The Roanoke Times, Saturday, March 27, 1999 These days, it runs tests on race cars and Volvo trucks
NASA'S old fighter-plane tunnel
can still get the wind up
It is one of only four full scale commercial wind tunnels in North
America,
and ODU can use it for free until 2007.
By Sonja Barisic
Associated Press
NORFOLK - A Depression era wind tunnel that once tested tile aerodynamics
of
fighter planes is being used now to check out modern vehicles that take to
the
road, from Volvo tractors to NASCAR race cars. Old Dominion University's
Full-
Scale Wind Tunnel is believed to be the largest university; operated wind
tunnel In the world, university President James V. Koch said.
"It's a prime location for facility research and student
Internships," he
said. "It's a good place for students to get their fingers dirty and get
a
feel for what someone in the [engineering] field does." It's also a good
place
to make job contacts, he said.
The tunnel, 30 feet high and 60 feet wide with two 35-foot
propellers, is
housed at Langley Air Force Base In Hampton. It can accommodate vehicles
up to
20,000 pounds and create winds of up to 80 mph. Researchers are hoping to
reach 110 mph.
Opened In 1931 by the federal agency that preceded NASA, the
tunnel tested
the aerodynamics of virtually every fighter plane the U.S. Military-built
In
World War II, manager Jim Cross said.
NASA's Langley Research center shut down the tunnel In the fall of
1995
because of budget cuts.
Old Dominion's College of Engineering and Technology saw the
potential for
making money to support faculty research and engineering graduate
students,
said Cross, who also is an ODU professor of aerospace engineering.
(Picture)Members of the Penske racing team and personnel from Old
Dominion
University's Wind Tunnel prepare to check out cars raced by Rusty Wallace
and
Jeremy Mayfield. The tunnel can accommodate vehicles up to 20,000 pounds
and
create winds of up to 80 rnph.
In 1997, NASA agreed to consign the tunnel to ODU for free for 10
years,
Cross said. After that, ODU can renew the agreement in three-year
increments.
The tunnel is making some money, but Cross declined to say how
much.
It is one of only four commercial, full-scale wind tunnels in
North America,
Cross said. The others are operate by General Motors in Warren, Mich.;
Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga.; and the National Research Council in
Ottawa,
Canada, he said.
ODU's tunnel has an advantage: It charges $1,400 per hour for
tunnel time,
while the others charge as much as $2,400.
NASCAR Winston Cup teams are the tunnel's biggest customers, Cross said.
Penske and Rudd Performance Motor Sports are among the 17 teams that bring
in
vehicles, sometimes as often as two or three times a month, he said.
The NASCAR teams are Interested in reducing drag, or wind
resistance, on
their cars. They also want to increase downforce, which pushes the car
down on
the racetrack. The greater the downforce, the faster the car can go in
turns.
The teams configure their cars to match the needs of specific
tracks, Cross
said. "The Daytona Speedway car will look different than, say, the Bristol
short-track car or the Richmond short-track car," he said.
The NASCAR teams include engineers and designers. Only one driver,
Ricky
Rudd, has been to the tunnel.
"He's kind of a hands-on race car owner and driver," Cross said. "Plus,
he's
from Chesapeake. He spent a full day tat the tunnel actively involved in
the
development of his car.
The wind tunnel also has had visits from manufacturers of other
vehicles.
Volvo, for example, has tested tractor-trailers there, Cross said.
Associated Press
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