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Jerry Gentry
Jerauld Richard "Jerry" Gentry (May 16, 1935 – March 3, 2003) was a United States Air Force (USAF) test pilot and Vietnam combat veteran. As chief USAF pilot of the Lifting Body Research Program, he helped validate the concept of flying a wingless vehicle back to Earth from space and landing it like an aircraft—an approach used by the Space Shuttle and to a greater degree by vehicles such as the Lockheed Martin X-33 and NASA X-38. Gentry completed thirty lifting body flights including the first flight of the Martin-Marietta X-24A and the second flight of the Northrop HL-10. Biography Early years Gentry was born in Enid, Oklahoma to Louise (née Hoyt) Gentry and Richard "Dick" Gentry. He attended Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1957 and accepted his commission with the U.S. Air Force. Military career Gentry received pilot training in 1958 and flew the F-100 Super Sabre. He attende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enid, Oklahoma
Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's '' Idylls of the King''. In 1991, the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the " purple martin capital of Oklahoma."Purple Martin State Capitals ", ''Nature Society News'', June 2006, p. 8. Enid holds the nickname of "Queen Wheat City" and "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity, and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world. History [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vietnam Service Medal
The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. Armed Forces provided they meet the award requirements. The distinctive design has been attributed to both sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry and Mercedes Lee who created the design. Award criteria The Vietnam Service Medal (VSM) was awarded to all members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in Vietnam and its contiguous waters or airspace, after 3 July 1965 through 28 March 1973. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, or airspace thereover, during the same period and serving in direct support of operations in Vietnam are also eligible for the award. ; Requirements Individuals must meet one of the following requirements: * Be attached to or regularly serve for 1 or more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northrop HL-10
The Northrop HL-10 was one of five US heavyweight lifting body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC—later Dryden Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space. It was a NASA design and was built to evaluate "inverted airfoil" lifting body and delta planform. It currently is on display at the entrance to the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. Development Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and Northrop M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of "heavy" lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. The contract for construction of the HL-10 and the M2-F2 was $1.8 million. "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Main gear was a modified T-38 system retracted manually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin-Marietta X-24
The Martin Marietta X-24 was an American experimental aircraft developed from a joint United States Air Force-NASA program named PILOT (1963–1975). It was designed and built to test lifting body concepts, experimenting with the concept of unpowered reentry and landing, later used by the Space Shuttle. also available as a PDF file'. Originally built as the X-24A, the aircraft was later rebuilt as the X-24B. The X-24 was drop launched from a modified Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes before igniting its rocket engine; after expending its rocket fuel, the pilot would gliding flight, glide the X-24 to an unpowered landing. Design and development The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA X-38
The X-38 was an experimental re-entry vehicle designed by NASA to research a possible emergency crew return vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station (ISS). The 1995–2002 program also developed concepts for a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a possible joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane 5 booster. The program would eventually develop a total of three test prototype flight demonstrators for the proposed Crew Return Vehicle, each having incremental improvements on its predecessor. All three were wingless lifting body vehicles used in drop tests. The X-38 program was canceled in 2002 due to budget cuts. History The maximum crew size for the ISS is dependent on crew rescue capacity. Since it is imperative that the crew members be able to return to Earth in case of an unexpected emergency, a Crew Return Vehicle able to hold up to seven crew members was initially planned by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lockheed Martin X-33
The Lockheed Martin X-33 was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane that was developed for a period in the 1990s. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was planned to be a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle. The X-33 would flight-test a range of technologies that NASA believed it needed for single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles (SSTO RLVs), such as metallic thermal protection systems, composite cryogenic fuel tanks for liquid hydrogen, the aerospike engine, autonomous (uncrewed) flight control, rapid flight turn-around times through streamlined operations, and its lifting body aerodynamics. Failures of its 21-meter wingspan and multi-lobed, composite-material fuel tank during pressure testing ultimately led to the withdrawal of federal support for the program in early 2001. Lockheed Martin has conducted unrelated testing, and has had a single success after a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development. The first ( STS-1) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights (STS-5) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. They launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle-''Mir'' program with Russia, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lifting Body
A lifting body is a fixed-wing aircraft or spacecraft configuration in which the body itself produces lift. In contrast to a flying wing, which is a wing with minimal or no conventional fuselage, a lifting body can be thought of as a fuselage with little or no conventional wing. Whereas a flying wing seeks to maximize cruise efficiency at subsonic speeds by eliminating non-lifting surfaces, lifting bodies generally minimize the drag and structure of a wing for subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic flight, or spacecraft re-entry. All of these flight regimes pose challenges for proper flight safety. Lifting bodies were a major area of research in the 1960s and 70s as a means to build a small and lightweight crewed spacecraft. The US built a number of lifting body rocket planes to test the concept, as well as several rocket-launched re-entry vehicles that were tested over the Pacific. Interest waned as the US Air Force lost interest in the crewed mission, and major development ended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Test Pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing of the Airplane.'' American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1996, p. 265 History Test flying as a systematic activity started during the First World War, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in the United Kingdom. An "Experimental Flight" was formed at the Central Flying School. During the 1920s, test flying was further developed by the RAE in the UK, and by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in the United States. In the 1950s, NACA was transformed into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. During these years, as work was done into aircraft stability and handling qualities, test flying evolved towards a more qualitative scientific profession. In the 1950s, test pilots were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerospace Walk Of Honor
The Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California, USA, honors test pilots who have contributed to aviation and space research and development. The Aerospace Walk of Honor awards were established in 1990 by the City of Lancaster "to recognize the important contributions of unique and talented aviators who soared above the rest." Lancaster is located in the Antelope Valley, near four flight test facilities: US Air Force Plant 42, Edwards AFB, Mojave Air and Space Port and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The Walk of Honor program officially concluded in August 2009. The Walk of Honor is located on Lancaster Boulevard between Sierra Highway to the east and 10th Street West and is anchored by Boeing Plaza, which has a restored F-4 Phantom II on display. Honorees are memorialized with granite monuments located along Lancaster Boulevard. Test pilots who receive awards were inducted annually in late summer. The Walk of Honor monuments and activities are funded by several ae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octave Chanute Award
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. (AIAA) established the Octave Chanute Award named after Octave Chanute. Pilot(s) or test personnel that contributed to the advancement of the art, science, or technology of aeronautics received the Octave Chanute Award. The Octave Chanute Award was renamed the Chanute Flight Award in 1978 and discontinued by the AIAA in 2005. Starting in 2017, the Chanute Flight Award was re-established as the Chanute Flight Test Award. The Chanute Flight Test Award presentation occurs biennially (odd-numbered years) at the AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum.The Chanute Flight Test Award is presented to recognize significant lifetime achievements in the advancement of the art, science, and technology of flight test engineering. Self taught Octave Chanute, 1832–1910, was born in France and became a naturalized American. He was a self-taught engineer. He designed the first railroad bridge over the Missouri River and the Union Stock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iven C
Iven is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Notable residents *Georg Detlev von Flemming Georg Detlev von Flemming (Polish: Jerzy Detloff Fleming) (3 March 1699 – 10 December 1771) was a General in Polish-Saxon service, Grand Treasurer of Lithuania in 1746–1764 and Voivode of Pomerelia in 1766. Von Flemming was born on 3 March 1 ... (1699–1771), Saxon-Polish general References Vorpommern-Greifswald {{VorpommernGreifswald-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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