National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 1956

98 Pages·2008·11.24 MB·English

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19790080085 2018-12-11T20:40:57+00:00Z
Forty-second Annual Report
of the
National
Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics
1956
(N AS A-TH-80500) ANNUATREPORT7T956 ^79^79^
(National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics) 96 p
Onclas
00/01 32011
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
WITHOUT TECHNICAL
FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FOR AERONAUTICS
1956
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
WITHOUT TECHNICAL REPORTS
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1958
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office. Washington 25, D. C. Price 60 cents (paper cover)
Letter of Transmittal
To the Congress oj the United States:
In compliance with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1915,
as amended, establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aero-
nautics, I transmit herewith the Forty-second Annual Report of the
Committee covering the fiscal year 1956.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
JANUARY 28, 1957.
in
"Page missing from available version"
Letter of Submittal
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
WASHINGTON, D. C., October 17,1956.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:
In compliance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1915,
as amended (U. S. C. title 50, sec. 151), I submit herewith the Forty-
second Annual Report of the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics for 1956.
Aeronautics is progressing at a remarkable rate. Scientific prob-
lems are multiplying in number, difficulty, and cost. Under military
stimulation, development efforts are extending beyond our basic
knowledge. Real progress can be accelerated, and on a more eco-
nomical basis were scientific research accorded priority and conducted
on an adequate basis in advance of development.
There is a growing demand for more scientists and engineers.
Long range measures are being taken to stimulate the education of
larger numbers. In the meantime, the law of supply and demand is
forcing salaries up. Government research organizations, operating
under rates of compensation fixed by law, cannot recruit or retain
adequate numbers of scientists and engineers. NACA is losing out-
standing and irreplaceable leaders in aeronautical science. This
weakening trend must be reversed. The simplest and the best
remedy is the enactment of legislation authorizing the Government
to pay the going rates for scientists and engineers. Leadership in
aeronautical science and American supremacy in the air are at stake.
The necessary legislation is strongly recommended.
Respectfully submitted.
JEROME C. HUNSAKER,
Chairman.
THE PRESIDENT,
The White House, Washington, D. C.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Headquarters, 1512 H Street NW., Washington 25, D. C.
Created by Act of Congress approved March 3, 1915, for the supervision and direction of the scientific study
of the problems of flight (U. S. Code, title 50, sec. 151). Its membership was increased from 12 to 15 by act
approved March 2, 1929, and to 17 by act approved May 25, 1948. The members are appointed by the President
and serve as such without compensation.
JAMES H. DOOLITTLE, Sc. D., Shell Oil Company, Chairman
LEONARD CABMICHAEL, Ph. D., Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, Vice Chairman
JOSEPH P. ADAMS, LL. B., Vice Chairman, Civil Aeronautics CARL J. PFINGSTAG, Rear Admiral, United States Navy
Board. Assistant Chief for Field Activities, Bureau of Aeronautics.
ALLEN V. ASTIN, Ph. D., Director National Bureau of Standards. DONALD L. PUTT, Lieutenant General, United States Air Force,
PRESTON R. BASSETT, M. A., Vice President, Sperry Rand Corp. Deputy Chief of Staff, Development.
DETLEV W. BBONK, Ph. D., President, Rockefeller Institute for ARTHUR E. RAYMOND, Sc. D., Vice President—Engineering,
Medical Research. Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc.
FREDERICK C. CRAWFORD, Sc. D., Chairman of the Board, FRANCIS W. REICHELDEHFER, Sc. D., Chief, United States
Thompson Products, Inc. Weather Bureau.
WILLIAM V. DAVIS, JR., Vice Admiral, United States Navy, EDWARD V. RICKENBACKER, Sc. D., Chairman of the Board,
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air). Eastern Air Lines, Inc.
CLIFFORD C. FTJRNAS, Ph. D., Assistant Secretary of Defense Louis S. ROTHSCHILD, Ph. B., Under Secretary of Commerce for
(Research and Development). Transportation.
JEROME C. HUNSAKEB, Sc. D., Massachusetts Institute of NATHAN F. TWINING, General, United States Air Force, Chief
Technology. of Staff.
HUGH L. DBYDEN, PH. D., Director JOHN F. VICTORY, LL. D., Executive Secretary
JOHN W. CBOWLEY, JB., B. S., Associate Director for Research EDWARD H. CHAMBERLIN, Executive Officer
HENRY J. E. REID, D. Eng., Director, Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Langley Field, Va.
SMITH J. DEFRANCE, D. Eng., Director, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Moffett Field, Calif.
EDWABD R. SHARP, Sc. D., Director, 'Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, Cleveland, Ohio
WALTER C. WILLIAMS, B. S., Chief, High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards, Calif.
VI
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of Transmittal m
Letter of Submittal v
Forty-second Annual Report ix
Part I. Technical Activities 1
The NACA—What It Is and How It Operates 1
Boundary-Layer Control 2
High-Speed Flight Research 5
Aerodynamics 10
Power Plants for Aircraft 38
Aircraft Construction 53
Operating Problems 62
Research Publications 69
Part II. Committee Organization and Membership 80
Part III. Financial Report 89
vn
"Page missing from available version"
FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
WASHINGTON, D. C., October 17, 1956. To satisfy military requirements we must learn how
To the Congress of the United States: to project missiles at thousands of miles per hour, along
ballistic trajectories to targets far across the seas.
In accordance with Act of Congress, approved March
At the same tune, we are striving for the knowledge that
3, 1915, as amended (U. S. C. title 50, sec. 151), which
will make possible satellites probing hi to regions beyond
established the National Advisory Committee for
the earth's atmosphere and obtaining valuable informa-
Aeronautics, the Committee submits its Forty-second
tion.
Annual Report for the fiscal year 1956.
For the ballistic missile, a temperature of many
The airplane looms as the instrumentality that has
thousands of degrees—higher than that on the surface
changed previous concepts of military power and the
of the sun—will be generated hi the air near the surface
course of history. In addition to the airplane, the
of the missile. Under such conditions, the ah- molecules
missile has become a major factor hi warfare. In the
dissociate or split apart into their constituent atoms, and
emergency created by the present international situa-
electrons are knocked out of atoms to make the air
tion, the United States is expending unprecedented
ionized and electrically conducting.
sums for the production of aircraft and missiles, on the
We need to duplicate in the laboratory the strange
effectiveness of which the security of the Nation may
and difficult conditions of future flight, so that practical
largely depend.
solutions of these problems can be found. Recently
Numbers of aircraft and missiles alone are insufficient
it has become possible to make small, pilot models
unless their performance is at least equal to those they
with which to prove the practicability of constructing
may be called upon to oppose. This makes it essential
the expensive new tools of research necessary for the
to choose the most advanced designs for production,
extension of the present limits of our knowledge.
but allows little time to prove the new features incor-
But laboratory equipment for the experimental
porated. It falls to the aeronautical laboratories not
study of aerodynamic heating and other complex flight
only to provide the new ideas necessary to insure
problems is only one requirement. More teams of
superior performance, but at the same tune to prove hi
talented young men competent to work hi the new
advance the soundness of the design as a whole. The
scientific fields are urgently needed. This requires a
Committee's work, therefore, falls into two principal
realistic approach to the pay problem. The attractive-
categories; namely, research to furnish new ideas; and
ness of public service has been critically depreciated by
the application of those ideas to current military designs
private industry offering salaries and -"fringe benefits"
in cooperation with industry. The present emergency
far greater than the NACA is allowed by law to pay.
has naturally revised the priorities hi connection with the
We do not quarrel with the salaries paid by industry.
long-range research program, to the end that those
We must, however, not only provide additional fringe
things which give most immediate promise are
benefits, but also offer rates of compensation sufficient
emphasized.
to recruit, and to hold, the scientists and engineers
Only continued scientific research, on a scale adequate necessary to perform the fundamental research that
to meet growing needs, can give the Nation assurance governs progress.
that its aircraft and missiles will be kept at least the Over the years the career scientists of the NACA
equal of those of any other nation. In order to develop have made large contributions to the advancement of
them to their full potentialities, both in peace and in aeronautics, yet the cost has been very small when
war, scientific research must be prosecuted with vigor compared with the value of the results. Costs are
and imagination. increasing. Further advances hi the art and science
In the last fifteen years, the speed of tactical aircraft at a greatly accelerated rate are essential to our national
has been increased from less than 400 to more than security. We are confident that the National Advisory
1,000 mph. Through the use of special research air- Committee for Aeronautics can continue to show the
planes, we have been able to penetrate the so-called way to important advances in aeronautics if the Con-
sound barrier to the point where our research airplanes gress will provide the required support.
are flying faster than 2% times the velocity of sound. Respectfully submitted.
We see the day, not too distant, when man can fly to JEROME C. HUNSAKEB,
any point on the globe in but a few hours. Chairman.
408161—57 2 EC
Part I—TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
THE NACA—WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT OPERATES
During the 41 years since the Congress founded it as of nearly 500. Members are chosen because of techni-
an independent Federal agency, the National Advisory cal ability, experience, and recognized leadership in
Committee for Aeronautics has sought to assess the a special field. They also serve without pay, in a
current stage of development of aircraft, both civil and personal and professional capacity. They furnish val-
military; to anticipate the research needs of aeronautics; uable assistance in considering problems related to their
to build the scientific staff and unique research facilities technological fields, review research in progress at
required for these research needs; and to acquire the NACA laboratories and in other establishments,
needed new knowledge as rapidly as the national recommend new research to be undertaken, and assist
interest requires. in coordinating research programs.
By discharging its primary responsibility—scientific Members of the technical committees and sub-
laboratory research in aeronautics—the NACA serves committees and of the Industry Consulting Com-
the needs of all departments of the Government. The mittee are listed in Part II of this report, beginning
President appoints the 17 unpaid members of the Com- on page 80.
mittee, who report directly to bim. They establish Research coordination is also accomplished through
policy and plan the research to be carried out by the frequent discussions by NACA scientists with the
7,900 scientists, engineers, and other persons who make staffs of research organizations of the aircraft industry,
up the staff of the agency. educational and scientific institutions, and other aero-
The NACA research programs have both the all- nautical agencies. Through a west coast office the
inclusive, long-range objective of acquiring new scien- NACA maintains close liaison with aeronautical re-
tific knowledge essential to assure United States leader- search and engineering staffs in that important
ship in aeronautics and the immediate goal of solving, aviation area.
as quickly as possible, the most pressing problems. In The NACA sponsors and finances a coordinated
this way, they effectively support the Nation's current research program at 33 nonprofit scientific and educa-
aircraft and missile construction program. tional institutions, including the National Bureau of
Most of the problems to be studied are assigned to the Standards. In this way scientists and engineers whose
NACA's research centers. The Langley Aeronautical skills and talents might otherwise not be available
Laboratory in Virginia works on structural, general contribute importantly to Federal aeronautical research.
aerodynamic, and hydrodynamic problems. The Ames During the fiscal year 1956, the following institutions
Aeronautical Laboratory in California concentrates on participated in NACA contract research:
high-speed aerodynamics. The Lewis Flight Propul- National Bureau of Standards
sion Laboratory in Ohio is a center for power-plant University of Alabama
studies. At the High-Speed Flight Station in Cali- Battelle Memorial Institute
fornia special fully instrumented research aircraft probe Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
transonic and supersonic problems in flight. The Brown University
Pilotless Aircraft Research Station at Wallops Island, California Institute of Technology
Virginia, is a branch of the Langley Laboratory where University of California
rocket-powered free-flight models are used to attack Carnegie Institute of Technology
aerodynamic problems in the transonic and supersonic Case Institute of Technology
speed ranges. University of Cincinnati
A major task of the NACA since its beginning in 1915 Columbia University
has been coordinating aeronautical research in the U. S. Cornell University
Through the members of the Committee and its 28 Franklin Institute
technical subcommittees, the NACA links the military Forest Products Laboratory
and civil government agencies concerned with flight. Georgia Institute of Technology
The aviation industry, allied industries, and scientific Johns Hopkins University
institutions are also represented. University of Kentucky
Assisting the Committee in determining and co- Lightning & Transients Research Institute
ordinating research programs are 4 major and 24 sub- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ordinate technical committees with a total membership University of Michigan
1