Historic photo of the Wright brothers' third test glider being launched at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on October 10, 1902. Wilbur Wright is at the controls, Orville Wright is at left, and Dan Tate (a local resident and friend of the Wright brothers) is at right.
The 1902 test gliders were extremely important to the development of the first powered airplane. The new glider design was based on the wind tunnel tests performed by the Wrights in 1901. The improvements to the glider included a new rudder that helped provide three-dimensional control of the aircraft.
Image Number: wrightflyer-1902
Date: October 10, 1902
Tags: Dan Tate Glider Kill Devil Hills North Carolina Orville Wright Wilbur Wright
A collection of NASA's research aircraft on the ramp at the Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in July 1997: X-31, F-15 ACTIVE, SR-71, F-106, F-16XL Ship Number 2, X-38, and X-36.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EC97-44165-149
Date: July 1, 1997
Tags: Dryden F-106 F-15 ACTIVE F-16XL Ship 2 SR-71 X-31 X-36 X-38 2 Armstrong AFRC NASA Armstrong
Description Active aircraft biplane, NACA 29-38131, with model wing suspended during flight.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: L-00130
Date Taken: June 22, 1921
Tags: NACA NASA NASA Langley Research Center airplane aeronautics 1921
Description This is a 1952 NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station inflight photograph of the Douglas D-558-1 #3 Skystreak. Even with partial cloud cover the white aircraft is easy to see. Conceived in 1945, the D558-1 Skystreak was designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, in conjunction with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Skystreaks were turojet powered aircraft that took off from the ground under their own power and had straight wings and tails. Much of the research performed by the D-558-1 Skystreaks was quickly overshadowed in the popular media by Chuck Yeager and the X-1 rocketplane. But the Skystreak performed an important role in aeronautical research by flying for extended periods of time at transonic speeds, which freed the X-1 to fly for limited periods at supersonic speeds.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: E-713
Date: May 1952
Tags: NACA NASA NASA Dryden Flight Research Center airplanes 1952 Douglas Skystreak Skystreak
(August 1, 1997) The F-15 ACTIVE in flight over the Mojave desert during a High Stability Engine Control (HISTEC) flight. The twin-engine F-15 is equipped with new Pratt & Whitney nozzles that can turn up to 20 degrees in any direction, giving the aircraft thrust control in the pitch (up and down) and yaw (left and right) directions. On March 27, 1996, NASA began flight testing a new thrust-vectoring concept on the F-15 research aircraft to improve performance and aircraft control. The new concept should lead to signifigant increases in performance of both civil and military aircraft flying at subsonic and supersonic speeds. NASA pilot Rogers Smith and photographer Carla Thomas fly the F-18 chase to accompany the flight.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EC97-44177-15
Date: August 1, 1997
Tags: F-15 F-15B ACTIVE Advanced Control Technology for Intergrated Vehicles Pratt Whitney Jim Smolka Larry Walker Dryden Armstrong AFRC NASA Armstrong