The "Apollo" of aeronautics : NASA’s Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program, 1973-1987

203 Pages·2010·4.62 MB·English

by  Mark D. Bowles

THE APOLLO OF
“ ”
AERONAUTICS
Copyright © 2010 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The opinions expressed in this volume are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official position of the United States Government or
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
THE APOLLO OF
“ ”
AERONAUTICS
NASA’s Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program
1973–1987
MARK D. BOWLES
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Headquarters
300 E St SW
Washington, DC 20546
2010
SP-2009-574
www.nasa.gov
About the Cover:
Front cover: NASA Langley Research Center’s Boeing 737 test aircraft on the ramp at Orlando
International Airport after a day of flight tests. (NASA Langley Research Center [NASA LaRC].)
Cover design by Janine Wise.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bowles, Mark D.
The “Apollo” of aeronautics : NASA’s Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program, 1973-1987 /
Mark D. Bowles.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Aircraft Energy Efficiency Program (U.S.)--History. 2. Airplanes--Fuel consumption-
-Research--United States--History--20th century. 3. Aerodynamics--Research--United
States--History--20th century. 4. Jet engines--Research--United States--History--20th
century. I. Title.
TL704.7.B634 2009
629.134’35--dc22
2009046465
For Nancy, Isabelle, Emma, and Sarah

Table of Contents
Introduction ..............................................................................ix
Chapter 1:
Oil as a Weapon ........................................................................1
Chapter 2:
Threads and Sails at Langley .........................................27
Chapter 3:
Old and New Engines at Lewis ........................................61
Chapter 4:
Aeronautics Wars at NASA ..............................................91
Chapter 5:
Advanced Turboprops and Laminar Flow .................113
Epilogue:
From Shock to Trance ......................................................141
About the Author ...............................................................155
Index .........................................................................................157
vii

Introduction
In fall 1975, 10 distinguished United States Senators from the
Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee summoned a group
of elite aviation experts to Washington, DC. The Senators were hold-
ing hearings regarding the state of the American airline industry, which
was struggling in the wake of the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the dra-
matically increasing cost of fuel. Providing testimony were presidents or
vice presidents of United Airlines, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and General
Electric. Other witnesses included high-ranking officials from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Air Force, and
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Their Capitol
Hill testimony painted a bleak economic picture, described in phrases
that included “immediate crisis condition,” “long-range trouble,” “serious
danger,” and “economic dislocation.” 1 Fuel costs had recently risen from
$2.59 to $11.65 for a barrel of oil and from 38.5 cents to 55.1 cents for a
gallon of gasoline. While everyone knew about the increasing costs of fill-
ing up his or her own automobile, the effect on commercial aviation was tak-
ing a greater toll. The airlines industry furloughed over 25,000 employees in
January 1974. Pan American, at the time the United States’ largest commer-
cial airline, suspended service to 12 cities.2 The president of United Airlines
concluded, “The economic vitality of the industry is draining away.”3
Oil was fueling America’s industrial and military might, while the
majority of the world’s reserves were not under United States soil. The
fuel crisis of the 1970s threatened not only the airline industry but also
1. Statement by various participants to the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space
Sciences, Nov. 4, 1975, Box 179, Division 8000, NASA Glenn archives.
2. “Airlines to Furlough 25,000 by January Due to Fuel Crisis; Pan Am Seeks Cutbacks,”
Wall Street Journal, Dec. 11, 1973, p. 12.
3. Statement by Charles F. McErlean to the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space
Sciences, Nov. 4, 1975, Box 179, Division 8000, NASA Glenn archives.
ix