PRESS RELEASE 93-20

Immediate 
Linda S. Ellis
(Bus: 216/433-2900)
<h3>NASA Studies Inlet for Tomorrow's High Speed Civil Transport</h3> 
Cleveland, OH -- NASA's Lewis Research Center is conducting tests on 
this Variable Diameter Centerbody inlet in the Center's 10 x 10-foot 
Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The variable diameter feature of this inlet 
promotes acceleration through the high drag Mach 1 transonic speeds. 
The tests on the mixed compression, axisym-metric inlet focus on 
increasing efficiency and thrust of an engine. Typically, tests are 
run from Mach 2 to Mach 2.5, and up to 8 degrees angle of attack, 
which occurs when an airplane flies with its nose tilted away from 
its flight direction. The inlet may be used on tomorrow's High Speed 
Civil Transport, a new supersonic airliner. Such an aircraft would 
fly 250 - 300 people across the Pacific at supersonic speeds, cutting 
hours from the time of the same flight with today's 747. 

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Photo numbers are C-93-01812 and C-93-01813.

	
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