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• - Browse neighboring items by call number.
• Collection: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

• Title: NASA Langley Research Center, 8-Foot High Speed Wind Tunnel, 641 Thornell Avenue, Hampton, Hampton (Independent City), VA
• Other Title: Building No. 641
• Creator(s): Historic American Engineering Record, creator
• Related Names:
     Robinson, Russell G.
     Hood, Manley J.
     Jacobs, Eastman N.
     U.S. Public Works Administration (PWA)
     Stack, John
     Orlin, William
     Wright, Ray H.
     Ritchie, Virgil S.
     Whitcomb, Richard
     Becker, John
     U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
     Lewis, George W.
     Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory
     U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
     U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Langley Research Center
     Wang, Charissa Y. , field team
     Durst, Donald M. , field team
     Herrin, Dean A. , project manager
     Lowe, Jet , photographer
     Hardlines: Design & Delineation , delineator
     Stewart, Robert C. , historian
     Cunningham, Chris , photographer
     Newbill, Michael , researcher
     Dutton, David H. , researcher
     Anderson, Richard K., Jr. , researcher
     Laird, Matthew R. , historian
     Lowe, Jet , photographer
     U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) , sponsor
     McPartland, Mary , transmitter
• Date Created/Published: Documentation compiled after 1968
• Medium: Photo(s): 29
  Measured Drawing(s): 1
  Data Page(s): 45
  Photo Caption Page(s): 4
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)
  
• Call Number: HAER VA,28-HAMP,4B-
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Significance: The facility was authorized in July 1933 and built by the Public Works Administration for $26,000. It tested complete models of aircraft and aircraft components in a high-speed airstream approaching the speed of sound. Originally capable of testing at Mach 0.75, it was repowered in the 1940s and early 1950s to have a Mach 1.2 potential. The most important contribution of the HST was defining the causes and cures for the sever adverse stability and control problems encountered in high-speed dives. This tunnel also produced the high-speed cowling shapes used in World War II aircraft, and efficient air inlets for jet aircraft. The first 500-MPH analyses of propellers were made here early in the war. After repowering, the 8-Foot Tunnel produced precise transonic data up to Mach numbers as high as 0.92 for such aircraft as the X-1, D-558, and others. Its final achievement was the development and use in routine operations of the first transonic slotted throat. The investigations of wing-body shapes in this tunnel led to Richard Whitcomb's discovery of the transonic area rule. The HST developed an impressive record in aviation history as an example of accomplishment by imaginative researchers.
  • Survey number: HAER VA-118-B
  • Building/structure dates: 1936 Initial Construction
  • Building/structure dates: 1944 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1945 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1950 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1946 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1966 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1985 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 2011 Demolished
• Subjects:
  • wind tunnels
  • aeronautics
  • reinforced concrete construction
  • motors
  • offices
  • Art Deco architectural elements
  • testing
  • Works Progress Administration
• Place:
  • Virginia--Hampton (Independent City)--Hampton
• Latitude/Longitude: 37.080895, -76.34137818829
• Collections:
  • Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
• Part of: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
• Bookmark This Record:
     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/va1795/

The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html ).

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Call Number: HAER VA,28-HAMP,4B-
• Medium: Photo(s): 29
  Measured Drawing(s): 1
  Data Page(s): 45
  Photo Caption Page(s): 4

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

• Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
• Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

• Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
• P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
• Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
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• Make note of the Call Number listed above.
• Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
• The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
• All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

• Call Number: HAER VA,28-HAMP,4B-
• Medium: Photo(s): 29
  Measured Drawing(s): 1
  Data Page(s): 45
  Photo Caption Page(s): 4

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

   • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.

     As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

   • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

   • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

   • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.