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85-397: The XFY-1 featured a unique design with delta wings and three-bladed contra-rotating propellers powered by a turboprop engine. Test flights began in 1954, and the aircraft's capabilities were pushed to their limits. Challenges included difficulties in slowing down and landing at high speeds, as well as the need for highly skilled pilots due to its complex handling characteristics. Landing

170-473: A broad-span biconical delta, with each side bulging upwards towards the rear in a manner characteristic of the modern Rogallo wing . During the following year, in America U. G. Lee and W. A. Darrah patented a similar biconical delta winged aeroplane with an explicitly rigid wing. It also incorporated a proposal for a flight control system and covered both gliding and powered flight. None of these early designs

255-435: A deeper structure for a given aerofoil section. This both enhances its weight-saving characteristic and provides greater internal volume for fuel and other items, without a significant increase in drag. However, on supersonic designs the opportunity is often taken to use a thinner aerofoil instead, in order to actually reduce drag. Like any wing, at low speeds a delta wing requires a high angle of attack to maintain lift. At

340-405: A delta foreplane just in front of and above the main delta wing. Patented in 1963, this configuration was flown for the first time on the company's Viggen combat aircraft in 1967. The close coupling modifies the airflow over the wing, most significantly when flying at high angles of attack. In contrast to the classic tail-mounted elevators, the canards add to the total lift as well as stabilising

425-419: A fin with a span of 21 ft 8 in (6.5 m). The pilot's seat was mounted on gimbals allowing for movement from 45 degrees in vertical flight to 90 degrees in horizontal flight. The Curtiss-Wright turbo-electric three-bladed contra-rotating propellers were 16 feet (4.88 m) in diameter. On 19 April 1954, a Convair engineering test pilot and Marine reservist, Lieutenant Colonel James F. "Skeets" Coleman , made

510-833: A naval airship hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California. Throughout the next few weeks, Coleman logged almost 60 hours in test flights in the Pogo, and by August, the test was moved to outdoor conditions. On 1 August 1954, Coleman logged two outdoor test flights, the second flying 150 ft (50 m) into the air, and shortly after he flew 70 takeoff–landing drills at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Brown Field , California. The first conversion to horizontal flight took place on 5 November 1954. Upon later flights with longer durations, flaws in

595-443: A shock body beneath the wing creates an attached shockwave and the high pressure associated with the wave provides significant lift without increasing drag. Variants of the delta wing plan offer improvements to the basic configuration. Cropped delta  – tip is cut off. This helps maintain lift outboard and reduce wingtip flow separation (stalling) at high angles of attack. Most deltas are cropped to at least some degree. In

680-454: A single overseer. This changed on January 1, 1943 with the creation of Commander, Air Force Atlantic Fleet appointment, in which Rear Admiral Alva D. Bernhard was the first incumbent. The former NAS commanding officer was tasked with providing administrative, material and logistic support for Atlantic Fleet aviation units. AIRLANT also furnished combat-ready carrier air groups, patrol squadrons and battleship and cruiser aviation units for both

765-406: A sufficiently high angle the wing exhibits flow separation , together with an associated high drag. Ordinarily, this flow separation leads to a loss of lift known as the stall . However, for a sharply-swept delta wing, as air spills up round the leading edge it flows inwards to generate a characteristic vortex pattern over the upper surface. The lower extremity of this vortex remains attached to

850-600: A test, the Naval Station refueled, restocked, and returned to service 25 ships in one week. This force was but the prelude to about 100 ships converging on Norfolk at the time. It included the battleships California , Idaho and New Mexico and the carriers, Lexington , Ranger , Yorktown and Enterprise . The expansion of shipboard aviation in the 1930s brought renewed emphasis to Naval Air Station Norfolk. Reverting to its experimental roots, development and testing of catapult and arresting gear systems took

935-609: A year later the depot shut its doors. In 1998, the Navy began a major realignment of shore command organizations and processes throughout Hampton Roads in a process known as "regionalization". One of the biggest efficiencies in this process was the merger of separate Naval Station Norfolk and the Naval Air Station (which were directly adjacent to each other) into a single installation to be called Naval Station Norfolk. The former naval air station organizational structure became

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1020-728: Is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ). Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the Jet Age , when it proved suitable for high-speed subsonic and  supersonic flight. At the other end of the speed scale, the Rogallo flexible wing proved a practical design for the hang glider and other ultralight aircraft . The delta wing form has unique aerodynamic characteristics and structural advantages. Many design variations have evolved over

1105-434: Is known to have successfully flown although, in 1904, Lavezzani's hang glider featuring independent left and right triangular wings had left the ground, and Dunne's other tailless swept designs based on the same principle would fly. The practical delta wing was pioneered by German aeronautical designer Alexander Lippisch in the 1930s, using a thick cantilever wing without any tail. His first such designs, for which he coined

1190-527: The compound delta , double delta or cranked arrow , the leading edge is not straight. Typically the inboard section has increased sweepback, creating a controlled high-lift vortex without the need for a foreplane. Examples include the Saab Draken fighter, the experimental General Dynamics F-16XL , and the Hawker Siddeley HS. 138 VTOL concept. The ogee delta (or ogival delta ) used on

1275-483: The Dassault Rafale use a combination of canard foreplanes and a delta wing. Like other tailless aircraft , the tailless delta wing is not suited to high wing loadings and requires a large wing area for a given aircraft weight. The most efficient aerofoils are unstable in pitch and the tailless type must use a less efficient design and therefore a bigger wing. Techniques used include: The main advantages of

1360-584: The F-106 Delta Dart and B-58 Hustler . At high supersonic speeds, the shock cone from the leading edge root angles further back to lie along the wing surface behind the leading edge. It is no longer possible for the sideways flow to occur and the aerodynamic characteristics change considerably. It is in this flight regime that the waverider design, as used on the North American XB-70 Valkyrie , becomes practicable. Here,

1445-502: The 15th and 18th commanding officer of NAS Norfolk, to coordinate operations within the Norfolk area. The outlying fields were used for training, patrol plane operations, practice bombing and aerial gunnery. The assembly and repair (A&R) department also offers an excellent example of expansion at the Naval Air Station. In 1939, A&R occupied four World War I hangars and a few workshops. It employed 213 enlisted men and 573 civilians in

1530-692: The Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner is similar, but with the two sections and cropped wingtip merged into a smooth ogee curve. Tailed delta  – adds a conventional tailplane (with horizontal tail surfaces), to improve handling. Common on Soviet types such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 . Canard delta  – Many modern fighter aircraft, such as the JAS 39 Gripen , the Eurofighter Typhoon and

1615-783: The Atlantic and Pacific fleets. Following the formation of AIRLANT and the abolishment of recruit training on the surface side in 1942, the base transitioned to an advanced training location for men going directly to the fleet. With the change in the training station and the declaration of war, the mission became that of a pre-commissioning training station. The aviation service A school offered courses in metal smith work, engine repair, radio repair and ordnance. Aviation machinist's mate A school consisted of two months of training and two months of practical experience in A&;R department shops. The advanced base aviation training unit helped sailors develop

1700-479: The James River and moored to stakes in the water until canvas hangars were constructed. The new location offered sheltered water in an ice-free harbor , perfect for seaplane landings, good anchorage on the beach front, accessibility to supplies from Naval Station Norfolk and room for expansion. Its mission was to conduct anti-submarine patrols, train aviators and mechanics and run an experimental facility. When

1785-463: The Javelin following the early loss of an aircraft to such conditions. Gloster's design team had reportedly opted to use a tailed delta configuration out of necessity, seeking to achieve effective manoeuvrability at relatively high speeds for the era while also requiring suitable controllability when being flown at the slower landing speeds desired. A lifting-canard delta can offer a smaller shift in

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1870-515: The Navy compensated the city by improving Kersloe Road (forming what is now Admiral Taussig Boulevard/ Interstate 564 ) between Hampton Boulevard and Granby Street. Special attention was paid to control facilities—prior to the expansion, operations from Chambers Field had no traffic control system except for a white placard inserted through a slot on the roof to indicate the direction of the runway in use. A new command, Naval Air Center, had been formed October 12, 1942 under Captain J.M. Shoemaker,

1955-486: The Navy had over $ 4 million in projects underway on the station. By the summer of 1940 the Station employed some 8,000 personnel, a number larger than any time since the end of World War I. The Hepburn Board had made recommendations to Congress earlier in the year that would also double the size and workload of the station. Since Chambers and West Fields were encroaching on the activities of the former Naval Operating Base, it

2040-785: The Rogallo wing. Naval Air Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field  ( IATA :  NGU ,  ICAO :  KNGU ,  FAA   LID :  NGU ),or LP-1/Chambers Field, is commonly known simply as, Chambers Field, and is named after Captain Washington Irving Chambers . It is a military airport in  Norfolk, Virginia that is a part of Naval Station Norfolk . It supports naval air forces in the  United States Fleet Forces Command , those operating in the  Atlantic Ocean ,  Mediterranean Sea , and  Indian Ocean . It's important to note that, "Chambers Field" only refers to

2125-587: The Second World War brought a halt to flight testing of the Pa-22 , although work continued for a time after the project garnered German attention. During the postwar era, Payen flew an experimental tailless delta jet, the Pa.49 , in 1954, as well as the tailless pusher-configuration Arbalète series from 1965. Further derivatives based on Payen's work were proposed but ultimately went undeveloped. Following

2210-544: The Second World War, developed the theory of the thin delta wing for supersonic flight. First published in January 1945, his approach contrasted with that of Lippisch on thick delta wings. The thin delta wing first flew on the Convair XF-92 in 1948, making it the first delta-winged jet plane to fly. It provided a successful basis for all practical supersonic deltas and the configuration became widely adopted. During

2295-585: The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 , the Tupolev first flying in 1968. While both Concorde and the Tu-144 prototype featured an ogival delta configuration, production models of the Tu-144 differed by changing to a double delta wing. The delta wings required these airliners to adopt a higher angle of attack at low speeds than conventional aircraft; in the case of Concorde, lift was maintained by allowed

2380-528: The US, typically to lower its drag, resulting in the replacement of its large vertical stabilizer with a smaller and more conventional counterpart, along with a normal cockpit canopy taken from a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star . The work of French designer Nicolas Roland Payen somewhat paralleled that of Lippisch. During the 1930s, he had developed a tandem delta configuration with a straight fore wing and steep delta aft wing, similar to that of Causarás. The outbreak of

2465-523: The United States became involved in World War I , the size of the Navy's air component was rapidly expanded. In the 19 months of U. S. participation, a force of 6,716 officers and 30,693 enlisted served in naval aviation. The training of mechanics to support the aircraft began in January 1918 at the Norfolk detachment and the first patrol was conducted five months later. By then, the air detachment

2550-678: The XFY-1 was difficult, as the pilot had to look over his shoulder while carefully working the throttle to land. Ultimately, technical and operational challenges, along with the superiority of jet-engined fighters, led to the project's suspension in 1955. The XFY-1 Pogo is now preserved in the National Air and Space Museum . After World War II , the Cold War prompted the United States Army and Navy to study VTOL operations. It

2635-524: The air operations in Norfolk continued. On July 12, 1921, the name was changed again under the command of Capt. S.H.R. Doyle , to NAS Norfolk, with direct reporting to the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C. Using the same theories of Eugene Ely's flight nearly 13 years earlier, another milestone was achieved. The air station developed an arresting device to train pilots for deck landings aboard

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2720-460: The airfield by 540 acres (2.2 km²), the matter was dropped. At the outbreak of war in Europe on September 1, 1939, NAS Norfolk encompassed 236 acres (1.0 km²) with two small operating areas, Chambers Field and West Landing Field. During World War II , the Naval Air Station had a direct combat support role in the area of anti-submarine patrols. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's response to

2805-671: The airflow over the main wing. This enables more extreme manoeuvres, improves low-speed handling and reduces the takeoff run and landing speed. During the 1960s, this configuration was considered to be radical, but Saab's design team judged that it was the optimal approach available for satisfying the conflicting performance demands for the Viggen, which including favourable STOL performance, supersonic speed, low turbulence sensitivity during low level flight, and efficient lift for subsonic flight. The close-coupled canard has since become common on supersonic fighter aircraft. Notable examples include

2890-509: The attempt to design, construct, and test two experimental VTOL fighters that would be suitable for use by the armed forces. Although contract stipulations stated that each manufacturer have two fighters, each was only able to construct one, with Lockheed producing the XFV , and Convair producing the XFY, nicknamed the "Pogo", after the pogo stick . The first XFY-1 prototype was used for engine testing and

2975-400: The center of lift with increasing Mach number compared to a conventional tail configuration. An unloaded or free-floating canard can allow a safe recovery from a high angle of attack. Depending on its design, a canard surface may increase or decrease longitudinal stability of the aircraft. A canard delta foreplane creates its own trailing vortex. If this vortex interferes with the vortex of

3060-426: The centre of the area covered by the vortex. In the subsonic regime, the behaviour of a delta wing is generally similar to that of a swept wing. A characteristic sideways element to the airflow develops. In this condition, lift is maximised along the leading edge of the wing, where the air is turned most sharply to follow its contours. Especially for a slender delta, the centre of lift approximates to halfway back along

3145-407: The craft falling to the ground. On the other end of the tether was another engineer, Bob McGreary. If Coleman ever lost control, McGreary controlled the winch which could be turned to raise the tethers to prevent the craft from plummeting to the ground. For further safety precautions, four security cables were fastened to each wing in case control was lost in any axis. The tests were conducted inside of

3230-432: The design were found. Due to the Pogo's lightweight design, and the lack of spoilers and air brakes, the aircraft lacked the ability to slow down and stop efficiently after moving at high speeds. Landing was also a problem, as the pilot had to look back behind himself during a landing to properly stabilize the craft. It became evident that even if technical problems could be overcome, such VTOL aircraft would be flown only by

3315-530: The first operational jet fighters to feature a tailless delta wing when they entered service in 1956. Dassault's interest in the delta wing produced the Dassault Mirage family of combat aircraft, especially the highly successful Mirage III . Amongst other attributes, the Mirage III was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizontal flight. The tailed delta configuration

3400-446: The first tethered flight in the Pogo. The XFY-1 was like no other propeller driven aircraft before it. No previous aircraft with a similar weight, engine power, or size had ever attempted to take off and land vertically. For the safety of both the craft and its pilot, the propeller hub cover was removed and replaced by safety tether lines for the first flight, in case Coleman lost control of the craft and would need to be tethered to prevent

3485-503: The fleet's first aircraft carrier, USS  Langley . At the same time, the station also began work on the development of the catapult. In January 1923, the Secretary of the Navy ordered a detailed study of the capacity of the bases and stations during war and peace. In comparing the development of the fleet and shore establishments, only Hampton Roads met the requirements. Airship operations, important for off-shore patrols during

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3570-524: The foreplane can increase drag at supersonic speeds and hence reduce the aircraft's maximum speed. Triangular stabilizing fins for rockets were described as early as 1529-1556 by the Austrian military engineer Conrad Haas and in the 17th century by the Polish-Lithuanian military engineer Kazimierz Siemienowicz . However, a true lifting wing in delta form did not appear until 1867, when it

3655-665: The formation of large low pressure vortices over the entire upper wing surface. Its typical landing speed was 170 miles per hour (274 km/h), considerably higher than subsonic airliners. Multiple proposed successors, such as the Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport ZEHST), have reportedly adopted a similar configuration to that Concorde's basic design, thus the Delta wing remains a likely candidate for future supersonic civil endeavours. During and after WWII, Francis and Gertrude Rogallo developed

3740-583: The future of naval aviation. Within seven months of the war's end, Navy manpower fell to less than half its wartime highs. The Republican party rose to power in 1920, promising fiscal austerity. Congress cut naval appropriations by 20% and manpower Navy-wide was reduced. The carriers which Congress had authorized were impossible to man. After the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression , President Herbert Hoover favored more naval limitation through international conferences, but

3825-495: The geographical area of the airport runway, taxiways, two heliports and six helipads. NAS (Naval Air Station) Norfolk started its roots training aviators at Naval Air Detachment, Curtiss Field, Newport News , on May 19, 1917. Approximately five months later, with a staff increasing to five officers, three aviators, ten enlisted sailors and seven aircraft, the detachment was renamed Naval Air Detachment, Naval Operating Base, Hampton Roads. The aircraft, all seaplanes, were flown across

3910-493: The highest priority at the Air Station. The commissioning of the aircraft carriers Ranger , Yorktown , Wasp , and Hornet increased the tempo of routine training in navigation, gunnery and aerial bombing as new air wings formed prior to World War II . This demanded expansion, but appropriations for shore activities were meager. Although congressional approval was gained in 1934 for the purchase of land that would expand

3995-569: The idea of a flexible wing which could be collapsed for storage. Francis saw an application in spacecraft recovery and NASA became interested. In 1961 Ryan flew the XV-8 , an experimental "flying Jeep" or "fleep". The flexible wing chosen for it was a delta and in use it billowed out into a double-cone profile which gave it aerodynamic stability. Although tested but ultimately never used for spacecraft recovery, this design soon became popular for hang gliders and ultra-light aircraft and has become known as

4080-539: The late 1930s, major construction took place at NS Norfolk. At this time, building K-BB (Naval Station headquarters), the galley, and many barracks were built. As the 1930s came to a close, the station also began to prepare for total war. By 1939, when the Atlantic Fleet returned to the East Coast, the Naval Station was clearly the biggest naval installation on the Atlantic coast. In April 1939, in something of

4165-515: The late 1940s, the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation became interested in the delta wing, its proposals led to the experimental Fairey Delta 1 being produced to Air Ministry Specification E.10/47 . A subsequent experimental aircraft, the Fairey Delta 2 set a new World air speed record on 10 March 1956, achieving 1,132 mph (1,811 km/h) or Mach 1.73. This raised

4250-487: The late 1940s. When used with a T-tail, as in the Gloster Javelin , like other wings a delta wing can give rise to a " deep stall " in which the high angle of attack at the stall causes the turbulent wake of the stalled wing to envelope the tail. This makes the elevator ineffective and the airplane cannot recover from the stall. In the case of the Javelin, a stall warning device was developed and implemented for

4335-461: The leading edge root. This allows air below the leading edge to flow out, up and around it, then back inwards creating a sideways flow pattern similar to subsonic flow. The lift distribution and other aerodynamic characteristics are strongly influenced by this sideways flow. The rearward sweep angle lowers the airspeed normal to the leading edge of the wing, thereby allowing the aircraft to fly at high subsonic , transonic, or supersonic speed, while

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4420-428: The leading edge. The sideways effect also leads to an overall reduction in lift and in some circumstances can also lead to an increase in drag. It may be countered through the use of leading-edge slots, wing fences and related devices. With a large enough angle of rearward sweep, in the transonic to low supersonic speed range the wing's leading edge remains behind the shock wave boundary or shock cone created by

4505-402: The main delta wing, this can adversely affect the airflow over the wing and cause unwanted and even dangerous behaviour. In the close-coupled configuration, the canard vortex couples with the main vortex to enhance its benefits and maintain controlled airflow through a wide range of speeds and angles of attack. This allows both improved manoeuvrability and lower stalling speeds, but the presence of

4590-488: The most experienced pilots. Thus, it was not feasible to place VTOL fighters—as previously hoped for—on every ship. Also, whereas jet-engined fighters had top speeds that approached Mach 2, the turboprop VTOL fighter was at a disadvantage with a top speed below Mach 1. Due to these problems, the XFY Project was put on hiatus. Although a test flight was made on 19 May 1955, it again ended with failure, and on 1 August 1955

4675-454: The multinational Eurofighter Typhoon , France's Dassault Rafale , Saab's own Gripen (a successor to the Viggen) and Israel's IAI Kfir . One of the main reasons for its popularity has been the high level of agility in manoeuvring that it is capable of. When supersonic transport (SST) aircraft were developed, the tailless ogival delta wing was chosen for both the Anglo-French Concorde and

4760-444: The name "Delta", used a very gentle angle so that the wing appeared almost straight and the wing tips had to be cropped sharply (see below). His first such delta flew in 1931, followed by four successively improved examples. These prototypes were not easy to handle at low speed and none saw widespread use. During the latter years of World War II , Alexander Lippisch refined his ideas on the high-speed delta, substantially increasing

4845-410: The overhaul of aircraft engines and fuselages. During the war, the A&R Department went to two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days a week for a work force that now numbered 1,600 enlisted and 3,500 civilians. Women, who had been employed only as seamstress for wing and fuselage fabric, began working in A&R machine shops as labor shortages became acute. During the summer of 1942, the apprentice school

4930-639: The project was formally concluded. The last flight of the XFY-1 Pogo took place in November 1956. After several years on static display at Naval Air Station Norfolk , Virginia, the Pogo was moved to the National Air and Space Museum in Suitland, Maryland , where it currently resides. General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Delta wing A delta wing

5015-552: The record above 1,000 mph for the first time and broke the previous record by 310 mph, or 37 per cent; never before had the record been raised by such a large margin. In its original tailless form, the thin delta was used extensively by the American aviation company Convair and by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation . The supersonic Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and transonic Douglas F4D Skyray were two of

5100-513: The recovery operations of Apollo 7 . As part of the Navy's response to the post-Cold War drawdown of the 1990s, many new initiatives were implemented at Navy shore installations to reduce their operating cost, improve their efficiency, and better match their capacity to the reduced size of the Navy. The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk and its workforce of over 4,000 repairing Grumman F-14 Tomcats and Grumman A-6 Intruders , and

5185-676: The skills necessary to maintain all types of aircraft at advanced bases in combat area. The aircraft they completed went to the fleet pool for distribution to squadrons in the process of commissioning. A similar service for maintenance crews in squadrons awaiting the commissioning of new carriers was provided by the carrier air service unit. Among the earliest schools at NAS was the fighter director school, which taught fleet communications and tactics, radar operations and direction of aircraft from ships before moving to  Georgia . The celestial navigation training unit instructed pilots being assigned to patrol squadrons. The aerial free gunnery training unit

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5270-548: The start of the war in Europe was the National Emergency Program of September 8, 1939. It resulted in fantastic growth for all Navy activities in the Norfolk area. The combat support role began on October 21, 1939, when a 600-mile (970 km)-wide Neutrality Zone was declared around the American coast. Four Norfolk-based patrol squadrons, VP-51, US VP-52, VP-53 and VP-54 were among the first units to enforce

5355-439: The subsonic lifting characteristics of the airflow over the wing are maintained. Within this flight regime, drooping the leading edge within the shock cone increases lift, but not drag to any significant extent. Such conical leading edge droop was introduced on the production Convair F-102A Delta Dagger at the same time that the prototype design was reworked to include area-ruling . It also appeared on Convair's next two deltas,

5440-416: The surface and also accelerates the airflow, maintaining lift. For intermediate sweep angles, a retractable "moustache" or fixed leading-edge root extension (LERX) may be added to encourage and stabilise vortex formation. The ogee or "wineglass" double-curve, seen for example on Concorde , incorporates this forward extension into the profile of the wing. In this condition, the centre of lift approximates to

5525-662: The sweepback of the wing's leading edge. An experimental glider, the DM-1 , was built to test the aerodynamics of the proposed P.13a high-speed interceptor . Following the end of hostilities, the DM-1 was completed on behalf of the United States and the shipped to Langley Field in Virginia for examination by NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, forerunner of today's NASA ) It underwent significant alterations in

5610-505: The tailless delta are structural simplicity and light weight, combined with low aerodynamic drag. These properties helped to make the Dassault Mirage III one of the most widely manufactured supersonic fighters of all time. A conventional tail stabiliser allows the main wing to be optimised for lift and therefore to be smaller and more highly loaded. Development of aircraft equipped with this configuration can be traced back to

5695-474: The third for static testing, and only the second prototype serial number 138649 was flown. The XFY-1 was designed for the Allison XT40 -A-14 turboprop, which was expected to deliver 7,100 shp (5,295 kW). The production aircraft were intended to use the even more powerful Allison T54 which was never built. It was one of the few propeller-driven aircraft with delta wings , swept at 52 degrees, and

5780-649: The war, ceased in 1924. In an effort similar to base closure struggles the military has today, civilian employees of the Assembly and Repair Department (forerunner of the former Naval Air Depot) joined the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce in successfully fighting the planned suspension of aircraft overhaul work. The training of air groups from newly commissioned aircraft carriers such as USS Langley , USS Saratoga and USS Lexington demanded expansion, but appropriations were meager for shore establishments. During

5865-569: The war, the British developed a number of subsonic jet aircraft that harnessed data gathered from Lippisch's work. One such aircraft, the Avro 707 research aircraft, made its first flight in 1949. British military aircraft such as the Avro Vulcan (a strategic bomber ) and Gloster Javelin (an all-weather fighter) were among the first delta-equipped aircraft to enter production. Whereas the Vulcan

5950-658: The wing headquarters for Reserve Patrol Wing Atlantic, the local headquarters for Naval Air Reserve Norfolk and Reserve E-2 Hawkeye , C-9 Skytrain II and various helicopter squadrons. A Marine Corps Reserve medium helicopter squadron with CH-46 Sea Knight aircraft was also assigned. NAS Norfolk also responded to national times of stress, such as Operation Sincere Welcome in 1994, when 2,000 civilian workers, dependents, and non-essential military personnel were evacuated to Norfolk from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba . This influx of people

6035-415: The winning of World War II was in the training it provided to a wide variety of allied naval air units. With only a few exceptions, all Navy air squadrons that fought in the war trained in Norfolk. The air station also trained numerous British fighter squadrons and  French  and  Russian  patrol squadrons. At the start of the war, training activities at NAS did not fall under the direction of

6120-526: The years, with and without additional stabilising surfaces. The long root chord of the delta wing and minimal area outboard make it structurally efficient. It can be built stronger, stiffer and at the same time lighter than a swept wing of equivalent aspect ratio and lifting capability. Because of this it is easy and relatively inexpensive to build—a substantial factor in the success of the MiG-21 and Mirage aircraft series. Its long root chord also allows

6205-628: The zone. After war was formally declared following Pearl Harbor,  Germany  began a  U-boat  offensive, " Operation Drumbeat ", against shipping along the Atlantic coast. The Eastern Sea Frontier , a command headquartered in New York, directed the American response. Locally,  Fleet Air Wing 5  units flew under its operational command of the 5th Naval District . Wing 5 units involved consisted of scouting squadrons, 12  OS2U Kingfisher  seaplanes and VPs 83 and 84 equipped with  PBY-5A Catalinas . By 1942, NAS Norfolk

6290-681: Was patented by J.W. Butler and E. Edwards in a design for a low-aspect-ratio, dart-shaped rocket-propelled aeroplane. This was followed by various similarly dart-shaped proposals, such as a biplane version by Butler and Edwards, and a jet-propelled version by the Russian Nicholas de Telescheff . In 1909 a variant with a canard foreplane was experimented with by the Spanish sculptor Ricardo Causarás. Also in 1909, British aeronautical pioneer J. W. Dunne patented his tailless stable aircraft with conical wing development. The patent included

6375-439: Was a classic tailless design, the Javelin incorporated a tailplane in order to improve low-speed handling and high-speed manoeuvrability, as well as to allow a greater centre of gravity range. Gloster proposed a refinement of the Javelin that would have, amongst other changes, decreased wing thickness in order to achieve supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.6. The American aerodynamicist Robert T. Jones , who worked at NACA during

6460-531: Was adopted by the TsAGI (Central Aero and Hydrodynamic Institute, Moscow ), to improve high angle-of-attack handling, manoeuvrability and centre of gravity range over a pure delta planform. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 ("Fishbed") became the most widely built combat aircraft of the 1970s. Through the 1960s, the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB developed a close-coupled canard delta configuration, placing

6545-521: Was an instance of history repeating itself, as the station also welcomed evacuees during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. In 1968, the air station was given a major role in John F. Kennedy 's vision of putting a man on the moon . The air station became Recovery Control Center (RCC) Atlantic, which provided command, control, and communications for the ships and aircraft that participated in

6630-565: Was decided to expand to the east. East Camp, with an area of about 1,000 acres (4 km²) between the east side of Naval Station and Granby Street, had been sold off by the Army at the end of World War I. Congress authorized its repurchase in early 1940. On June 29 of that year, a contract was signed with the Virginia Engineering Company of Newport News for the expansion of the station. The cost of expansion and construction

6715-503: Was envisaged to protect task forces, convoys or any fleet, even without aircraft carriers, by placing VTOL aircraft on any ship. These fighters would be housed within a conical protective housing, saving limited deck space available aboard ships. They would provide first line of airborne defense and reconnaissance capability, before more aircraft could be scrambled to help, with flight performance that helicopters could not provide. In May 1951, Lockheed and Convair were awarded contracts in

6800-651: Was home to 24 fleet units. From January through April 1942, the Eastern Sea Frontier recorded 82 sinkings by U-boats. During the same period, only eight U-boats were sunk by U.S. forces. Eventually, coastal convoys were instituted and more aircraft became available. German U-boats moved elsewhere and sinkings decreased. To move closer to their patrol areas and free up space for the training of new squadrons, NAS Norfolk-based patrol squadrons transferred their operations from Breezy Point to Chincoteague and Elizabeth City. However, NAS Norfolk's biggest contribution to

6885-456: Was opened to provide training in nine trades. By war's end, assembly and repair had developed into a Class "A" industrial plant with peak employment of 3,561 civilians and 4,852 military workers. The air station has hosted more than 70 tenant commands, including several carrier groups, a carrier airborne early warning wing and associated squadrons, a helicopter sea control wing and associated squadrons, and various Naval Air Reserve units, primarily

6970-506: Was originally located at Breezy Point, but moved to  Dam Neck  in 1943 to be able to carry out range work without restricting airspace. From 1943 to the end of the war, a total of 326 U.S. units were commissioned and trained under the control of AIRLANT. World War II profoundly changed the appearance of the Naval Station. With the eruption of war in Europe in September 1939, the station began to vibrate with activity. By December,

7055-446: Was recognized as one of the most important sources of trained naval aviators. In recognition of its importance, on August 27, 1918, the detachment became NAS Hampton Roads, a separate station under its own commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Patrick N. L. Bellinger . As World War I came to an end, the former NAS Hampton Roads saw erratic growth, growing to nearly 167 officers, 1,227 enlisted men and 65 planes. However, demobilization threatened

7140-456: Was still largely composed of temporary hangars and workshops left over from World War I. Many were unsafe and costly to maintain. The last permanent structure added had been the administration building, constructed in 1930. Some 353 acres (1.4 km²) were eventually reclaimed at a cost of $ 2.1 million. Two large hangars and ramps for seaplanes, barracks, officer quarters and family housing were built. This construction cut off Mason Creek Road and

7225-457: Was to reach more than $ 72 million. Hangars, a new dispensary, three runways, magazine areas, warehouses, barracks and docking areas were patterned after similar existing airfields. The plan was revised and approved by Captain Bellinger, returning as commanding officer 20 years after first holding the job. Bellinger insisted that as many structures as possible be permanent ones, as the air station

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