Significant Aerodynamic Research at NACA/NASA Langley During the First Century of Flight

Abstract

The Wright brothers were credited with having flown the first manned, heavier-than-air, powered aircraft in December 1903. During the first few years of the century, however, the U.S. was relatively slow in accepting the newly introduced airplane. Pre-World War I advances in aviation in Europe created some concern that the U.S. was lagging behind other nations in the development of aircraft. This lead to the establishment in the U.S. in 1915 of a government-funded organization that was charged to direct and conduct research and experiments in aeronautics. The initial organization was the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The organization was renamed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 in order to include space research. The research in aeronautics has been continuous since the early 1920’s and has resulted in many advances in aviation. The purpose of this paper is to relate some of the aerodynamic research conducted at NACA/NASA–Langley that has contributed to the growth of aviation during the first century of flight.