THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THE NORTH CAMPUS AERODYNAMICS Laboratory contains
five complete tunnels for aeronautical research. The researcher
above is adjusting a model to be tested in an eight inch by
thirteen inch supersonic channel. High air pressure is built up
at one end of the tunnel, then released to flow through this
channel into a stacked set of old Russian tank cars in which
there is a partial vacuum. Tests of 20 second duration can be
run and speeds of up to four times the speed of sound achieved.
The researcher can make special photographs and high speed
motion pictures of the effects obtained.
A SCHLIEREN is a photo taken with special optical equipment
through the window of a high speed wind tunnel. This one shows
the air patterns around a model in a "wind" of up to four times
the speed of sound. The two lines extending back from the
model's tip show the sonic boom effect created at high speeds.
Many such tests have been made since 1930 in the wind tunnels
of the aero department. A new hypersonic wind tunnel is now
under construction, which will employ high pressure and tem-
perature and a seven inch diameter test section. Wind speeds up
to eight times the speed of sound will be possible.
THE WRIGHT MODEL B AIRPLANE shown above was presented to the University Aero Ci
1914. The picture was taken at about that time at a test flight near Whitehall, Mich. Eveni
the plane was wrecked, but it was one of the early experiences of University aeronautical stu
and teachers with aeronautics. Felix Pawlowski, trained in'Paris, began the first aeronautical co
at the University-and in the nation-in 1914-15. The Aero Club received his special attentio
the years before an actual aeronautical department was established in 1930. The club carrie
many balloon, kite and airplane exploits under his colorful direction. James Sadler, an English
loonist, an important figure in the Aero Club. He directed the construction of the club's first
plane and small wind tunnel in 1911.
b in
ally
mts
rses
s in
on
bal-
air-
Kites, Balloons, Airplanes, Missiles
INSTRUMENTATION for a
small, meteorlogical rocket has
to be very carefully designed,
built and tested/ to meet the
exacting requirements of space,
weight and function for high al-
ti ude research. This is the "in-
sides" from a small meteorlogi-
cal rocket of the type frequently
fired by University personnel
from Wallops Island, Virginia.
At the top is ,a mass spectro-
meter designed to measure the
density and make-up of air at
high altitudes. The entire pack-
age was built at the High Alti-
tude Lab on North Campus un-
der the direction of Leslie Jones.
-Daily-ichard Cooper THIS "ARC HEATER" is part of the Propulsion Laboratory of
AN IMPORTANT PART OF DESIGNING equipment. for use on satellites in outer space is the
simulation of conditions that the instruments will be required to operate under. In this picture a
spectrometer is recording the characteristics of the light from the bulb at the left. The light shines
into the equipment in the center which analyses its intensity at varying wavelengths of the spectrum.
Many different colors as well as infrared and ultraviolet light make up the white light that the eye
sees. The machine at left records the information on a continuous graph. The purpose of the experi-
ment Is to duplicate the wavelength characteristics of sunlight so that sunlight conditions in space
can be duplicated in the laboratory. The work is being done at the High Altitude Research Lab.
the aeronautical and astronautical engineering department. Elec-
tric power is built up in storage equipment, then released through
the round metal rings in the picture. The electric arc that passes
between these rings causes gases in the cylinder to expand very
rapidly creating a considerable discharge. This high speed dis-
charge jet is similar to that found in rocket engines under certain
conditions. The properties of the gas stream and its interaction
with the electric heater can thus be studied.
IN A FEW YEARS the United States will launch the Nimbus
weather satellite as a weather observation platform in space.
The equipment above, when it is finally perfected and ready for
use, will probably be aboard. This mass spectrometer will analyse
samples of the atmosphere at high altitudes for the elements
they contain and their density. At the far left a portion of the
supporting instrumentation is shown. This is essentially a small
computer, designed to process as much information from the
spectrometer as possible before relaying it back to earth so as
to conserve radio time.
THE HOT SHOT, AS IT IS called, is located in the Propulsion Laboratory on North Campus. It
uses an electric arc gas discharge principle to create a wind tunnel type effect in the tube shown
above. A huge set of electric coils to the right of the tube are used to store electricity. When this
power is released an "explosion" of gases takes place in the chamber at right above. These gases
shoot through the tube in the picture at speeds up to 20 and 30 times the speed of sound. The
small window at the left is used for observation of the gases' reactions and the effects on model
systems set up inside. The gases empty into a large cylinder at the left, outside the picture. The
sandbags in the background are for protection against the massive electric charges built up in the
storage disks.
THESE RESEARCHERS are adjusting and examining a model in
the subsonic wind tunnel of the Aerodynamics Lab. An eleborate
system of screens, fans and a 1000 horsepower motor are used to
drive through this section of the tunnel with a minimum of
turbulence at speeds up to 170 miles per hour. The facility was
built in 1956 in copperation with the United States Air Force
and was specially adapted for work on gust simulation and
measuring gust effects on aircraft.
THE SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL shown here, with an assymetrical channel four inches by four
inches, is capable of generating wind speeds up to five times the speed of sound. It-is one of five
wind tunnels in the Aerodynamics Laboratory of the aeronautical and astronautical engineering de-
partment of the engineering school. This tunnel operates much like the larger eight inch by
thirteen inch supersonic channel in the same lab. Air enters from the left, is directed into the channel
at the center where the model to be tested is placed and can be observed, and shoots out the pipe
at right.
Text by
ROBERT JOHNSTON
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
YOUNG DEMOCRATIC CUB
announces:
PROF. JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH,
Harvard University
Former Ambassador to India
on:
"THE CARE AND PREVENTION
Al" f1A1 IAf A TED"
! U
* I
! r
:Student Organizations:
r !
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! M
TeCINEMA GUILD Announces
1 r
A Limited Number of
! r
ForF l#16
! r
! 1i
* from the SGC secretary in the S.A.B.I
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