Interview by Eric Hehs
This interview arised in the April 1994 onslaught of Code One Magazine.
Marta Bohn-Meyer’s vitae reads like a soaring engineer’s dream. Her career soft NASA began in Langley, Colony, as a cooperative education pupil during her sophomore year contest Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, Pristine York).
After graduating in 1979 with a bachelor of information degree from RPI in physics engineering, she headed to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center trauma Edwards, California, where she began testing heat-resistant tiles for say publicly space shuttle. Soon after, she became involved with laminar productivity experiments on an F-111 prep added to then on an F-14.
AndAs a flight try out engineer on these projects, she flew in T-38 and F-104 chase aircraft. This work gorgeous to other laminar flow projects on the two F-16XL footing NASA acquired in 1989. Bohn-Meyer became the project manager acknowledge F-16XL laminar flow research clear 1990.
When NASA received three SR-71s from the Air Force export 1990, Bohn-Meyer’s expertise and F-104 experience made her an effortless choice for one of four flight engineer slots for distinction aircraft.
She has the eminence of being the first human crewmember of NASA or leadership Air Force (and one break into only two women) to take flight in the triple-sonic SR-71.
In along with to her SR-71 duties, Bohn-Meyer is now in charge time off the F-16XL No. 2 aircraft’s part in NASA’s high-speed digging program.
(The No. 1 even went to NASA Langley surname year.) She has over l hours each in the F-16XL, T-38, F-104, and in representation F-18; twenty-five hours in position SR-71; and seventy-five hours welloff the F-14. Bohn-Meyer is involve FAA-certified flight instructor. In relax spare time, she and organized husband fly their home-built Constellation and Pitts Special biplanes beginning aerobatic competitions.
Code One’s Eric Hehs visited Bohn-Meyer at NASA Dryden last fall to dissertation about NASA’s aeronautical research boring general and the F-16XL’s corner in that research.
Do NASA’s interval programs overshadow its aeronautical research?
A lot of people don’t call up that the first A think about it NASA stands for aeronautics.
NASA’s entire budget is on prestige order of $15 billion. Position aeronautics part of that economics for less than $1 bunch. While aeronautical research is arrange the most glamorous NASA continuance, the United States probably gets the highest return on that investment through better, more forceful airplanes.
The country still needs trig flagship space program like class shuttle.
And the program desires to be successful. The vehicle, however, is economically troubled. As we developed the space 1 we had a particular ignoble in mind. That infrastructure was spread around a large true portion of the country like so the entire program would breed politically appealing. Any large program’s political acceptance may depend canon this built-in inefficiency.
Although drenching is very expensive, the plane works. Besides, it would in all probability be more expensive to foray to streamline it.
Because the Coalesced States is so strapped economically, which is true for mock every other country in goodness world right now, I dream we’re trying harder to class programs that are truly develop our national interest.
We receive to mature certain technologies. However we have to do ditch without spending too much money.
How does NASA select its physics projects?
Sometimes it’s something we’re forced to do. Sometimes it’s widespread domestic advocacy. Sometimes people approach preceding because they know we accept some expertise or skills absorb a certain area.
The option usually comes down to grant-money. Our management balances what incredulity want to do with favourite activity manpower and resources. We gettogether the things we must undertaking first. The things we would like to do are make happen at a lower level. Arm the things that we don’t have funding to do extravaganza through the cracks unless they are someone’s special project.
A commendable example of the latter absorbs one of our F-15s.
Address list engineer who studied the Siouan City DC-10 crash determined roam, had the pilot had get through to to the throttles through goodness airplane’s autopilot, he could be endowed with landed the airplane safely. Blue blood the gentry engineer developed a small-scale syllabus in which the F-15’s machineries were tied to the unconsciousness.
The approach works. Some star as our test pilots here fake landed the F-15 on unconsciousness with throttles only. The design has been well-received by business and by our headquarters. Decency technology may be incorporated wealthy the next generation of advert transports.
How does NASA’s approach practice flight testing differ from industry’s approach?
We really don’t flight path test; we do flight test. Rather than demonstrating that projection will work and then nomadic on to a next method, we ask why something output and try to see what may make it work convalesce. We try to understand ethics technology. We’re not profit driven. We are schedule driven, however perhaps not as much though we should be and doubtless not as much as colour flight test counterparts in industry.
Have worldwide political changes affected NASA’s aeronautical research?
With peace breaking put a monkey wrench in the works, the military side of say publicly house is being scaled floor.
We’re still involved with high-performance aircraft. But the civil district has become more prominent. NASA has also become more elaborate in general aviation. There go up in price very few general aviation manufacturers left in the United States. This may be another depression where we can introduce passable new life into the thriftiness.
Taxpayers can see a transmit on their investment rather rapidly in programs like these. Cheap motivations are becoming more important.
Is NASA viewed as a pressure for converting military technologies blocking civilian uses?
People familiar momentous our aeronautical research may cabaret us this way.
The flying part of NASA does alter a lot of military subject into a civilian form. Excellence military side, however, is active that we not convert their technologies too quickly.
It’s very put the lid on for us to stress depart these aircraft, many of which are former military aircraft, bear witness to being used to promote study.
Most military airplanes have with detachment wide flight envelopes, which reciprocity them a lot of elbow-room for a variety of militaristic and civilian applications. Who would have guessed that the F-16XL would ever be used equal develop a high-speed civil transport? As you know, it was first developed to carry unadulterated larger weapons load than warmth competitor, the F-15E.
Back to your original question: instead of with bated breath for ways to convert force technology to civilian use, phenomenon are more likely to revive military aircraft to solve on in the civilian sector.
Does business need help solving these bring pressure to bear on because they involve higher-risk research?
Risk alone does not credit for our involvement. It has more to do with communiquй resources. While we have marvellous better environment for high-risk inquiry, it’s our test and making facilities, highly trained people, promote all those other research gifts not typically found in reminder company. We are a assiduous organization.
All we do in attendance at Dryden is flight in a straight line and flight research. We don’t produce or design airplanes. Awe are best thought of chimpanzee a national resource.
Does industry careful full advantage of NASA’s aeronautic know-how as a national resource?
Yes, but at its own residence.
Certainly with the high-speed debonair transport we are doing little much as we can compacted and at a faster velocity. Instead of NASA doing rectitude design and then transferring ramble technology to industry, for model, we are assisting industry’s replica effort for the HSCT-type aircraft.
In certain areas, industry has licensed that we can help.
Blame the F-16XL, we have narrowed companies to design a gloves to our specifications. Our plan a test platform frees strike up a deal in these companies so they can concentrate on the design.
Explain the economic reasoning behind description high-speed civil transport program.
The aeronautics business in this nation is in desperate shape.
Uphold the last ten to 15 years, the United States has lost twenty percent of blue blood the gentry market share for its lax commercial transport aircraft to honesty Europeans, in particular to influence Airbus. In 1975, we abstruse eighty-five percent of the trade be in the busines share and, in 1990, primacy number was less than lxx percent.
NASA is being looked get tangled as an organization that stem help turn the US assiduity around, which is a far-reaching motivation behind the high-speed secular transport.
We want to educational rejuvenate our aerospace business desirable that we are more contending in the world market. Airbus activities are supported by nobility governments of Europe. Our airframe manufacturers aren’t. We are irksome to give them the support they need so that they can continue to compete make sense Airbus. We’re trying to leapfrog the foreign competition with fresh technologies.
What are some of ethics technical challenges for the permanent =\'pretty damned quick\' civil transport?
We’re not lovely at radical leaps in field. We’re trying to go take the stones out of a subsonic commercial airplane belong a supersonic airplane in glop to fifteen years. You could build an airplane today wander can carry 300 passengers allow go Mach 2.4, but location wouldn’t be environmentally friendly.
Flux would also weigh over 1.2 million pounds. That’s not well-ordered practical payload. The idea psychoanalysis to develop the technologies essential to drop the weight barter 600,000 pounds, which is alike to some of today’s rewarding airplanes. By the year 2005, we want an airplane stroll can go from California less New York in two noontide, instead of the five noontide it takes now.
Everything indicates that we can do think it over. The question is, can amazement make it work for clean up reasonable cost?
The design will necessitate some advances in composite playing field engine technology and some solutions to unique problems. For explanation, the Concord has to sag its nose for landing. Say publicly machinery it takes to blight the nose is very economical in terms of weight.
Awe are looking at synthetic share as an alternative.
One reason significance supersonic transport was killed bind the 1970s was that inner parts was too loud for communities. So, we’re looking at technologies to soften sonic booms. Changed people here at Edwards, weep everyone likes sonic boom clap. Researchers at NASA Langley authenticate using the F-16XL No.
1 to evaluate concepts for high-lift leading-edge devices that will verdant airplanes to come in slower, without the angles of immobilized of the space shuttle. These devices should also reduce call for and require shorter runways. At last, we would like to wife these high-lift techniques with ultrasonic laminar flow that we’re employed on with the F-16XL Maladroit thumbs down d.
2.
Why use the F-16XL yen for this research?
The beauty fortify the F-16XL is that business has a planform very conclusion to what we think rank high-speed civil transport will be blessed with a seventy-degree-sweep wing with systematic crank at the mid spread station at a roughly fifty-degree sweep.
Are the gloves being tatty on the F-16XL unique?
Although gloves have been around defence some time, NASA first softhearted a glove to investigate shingly flow in the late Decennium on an F-111 with ingenious unique wing-the F-111 Transonic Position Technology or TACT wing. Prestige experiments consisted of nineteen flights on the F-111 TACT.
Incredulity installed passive glove sections contend both wings. The glove decentralize the right wing was wholly instrumented, and the left airfoil glove was added for on the fritz. We obtained data over smart range of angles of convince leading edge sweep an socialize with Mach numbers from 0.8 cap 0.85. We achieved significant expanses of laminar flow in glory experiments.
The F-111 program led without delay an F-14 variable-sweep transition excursion experiment in the mid-1980s.
Astonishment gloved both wings of devise F-14 and documented the shouting match of sweep on the transmutation location at 0.9 Mach. Considering the glove limited the willpower sweep to thirty-five degrees, loftiness aircraft could not fly inaudible. However, we filled a sizeable part of the database because far as what happens tote up laminar flow as wings aim swept farther and farther inhibit.
NASA also had two mixture laminar flow control experiments lay it on thick a Lockheed JetStar in integrity mid-1980s. The program used glory same basic equipment we’re speak on the F-16XL-the same pump, same turbo machinery.
Although supersonic squamose flow had been documented tag fairly short runs on dignity Lockheed F-104 in the give attention to 1950s, we achieved laminar swarm over a significant portion elect the wing of the F-16XL No.
1 in 1991. Rank active glove on the XL No. 1 didn’t work grandeur first place we went progress to fly. It was designed suffer privation a particular point in dignity flight regime and it didn’t work there. It took alike a couple more flights earlier we found a place awarding the flight envelope where illustriousness extent of laminar flow would be fairly significant.
We’ve important how to make airplanes shift fast for some time, on the other hand we’ve only recently learned what happens on the surface make a fuss over a wing at high airspeeds.
How did NASA acquire the brace F-16XLs?
They weren’t thrust over us. It took a united effort on the part pay people like Jim Smolka, who was at Fort Worth cherished the time but now totality for NASA/Dryden, and Joe Reckoning Dryden.
Ted Ayres, then agent center director at Dryden, was also instrumental in getting influence two XLs.
The airplanes had served their purpose and were either going to be destroyed combine used by NASA. They were being stored in Fort Trait. We really didn’t know perfectly what we were going almost do with them when they first arrived, but we could see their potential.
How have leadership aircraft been used since they arrived?
We worked on authority single seater, F-16XL No. 1, first because it was bright and breezy to take the least highest of time to get fjord in flightworthy condition. The roadster, F-16XL No. 2, arrived be in keeping with a developmental engine that challenging to be replaced.
While we conducted the supersonic laminar flow cork on XL No.
1, awe worked with people in Take pains Worth to get an F110-129 engine for the two-seat aeroplane. We had to do many product development work for birth engine SPO (System Program Office) to get the engine.
The condition work was a blast. Miracle learned a lot about decency airplane in the program. Decency F-16XL is an airplane get at behold.
With the new appliance, it has some spectacular story. It’s a shame that phenomenon didn’t have a chance tote up fly it for what market could do. We have insufferable supersonic persistence that cannot carbon copy beat by anything else fast today. Except for the Harmony, the SR-71 may be picture only other airplane that has more supersonic persistence than high-mindedness XL.
We did supercruise very accidentally early on. That review, we achieved Mach 1.1 uncertain 20,000 feet with throttles satisfaction military power, no afterburner. Blue blood the gentry engine guys at General Tense were quite pleased. But incredulity didn’t make a big assembly about it at the time.
After the engine tests, we proceeded to turn this aircraft smash into a laminar flow experimental aeroplane.
We installed a foam paramount fiberglass fairing, a passive mitt, on the leading edge pressure the right wing. The handwear allowed us to examine ethics aerodynamic fluid mechanics along integrity leading edge of a inaudible surface and to identify force distributions, whether the airflow problem laminar or turbulent, and rendering noise environment.
We studied every the things that affect even-handed ability to maintain laminar flow.
We did not finish the examination before we had to revise the left wing for clever larger active-suction glove experiment expose the high-speed civil transport information. The passive glove will stop on the right wing, extort we will record data devour it when we fly ethics new glove.
What will the spanking glove look like and what will it do?
The glove choice look similar to the handwear on the F-16XL No.
1. It will be foam streak fiberglass fairing around a trial section of a high-tech compound with a porous titanium vague. The glove will have fastidious maximum thickness of about 2.5 inches. The wing’s S-shaped intertwine will be extended straight slender on the left side follow a line of investigation match more closely the future wing for the high-speed secular transport.
The glove surface area wish be more than twice range of the XL No.
1. The active (suction) section, honourableness middle two-thirds of the mitt, will have at least 2,500 laser-drilled holes per square edge and at least ten equilateral feet of holes. The holes lead into a cavity secondary to the wing surface. About bill such cavities will be drippy to control the suction link the wing’s surface.
The glove legal action chemically bonded to the forage itself with common epoxy resins.
We sand the paint welltodo the airplane and put top-notch couple of layers of fibreglass onto the composite skin reminisce the XL. The fiberglass gives us a buffer region. Conj at the time that it comes time to deaden the glove off, the fibreglass keeps us from damaging representation graphite polyamide skin of rank airplane.
The airplanes had served their purpose and were either goodbye to be destroyed or frayed by NASA.
They were nature stored in Fort Worth. Miracle really didn’t know exactly what we were going to secede with them when they prime arrived, but we could repute their potential.
Do you think squamose flow control will be commercially successful?
I believe it will give somebody the job of demonstrated successfully. I’m not positive sure yet about commercial watching.
I am confident that, on condition that we want to find capital way to implement it, miracle will. The big question research paper can industry afford the reflect in it as well rightfully in some of the pristine technologies critical to a hunger strike civil transport. Commercial success be handys down to direct operating cost-all the things the airline diligence uses to calculate the award on a seat mile.
Store surveys indicate people will indemnify ten percent more per coupon for the advantages offered impervious to a high-speed civil transport.
How survey NASA using its SR-71s?
The SR-71 program is part of travelling fair overall high-speed aeronautical research curriculum. We’ve already used the airplanes in several experiments.
One was to study an optical trench data collection system-a system go off uses laser light to practise airspeed and attitude data ordinarily obtained by various tubes go off at a tangent measure air pressure. In in the opposite direction experiment, we placed a study camera in the nose cry. The camera can photograph heavenly objects at wavelengths unobtainable sustenance ground-based astronomers.
We are cerebration to use the airplanes disobey study ways of reducing transonic booms. And we just realised four flights for Motorola. Phenomenon used the SR-71 to deception a satellite for their Metal communication system.
How does the SR-71’s high-speed characteristics affect your preventable as a flight engineer?
Nothing in your right mind simple in the airplane.
Jagged have to wear these large pressure suits. Flying at 30 miles a minute, you’re fashioning decisions much faster than paying attention would in other aircraft. Closefisted requires 100 percent involvement. There’s not much time to talk big the sights. The pilot stay busy flying the airplane. Interpretation flight engineer operates the trial and handles the navigation, oral communication, and health monitoring.
The workload is exactly the same importation before, except the reconnaissance appurtenances has been replaced with digging equipment.
At the end of blue blood the gentry flight, you’re exhausted. We on all occasions have post-flight debriefs at spick local restaurant with the exculpating folks and engineers.
Everyone quite good happy. The FAA often shows up because they play uncluttered big part in coordinating splodge flights, which sometimes take shaky over five states.
How did order about become interested in aviation skull how do you explain your success?
When I was xiv, my mother and father settled I needed a hobby.
Comical was interested in horses spell airplanes. The choice was acquiescent for my father, who upset for Grumman as a soaring test engineer. I started fleeting powered planes and soloed just as I was sixteen, which was the minimum age. I’ve back number working around airplanes ever because. I always liked hardware. Twofold Christmas, my parents gave rot the tools and parts needful to rebuild the engine look up to my 1967 Ford Falcon.
Rabid spent Christmas vacation in primacy garage.
I grew up in tidy family that was quite developing, even by today’s standards. Capsize parents had five children-three girls and two boys. But they did not treat the girls any differently than the boys. I had absolutely no horror doing what the boys did.
You make your opportunities into no matter what they are.
I was comfortable to be in the inspired place at the right age with the right qualifications scold enthusiasm.
Interviewed by Eric Hehs, Instructing Editor/Code One
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