NASA. Nice in-flight view of the NASA F-104 experimental air - Lot 7

NASA. Nice in-flight view of the NASA F-104 experimental aircraft used by NASA between 1956 and 1994. The aircraft is equipped with an experimental device under the fuselage, and a rack under each wing. The F-104, tail number 826, was flown by NASA at Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, as a testbed for aeronautical experiments. The aircraft was distinguished by a pylon called the Flight Test Fixture (FTF) mounted on the fuselage centerline between the main landing gear. Items to be tested were attached to or installed in the FTF, which was instrumented to record on-board research data. The instrument package also transmitted this same data in "real time" to the engineers in Dryden's mission control room as the tests progressed. The FTF was an excellent aircraft on which to place experiments that required in-flight variations in temperature, pressure and airflow velocity. The NASA 826 was used in a wide variety of research programs, including the testing of heat-resistant tiles for the Space Shuttle. Attached to the FTF, the tiles were transported in the rain to study the effects of humidity on them. The tiles were also transported on the fixture in a position similar to the orbiter environment to determine whether the bonding used to secure the tiles was sufficient.