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NASA Meatball NASA Dryden F-16XL Ship #2 banner
F-16XL Ship #2 Laminar Flow Glove mounting F-16XL Ship #2 Laminar Flow Glove mounting

Photo Number: EC95-42974-2
Photo Date: Feb 1995

Formats: 539x480 JPEG Image (117 KBytes)
1150x1024 JPEG Image (578 KBytes)
3000x2670 JPEG Image (5,591 KBytes)

Description: NASA's two-seat F-16XL research aircraft is shown in the modification hangar at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, during installation of a titanium "glove" on the upper surface of its modified left wing.

The aircraft subsequently carried out a 13-month-long, 45-flight research program which investigated drawing off a small part of the boundary-layer air in order to provide laminar--or smooth--flow over a major portion of a wing flying at supersonic speeds. A turbo-compressor in the aircraft's fuselage provided suction to draw air through more than 10 million tiny laser-drilled holes in the glove via a manifold system employing 20 valves.

Data obtained during the program could assist designers of future aircraft in developing a more efficient high-speed civil transport.


Keywords: F-16XL Ship #2; laminar flow; titanium glove installation; smooth; left wing; supersonic


Last Modified: February 6, 2002
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