A modified C-140 JetStar was flown by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center from 1964 to 1989 on a variety of aeronautical research projects applicable to improved technologies for civilian aircraft. Built by Lockheed, the aircraft arrived at Dryden in May 1963 and bore tail number 814.
Dryden, in cooperation with NASA’s Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, used the JetStar to investigate the acoustic characteristics of a series of subscale advanced-design propellers in the early 1980s. These propellers were designed to rotate at a tip speed faster than the speed of sound. They were, in effect, a “swept-back wing” propeller design.
The JetStar was modified with the installation of an air turbine drive system. The drive motor, with a 24-inch test propeller, was mounted in a pylon atop the aircraft. The JetStar was equipped with an array of 28 microphones flush-mounted on the fuselage beneath the propeller pylon, while microphones mounted on the wings and on accompanying chase aircraft provided far-field acoustic data…Learn more
The C-140 JetStar #814 is now on display at Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California.