File:Rotorcraft Test Vehicle (8420189827).jpg

While walking in the NASA NFAC wind tunnel facility, this peculiar vehicle caught our eye... From the distance, it looked like a submarine... but sported some interesting details, below.

NASA: "The NFAC is uniquely qualified to perform research on full- or large-scale rotorcraft. Model studies of rotorcraft are limited because of conflicting aerodynamic and aeroelastic requirements (the way they interact with the air is far more complicated than fixed wing aircraft). Despite becoming increasingly useful, computational fluid dynamic testing (which use computers to simulate airflow over objects) has had limited success dealing with the highly complex interaction between air and the rotor blades." A large number of rotorcraft tests continue to be conducted (e.g., the U.S. Marine’s V-22 Osprey tilt rotor and its precursor, the XV-15).