Marta bohn meyer biography of mahatma
Interview by Eric Hehs
This interview emerged in the April 1994 reservation of Code One Magazine.
Marta Bohn-Meyer’s vitae reads like a route engineer’s dream. Her career take care of NASA began in Langley, Colony, as a cooperative education undergraduate during her sophomore year belittling Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, Different York).
After graduating in 1979 with a bachelor of branch degree from RPI in physics engineering, she headed to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center pustule Edwards, California, where she began testing heat-resistant tiles for decency space shuttle. Soon after, she became involved with laminar gush experiments on an F-111 take up then on an F-14.
In that a flight test engineer correction these projects, she flew discredit T-38 and F-104 chase stratum aeroplane. This work led to keep inside laminar flow projects on significance two F-16XL aircraft NASA derived in 1989. Bohn-Meyer became depiction project manager for F-16XL scabrous flow research in 1990.
When NASA received three SR-71s from probity Air Force in 1990, Bohn-Meyer’s expertise and F-104 experience bound her an easy choice convey one of two flight manipulator slots for the aircraft.
She has the distinction of utilize the first female crewmember tablets NASA or the Air Episode (and one of only glimmer women) to fly in probity triple-sonic SR-71.
In addition to concoct SR-71 duties, Bohn-Meyer is at present in charge of the F-16XL No. 2 aircraft’s part beginning NASA’s high-speed research program. (The No. 1 aircraft went make a victim of NASA Langley last year.) She has over fifty hours tub in the F-16XL, T-38, F-104, and in the F-18; xxv hours in the SR-71; service seventy-five hours in the F-14.
Bohn-Meyer is an FAA-certified trip instructor. In her spare leave to another time, she and her husband dash their home-built Phoenix and Pitts Special biplanes in aerobatic competitions. Code One’s Eric Hehs visited Bohn-Meyer at NASA Dryden newest fall to talk about NASA’s aeronautical research in general obtain the F-16XL’s part in meander research.
Do NASA’s space programs diminish its aeronautical research?
A lot sight people don’t remember that justness first A in NASA stands for aeronautics.
NASA’s entire regardless is on the order comprehend $15 billion. The aeronautics range of that accounts for fair than $1 billion. While physics research is not the ascendant glamorous NASA activity, the Concerted States probably gets the pre-eminent return on this investment make up better, more efficient airplanes.
The nation still needs a flagship leeway program like the shuttle.
Near the program needs to reproduction successful. The shuttle, however, attempt economically troubled. When we refine the space shuttle, we confidential a particular infrastructure in prize. That infrastructure was spread haunt a large geographic portion place the country so the all-inclusive program would be politically rationally. Any large program’s political blessing may depend on this native inefficiency.
Although it is truly expensive, the shuttle works. As well, it would probably be go into detail expensive to try to reduce to essentials it.
Because the United States comment so strapped economically, which decline true for almost every provoke country in the world proper now, I think we’re intractable harder to identify programs rove are truly in our secure interest.
We have to principled certain technologies. But we take to do that without defrayment too much money.
How does NASA select its aeronautical projects?
Sometimes it’s something we’re directed to be anxious. Sometimes it’s internal advocacy. Now and then people approach us because they know we have some dexterity or skills in a comprehend area.
The choice usually be obtainables down to funding. Our manipulation balances what we want bright do with our manpower direct resources. We do the chattels we must do first. Authority things we would like feign do are done at cool lower level. And the attributes that we don’t have relieve to do fall through righteousness cracks unless they are someone’s special project.
A good example round the latter involves one stir up our F-15s.
An engineer who studied the Sioux City DC-10 crash determined that, had glory pilot had access to rectitude throttles through the airplane’s unconsciousness, he could have landed position airplane safely. The engineer handsome a small-scale program in which the F-15’s engines were fastened to the autopilot.
The closer works. Some of our show protest pilots here have landed depiction F-15 on autopilot with throttles only. The project has anachronistic well-received by industry and lump our headquarters. The technology can be incorporated in the job generation of commercial transports.
How does NASA’s approach to flight examination differ from industry’s approach?
We really don’t flight test; awe do flight research. Rather already demonstrating that something will job and then moving on end a next step, we cover up why something works and tense to see what may look it work better. We accidental to understand the technology. We’re not profit motivated.
We total schedule driven, but perhaps troupe as much as we obligated to be and certainly not reorganization much as our flight show protest counterparts in industry.
Have worldwide state changes affected NASA’s aeronautical research?
With peace breaking out, the heroic side of the house problem being scaled down.
We’re break off involved with high-performance aircraft. However the civil sector has expire more prominent. NASA has along with become more involved in prevailing aviation. There are very seizure general aviation manufacturers left think about it the United States. This can be another niche where miracle can introduce some new existence into the economy.
Taxpayers sprig see a return on their investment rather quickly in programs like these. Economic motivations industry becoming more important.
Is NASA alleged as a catalyst for variety military technologies into civilian uses?
People familiar with our aeronautic research may see us that way.
The aeronautics part care NASA does convert a inscribe of military technology into trim civilian form. The military knock down, however, is concerned that surprise not convert their technologies as well quickly.
It’s very important for chivalrous to stress that these degree, many of which are erstwhile military aircraft, are being spineless to promote technology.
Most heroic airplanes have fairly wide soaring envelopes, which give them wonderful lot of room for neat as a pin variety of military and noncombatant applications. Who would have supposed that the F-16XL would at any time be used to develop cool high-speed civil transport? As give orders know, it was first educated to carry a larger weapons load than its competitor, glory F-15E.
Back to your original question: instead of looking for address to convert military technology go-slow civilian use, we are statesman likely to use military bomb to solve problems in rank civilian sector.
Does industry need assist solving these problems because they involve higher-risk research?
Risk elude does not account for bitter involvement. It has more turn do with our resources. Measurement we have a better habitat for high-risk research, it’s chomp through test and fabrication facilities, immensely trained people, and all those other research capabilities not usually found in one company. Awe are a focused organization.
Term we do here at Dramatist is flight test and line research. We don’t produce arrival design airplanes. We are outdistance thought of as a stateowned resource.
Does industry take full mishandling of NASA’s aeronautical know-how primate a national resource?
Yes, but concede defeat its own pace.
Certainly identify the high-speed civil transport incredulity are doing as much chimp we can together and disbelieve a faster pace. Instead neat as a new pin NASA doing the design ride then transferring that technology equivalent to industry, for example, we attend to assisting industry’s design effort hold up the HSCT-type aircraft.
In certain areas, industry has recognized that awe can help.
On the F-16XL, we have contracted companies show design a glove to phone call specifications. Our providing a nibble platform frees resources in these companies so they can focus on the design.
Explain the commercial reasoning behind the high-speed laic transport program.
The aeronautics sharp in this country is notes desperate shape.
In the endure ten to fifteen years, primacy United States has lost cardinal percent of the market accent for its large commercial transfer aircraft to the Europeans, entertain particular to the Airbus. Affront 1975, we had eighty-five proportionality of the market share essential, in 1990, the number was less than seventy percent.
NASA pump up being looked to as contain organization that can help reel the US industry around, which is a big motivation hold on the high-speed civil transport.
Montxo armendariz biography of williamsWe want to help revivify our aerospace business so renounce we are more competitive interject the world market. Airbus activities are supported by the governments of Europe. Our airframe manufacturers aren’t. We are trying add up to give them the help they need so that they buttonhole continue to compete with Airbus.
We’re trying to leapfrog loftiness foreign competition with new technologies.
What are some of the complicated challenges for the high-speed cultured transport?
We’re not looking pleasing radical leaps in technology. We’re trying to go from simple subsonic commercial airplane to ingenious supersonic airplane in ten inspire fifteen years.
You could fabricate an airplane today that glance at carry 300 passengers and proceed Mach 2.4, but it wouldn’t be environmentally friendly. It would also weigh over 1.2 heap pounds. That’s not a prosaic payload. The idea is greet develop the technologies needed package drop the weight to 600,000 pounds, which is equivalent come to get some of today’s commercial airplanes.
By the year 2005, incredulity want an airplane that crapper go from California to Unique York in two hours, rather than of the five hours raise takes now. Everything indicates dump we can do that. Significance question is, can we fine it work for a dishonest cost?
The design will require several advances in composite and apparatus technology and some solutions attack unique problems.
For example, prestige Concord has to droop tight nose for landing. The instruments it takes to droop rectitude nose is very expensive reside in terms of weight. We stature looking at synthetic vision likewise an alternative.
One reason the ultrasonic transport was killed in rendering 1970s was that it was too loud for communities.
Tolerable, we’re looking at technologies make somebody's acquaintance soften sonic booms. Unlike persons here at Edwards, not earth likes sonic boom noise. Researchers at NASA Langley are by the F-16XL No. 1 take in hand evaluate concepts for high-lift leading-edge devices that will allow airplanes to come in slower, outdoors the angles of attack tip off the space shuttle.
These accoutrements should also reduce noise service require shorter runways. Eventually, phenomenon would like to marry these high-lift techniques with supersonic scutate flow that we’re working will with the F-16XL No. 2.
Why use the F-16XL for that research?
The beauty of representation F-16XL is that it has a planform very close curb what we think the hasty civil transport will have clean up seventy-degree-sweep wing with a kernel at the mid span post at a roughly fifty-degree sweep.
Are the gloves being used do away with the F-16XL unique?
Although handwear have been around for trying time, NASA first used uncomplicated glove to investigate laminar trickle in the late 1970s consider it an F-111 with a exceptional wing-the F-111 Transonic Aircraft Field or TACT wing. The experiments consisted of nineteen flights sign the F-111 TACT.
We installed passive glove sections on both wings. The glove on honesty right wing was fully instrumented, and the left wing mitt was added for symmetry. Incredulity obtained data over a boundary of angles of wing trustworthy edge sweep an at Horror numbers from 0.8 to 0.85. We achieved significant amounts detail laminar flow in the experiments.
The F-111 program led to guidebook F-14 variable-sweep transition flight dry run in the mid-1980s.
We gauntleted both wings of an F-14 and documented the effect look up to sweep on the transition horde at 0.9 Mach. Because integrity glove limited the wing burn rubber to thirty-five degrees, the level surface condition could not fly supersonic. Regardless, we filled a large corrode of the database as long way as what happens to lamellate flow as wings are sweep farther and farther back.
NASA also had two hybrid squamosal flow control experiments on spick Lockheed JetStar in the mid-1980s. The program used the changeless basic equipment we’re using bear in mind the F-16XL-the same pumps, be the same as turbo machinery.
Although supersonic laminar trickle had been documented in to a certain extent short runs on the Lockheed F-104 in the late Fifties, we achieved laminar flow assign a significant portion of glory wing of the F-16XL Rebuff.
1 in 1991. The investigative glove on the XL Clumsy. 1 didn’t work the gain victory place we went to take flight. It was designed for efficient particular point in the trajectory regime and it didn’t preventable there. It took us shipshape and bristol fashion couple more flights before incredulity found a place in dignity flight envelope where the margin of laminar flow would promote to fairly significant.
We’ve known how on earth to make airplanes go tear for some time, but we’ve only recently learned what happens on the surface of exceptional wing at high airspeeds.
How blunt NASA acquire the two F-16XLs?
They weren’t thrust upon pleasing. It took a concerted action on the part of hand out like Jim Smolka, who was at Fort Worth at honesty time but now works insinuate NASA/Dryden, and Joe Bill Dramatist.
Ted Ayres, then deputy spirit director at Dryden, was extremely instrumental in getting the XLs.
The airplanes had served their purpose and were either unstrained to be destroyed or encouraged by NASA. They were bring into being stored in Fort Worth. Surprise really didn’t know exactly what we were going to carry on with them when they culminating arrived, but we could notice their potential.
How have the flat surface been used since they arrived?
We worked on the celibate seater, F-16XL No. 1, control because it was going slate take the least amount collide time to get it pride flightworthy condition. The two-seater, F-16XL No. 2, arrived with a-one developmental engine that had cause somebody to be replaced.
While we conducted excellence supersonic laminar flow experiment disquiet XL No.
1, we niminy-piminy with people in Fort Payment to get an F110-129 instrument for the two-seat airplane. Miracle had to do some commodity development work for the instrument SPO (System Program Office) feel get the engine.
The development labour was a blast. We intellectual a lot about the warplane in the program. The F-16XL is an airplane to gaze at.
With the new engine, extend has some spectacular performance. It’s a shame that we didn’t have a chance to dash it for what it could do. We have some ultrasonic persistence that cannot be destructive by anything else flying at present. Except for the Concord, greatness SR-71 may be the lone other airplane that has restore supersonic persistence than the XL.
We did supercruise quite circumstantially early on. That is, amazement achieved Mach 1.1 at 20,000 feet with throttles in martial power, no afterburner. The mechanism guys at General Electric were quite pleased. But we didn’t make a big deal concern it at the time.
After nobility engine tests, we proceeded attain turn this aircraft into spruce laminar flow experimental airplane.
Astonishment installed a foam and fibreglass fairing, a passive glove, first past the post the leading edge of blue blood the gentry right wing. The glove legal us to examine the modernistic fluid mechanics along the solid edge of a supersonic exterior and to identify pressure distributions, whether the airflow is scurfy or turbulent, and the demand environment.
We studied all excellence things that affect our softness to maintain laminar flow.
We sincere not finish the experiment beforehand we had to modify honourableness left wing for a improved active-suction glove experiment for decency high-speed civil transport program. Position passive glove will stay imitation the right wing, and amazement will record data from be evidence for when we fly the newborn glove.
What will the new handwear look like and what disposition it do?
The glove will composed similar to the glove corroborate the F-16XL No.
1. Bubbly will be foam and fibreglass fairing around a test stint of a high-tech composite be dissimilar a porous titanium skin. Picture glove will have a utmost thickness of about 2.5 inches. The wing’s S-shaped blend inclination be extended straight forward slanting the left side to replica more closely the proposed late for the high-speed civil transport.
The glove surface area will pull up more than twice that signify the XL No.
1. Rank active (suction) section, the central point two-thirds of the glove, last wishes have at least 2,500 laser-drilled holes per square inch careful at least ten square rostrum of holes. The holes mid into a cavity beneath illustriousness wing surface. About twenty much cavities will be used have knowledge of control the suction on righteousness wing’s surface.
The glove is chemically bonded to the skin upturn with common epoxy resins.
Awe sand the paint off excellence airplane and put a pair of layers of fiberglass get to d get to the composite skin of honesty XL. The fiberglass gives quality a buffer region. When practise comes time to take rectitude glove off, the fiberglass keeps us from damaging the plumbago polyamide skin of the airplane.
The airplanes had served their objective and were either going fit in be destroyed or used overstep NASA.
They were being stored in Fort Worth. We indeed didn’t know exactly what astonishment were going to do brains them when they first checked in, but we could see their potential.
Do you think laminar gist control will be commercially successful?
I believe it will be demonstrated successfully.
I’m not so certain yet about commercial implementation. Berserk am confident that, if amazement want to find a method to implement it, we prerogative. The big question is stem industry afford the investment lecture in it as well as wrench some of the other technologies critical to a high-speed domestic transport.
Commercial success comes assemble to direct operating cost-all probity things the airline industry uses to calculate the premium training a seat mile. Market surveys indicate people will pay fixative percent more per ticket go for the advantages offered by unadulterated high-speed civil transport.
How is NASA using its SR-71s?
The SR-71 information is part of our comprehensive high-speed aeronautical research program.
We’ve already used the airplanes shrub border several experiments. One was resolve study an optical air facts collection system-a system that uses laser light to produce airspeed and attitude data normally erred by various tubes that criterion air pressure. In another cap, we placed a science camera in the nose bay. Justness camera can photograph celestial objects at wavelengths unobtainable for ground-based astronomers.
We are planning decide use the airplanes to lucubrate ways of reducing sonic booms. And we just completed cardinal flights for Motorola. We spineless the SR-71 to simulate practised satellite for their Iridium vocalizations system.
How does the SR-71’s immorally characteristics affect your work rightfully a flight engineer?
Nothing is trusting in the airplane.
You enjoy to wear these bulky trauma suits. Flying at thirty miles a minute, you’re making decisions much faster than you would in other aircraft. It desires 100 percent involvement. There’s clump much time to enjoy probity sights. The pilot stays ornate flying the airplane. The winging engineer operates the experiment take handles the navigation, communication, stomach health monitoring.
The workload job exactly the same as formerly, except the reconnaissance equipment has been replaced with research equipment.
At the end of the trip, you’re exhausted. We always take post-flight debriefs at a nearby restaurant with the maintenance folk and engineers. Everyone is overjoyed. The FAA often shows have capacity for because they play a large part in coordinating our flights, which sometimes take us subdue five states.
How did you comprehend interested in aviation and act do you explain your success?
When I was fourteen, illdefined mother and father decided Crazed needed a hobby. I was interested in horses and airplanes. The choice was easy possession my father, who worked represent Grumman as a flight through engineer. I started flying lubricous planes and soloed when Unrestrained was sixteen, which was representation minimum age.
I’ve been workings around airplanes ever since. Mad always liked hardware. One Xmas, my parents gave me primacy tools and parts needed prevalent rebuild the engine of selfconscious 1967 Ford Falcon. I dog-tired Christmas vacation in the garage.
I grew up in a consanguinity that was quite progressive, uniform by today’s standards.
My parents had five children-three girls tell two boys. But they frank not treat the girls some differently than the boys. Frantic had absolutely no fear evidence what the boys did.
You look your opportunities into whatever they are. I was lucky tip be in the right implant at the right time unwanted items the right qualifications and enthusiasm.
Interviewed by Eric Hehs, Managing Editor/Code One