Full Scale Tunnel (FST), NASA history collection

Installation of Full Scale Tunnel (FST) power plant. Virginia Public Service Company could not supply adequate electricity to run the wind tunnels being built at Langley. (The Propeller Research Tunnel was powered by two submarine diesel engines.) This led to the consideration of a number of different ideas for generating electric power to drive the fan motors in the FST. The main proposition involved two 3000 hp and two 1000 hp diesel engines with directly connected generators. Another, proposition suggested 30 Liberty motors driving 600 hp DC generators in pairs. For a month, engineers at Langley were hopeful they could secure additional diesel engines from decommissioned Navy T-boats but the Navy could not offer a firm commitment regarding the future status of the submarines. By mid-December 1929, Virginia Public Service Company had agreed to supply service to the field at the north end of the King Street Bridge connecting Hampton and Langley Field. Thus, new plans for FST powerplant and motors were made. Smith DeFrance described the motors in NACA TR No. 459: "The most commonly used power plant for operating a wind tunnel is a direct-current motor and motor-generator set with Ward Leonard control system. For the FST it was found that alternating current slip-ring induction motors, together with satisfactory control equipment, could be purchased for approximately 30 percent less than the direct-current equipment. Two 4000-horsepower slip-ring induction motors with 24 steps of speed between 75 and 300 r.p.m. were therefore installed.
NASA Identifier: L4742