Public domain ↗
NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory
- Year
- 1939
- Creator
- Smith J. DeFrance (first director)
- Company
- National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); NASA Ames Research Center from 1958
- Location
- Moffett Field, California
- Room
- Radio Valley ↗
Description
The Ames Aeronautical Laboratory was the second research laboratory of NACA, the federal aviation research agency. NACA started to build it next to Moffett Field in December 1939, and the photograph shows its 16-foot high-speed wind tunnel.
Importance
NACA chose the site to be near the aircraft industry on the West Coast. During World War II, the laboratory used its wind tunnels to improve military aircraft. Its engineers later designed the blunt-body shape for missiles and capsules, and in 1958 it became a NASA center.
Interesting fact
The Army air chief, Hap Arnold, joked that NACA could have the entire Sunnyvale base, but NACA wanted only approximately 50 acres.