a Rogallo wing, but their project pilot sustained serious injuriesduring a landing mishap.Questions arose regarding deployment of such adevice from a spacecraft.Plans to apply the parawing recovery system to theGemini spacecraft were dropped.Program delays, poor flight test results, andcost factors all contributed to cancellation of the project.This did not meanthat Paresev was a failure.Learning what doesn t work is as important aslearning what does work.Research moved on to other, more fruitful, areas.That meant the lifting bodies, which represent an evolutionary step toward theSpace Shuttle.In November 1963, Joe Walker approached me and asked,  Don, wouldyou like to attend the USAF Test Pilot School? There was no hesitation onmy part.I gave Joe a solid  affirmative. The military test pilot schools werewell known and highly respected by all in the flight test community.When Ihad been a senior in aeronautical engineering at the University of Florida, theNavy invited me to come back on active duty with a regular commission.Isaid that I would, only if they would also give me orders to the Navy Test PilotSchool at Patuxent River, Maryland.The Navy couldn t do it because theywere short of fleet pilots, not test pilots.As a NASA pilot, the biggest obstacle for getting into these schools wasmoney.Test Pilot School training is expensive due to the flight hours requiredas part of the training and the expense of operating the aircraft.Joe got NASAto approve the funding, so Fred Haise and I entered Class 64-A at the AirForce Test Pilot School (TPS) at Edwards.I completed the test pilot portion of the curriculum in six months.Thisschool was one of the best training experiences that I have had.Both academicand flying courses were concentrated and accelerated.I could count on workinguntil midnight almost every evening during the academic portion of the116 High Desert Flight Researchprogram.The flight portion was highly regimented.Not only did I need to flyprecisely, but also expeditiously in order to complete as many test points aspossible per flight.The flight test cards always had an additional 20-percentof planned points beyond what normally could be accomplished.In addition,an alternate test card was always available in the event some problem interruptedthe original test plan.The primary aircraft used by the school included theT-33, T-38, and B-57.In addition, students had the opportunity to fly the Cornellvariable-stability NB-26H and NF-106B.It was a fine school, and I found the training exceptional.I had flown withthe NACA and NASA for six years before getting the opportunity to attendTPS, so I could evaluate the impact of test pilot school experience on my workat FRC.In my opinion, it would take a military pilot three years to accrue thesame level of test experience provided by the TPS curriculum.In addition, theschool provided a broad base of knowledge for the test pilot, compared tosome organizations that concentrated in specific areas of test and evaluation.The TPS commandant at this time was Col.Charles E. Chuck Yeager.Ihad met Chuck at NASA sometime earlier, and I liked the West Virginia hillbillyfrom the start.Chuck had grown up in the hills not far from where Joe Walkerand I had lived in southwestern Pennsylvania.Chuck had a tremendousbackground in flying operational and test flights.I respected Chuck for hisaccomplishments, and it was obvious that students in the school seemed alittle awed in his presence.We did not see too much of Chuck around theschool because he was usually at the Pentagon taking care of the politics of thejob.I m not sure if Chuck ever flew with any of the students.At any rate, theschool was staffed with outstanding instructor pilots.I only had a few contacts with Chuck in my six months at the school.Onone Thursday afternoon, normally set aside for athletics and physical activity,Fred Haise and I were reading photo panel film in the school s lab.Most of themilitary students in the class lived on base and could work evenings at theschool, but Fred and I were both living in Lancaster and we took everyopportunity to clean up the data reduction during the day.Chuck ran us outsaying,  I don t care if you go to the bar and drink, but don t be in here onThursday afternoons. So, Fred and I said,  To Hell with the data reduction [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • funlifepok.htw.pl

    •