1970s - at Dryden Flight Research Center
March 5, 1970 - First NASA checkout flight of
YF-12A, Fitz Fulton pilot.
June 2, 1970 - Bill Dana conducted the first flight of the
M2-F3 lifting body.
Oct. 14, 1970 - NASA Research pilots Tom McMurtry and Hugh Jackson reached a Dryden single-day record of six missions flown, in an
F-104B while deployed to obtain data for the "Big Boom" experiments that sought to focus the energy from a sonic boom over a limited area.
Mar. 9, 1971 - First flight of
supercritical wing flown by NASA pilot Tom McMurtry. Unusual wing shape, tested on a modified F-8, increased flight efficiency and lowered fuel usage. Concept now used widely on commercial and military aircraft.
Oct. 14, 1971 - A Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche became a testbed to develop remotely piloted aircraft techniques from a ground-based cockpit. Concept lead to successful projects such as three-eighths scale F-15/spin research vehicle,
Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) vehicle, and Boeing 720 jetliner purposely flown to a controlled crash landing in an FAA test of anti-misting fuel additive.
May 25, 1972 - First flight of aircraft with all-electric fly-by-wire flight control system, the NASA
F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire research aircraft, with
Gary Krier the pilot. Concept now used in many aircraft, including
space shuttles.
Aug. 1974 - A
Boeing 747 (tail number 905) was used for the first time in the wake vortex research program to study ways of reducing the turbulence trailing behind large aircraft before the 747 was sent to Boeing for modification as a future Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Aug. 5, 1975 - NASA pilot John Manke landed
X-24B lifting body on the Edwards runway, showing that a space shuttle-like vehicle could be landed safely on a designated runway after returning from orbit.
Mar. 26, 1976 - NASA Flight Research Center was dedicated in honor of the late Hugh L. Dryden. NASA personnel numbered more than 560.
Oct. 26, 1977 - Last of 13 captive and free-flight tests with
Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise proving the shuttle glide and landing characteristics.
Oct. 31, 1979 - Last research flight of the
NASA YF-12 research program. With Fitz Fulton as pilot, and Victor Horton flight test engineer on a YF-12A, one of three YF-12's flown during the program. Nearly 300 research flights explored high-speed, high-altitude flight, and yielded information on thermal stress, aerodynamics, high-altitude environment, propulsion, and flight control systems.
