Crash Tests

A series of three Cessna 172 crash tests in the summer of 2015 provided valuable data to improve emergency response.
Crash Test Harvests Valuable Data to Improve Emergency Reponse (video)

We crash tested a 45-foot former Marines helicopter to test crashworthiness systems.
Helicopter Drop Test a Smashing Success (video)

Green Aviation

We've tested non-stick wing coatings on a Boeing research aircraft to reduce drag and save fuel.
NASA Tests Aircraft Wing Coatings that Slough Bug Guts
Landing at Langley, Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator 757 Displays Advances in Green Aviation (video)

Drones

Engineers at Langley have been operating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for years to research technology, make full-sized aircraft safer, help better integrate drones safely into the skies, develop new uses for UAS and improve their safety.
NASA Flies Drones in Aircraft Noise Test (video)
Is a Drone on Your Holiday List? (video)
NASA Langley Drone Flying Site Open for Testing (video)

X-Planes

The return of supersonic passenger air travel is one step closer to reality with NASA's award of a contract for the preliminary design of a "low boom" flight demonstration aircraft. This is the first in a series of 'X-planes' in NASA's New Aviation Horizons initiative.
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NASA's X-57 Maxwell aircraft will use a specially designed wing and 14 electric motors to demonstrate that electric propulsion can make planes quieter, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
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