NASA Langley Research Center, 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel, 640 Thornell Avenue, Hampton, Hampton, Virginia

Significance: The 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel was the first of Langley's wind tunnels to be built incorporating the new slotted throat tunnel design from its inception. A significant improvement over its retrofitted predecessors, the new tunnel allowed transonic testing in a more stable environment. In the 1960s, Langley engineer Richard T. Whitcomb and his research team used the tunnel to develop the "supercritical airfoil," which would revolutionize military and civilian aircraft design. The 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel is significant at a national level because of its role in the early development of transonic tunnels and its later role in testing aircraft designs.

Survey number: HAER VA-118-D

Building/structure dates: 1953 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1981 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1958 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 2011 Demolished

sussex at hampton nasa langley research nasa langley research center transonic pressure tunnel thornell thornell avenue hampton virginia wind tunnels aeronautics pipes conduits motors offices control rooms catwalks steel structural frames testing richard k anderson chris cunningham lisa davidson eugene c draley david h dutton stuart g flechner paul g fournier historic american engineering record matthew r laird langley memorial aeronautical laboratory jet lowe axel t mattson national advisory committee for aeronautics national aeronautics and space administration michael newbill james c patterson john stack richard t whitcomb ray h wright photo transonic pressure tunnel ultra high resolution high resolution library of congress

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html