Airborne Trailblazer, Issue 4216National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA History Office, 1994 - Aeronautics, Commercial - 188 pages This book is the story of a very unique airplane and the contributions it has made to the air transportation industry. NASA's Boeing 737-100 Transport Systems Research Vehicle was the prototype 737, acquired by the Langley Research Center in 1974 to conduct research into advanced transport aircraft technologies. In the twenty years that followed, the airplane participated in more than twenty different research projects, evolving from a research tool for a specific NASA program into a national airborne research facility. It played a critical role in developing and gaining acceptance for numerous significant transport technologies, including "glass cockpits," airborne windshear detection systems, data link for air traffic control communications, the microwave landing system, and the satellite-based global positioning system (GPS). Since the airplane played a role in such a wide variety of research programs, its story also provides an enlightening study of the many factors that influence the selection, development, and application of new technologies. |
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27 April 85 Program Airport A/C Grd Hdlg Aeronautics aft flight deck air transport airlines airplane's Airport 85 Program approach Argentina TRSB Demo ATOPS program Autoland Autothrottle Aviation Week Boeing Commercial Airplane Buenos Aires CDTI cockpit Commercial Airplane Company Creedon crew data bus data link Denver Dials Flight Test E-MACS electronic flight displays engineers equipment Federal Aviation Administration flight control flight management system flight path Flight Test Objectives Flt Verif Tests Grd Hdlg Tests Hampton ICAO industry interview with author Langley Research Center LIDAR Maintenance microburst microwave landing system MLS Demo NAFEC NAFEC MLS NASA photo number NASA researchers NASA's navigation operations phone interview Program Airport 85 radar Research Flight runway sensors Shear simulation Space Flare Space Technology takeoff TCV program TRSB/MLS Demo Canada TSRV Flt Verif Week & Space WFF A/C Grd WFF Dials Flight WFF STEP windshear detection