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Birth of a mid-century resurgence in hang
gliding activity:
http://www.space.com/15609-hang-gliding-birth-paresev-1.html
http://johnworth.net/photo-gallery/
Caution:
There seems to be two different
"first-flight dates" and as yet we do not have a resolution of the matter. One
is January 25, 1962 and the other is February 12, 1962. Help is
requested on resolving the confusion.
None of the program personnel maintained a comprehensive flight log, nor was the pilot's flight time recorded in all cases. In fact, information of the individual flights is remarkably sparse. I have assembled a partial flight log that is largely based on material from Milt Thompson, the primary project pilot. Image archive: CAUTION: some dates seen on document refer to the making of an image file, NOT the flight or setting date; e.g. "1966" might be of an image filing date of a setting that occurred in, say, 1962. ImageArchive And read: HERE. Caution: Two spellings are being found for the the designer of the paraglider hang glider Paresev: Charles Richard or Charles Richards; help is requested on primary verification of the spelling.
Hang glider paraglider versions
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center History Office
Paresev
The Paraglider Research Vehicle (Paresev)
program, developed in support of the Gemini manned spacecraft program, was an
indirect outgrowth of kite-parachute studies by NACA Langley engineer Francis
M. Rogallo. The “Rogallo wing” featured a flexible sheet with a diamond
planform, attached to a V-shaped leading edge structure (with the point
forward) and a longitudinal keel. In the early 1960s, this type of wing was
proposed as a landing recovery system for the Gemini space capsule. Paresev,
designed by Charles H. Richard, was the first NASA research vehicle to be
constructed entirely in-house. It consisted of a platform for the pilot’s seat
and controls, tricycle landing gear, a framework to support the wing, and a
Rogallo airfoil. Flown 341 times, with several different wing configurations,
the unpowered craft was towed aloft behind a Pontiac utility vehicle for
low-altitude flights and a variety of different aircraft for higher flights.
Paresev Pilots ( hang glider paraglider pilots)
Tow pilots:
Tow aircraft:
Paresev configurations:
* The Paresev vehicles were flown 341 times. Thompson made numerous ground-tow flights and claimed about 60 air-tow flights. Peterson claimed 228 flights (ground- and air-tow). Grissom made two flights. Champine made four flights. Kleuver made at least eight flights. It is unknown how many times Armstrong, Hetzel, and Slayton flew.
|
http://www.archive.org/details/NIX-E-10598 has the following:
In this photo of the M2-F1 lifting body and the Paresev 1B on
the ramp, the viewer sees two vehicles representing different approaches to
building a research craft to simulate a spacecraft able to land on the ground
instead of splashing down in the ocean as the Mercury capsules did. The M2-F1
was a lifting body, a shape able to re-enter from orbit and land. The Paresev
(Paraglider Research Vehicle) used a Rogallo wing that could be (but never was)
used to replace a conventional parachute for landing a capsule-type spacecraft,
allowing it to make a controlled landing on the ground. The wingless, lifting
body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft
horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the
extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden
management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as
a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying
bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F"
referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular
steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first
flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope
attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120
mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed
adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles
per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter
"Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in
the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder.
Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the
FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine
available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long
Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac
could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved
adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it
could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47
aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data
about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater
altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights
back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the
M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the
M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. A small
solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in
the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot,
provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The rocket could be
used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows
and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of
Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two
heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research
centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and
the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The
Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The
M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for
horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a
procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that
produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding
salaries of government employees assigned to the project). The Paresev
(Paraglider Rescue Vehicle) was an indirect outgrowth of kite-parachute studies
by NACA Langley engineer Francis M. Rogallo. In the early 1960s the "Rogallo
wing" seemed an excellent means of returning a spacecraft to Earth. The delta
wing design was patented by Mr. Rogallo. In May 1961, Robert R. Gilruth,
director NASA's Space Task Group, requested studies of an inflatable
Rogallo-type "Parawing" for spacecraft. Several companies responded; North
American Aviation produced the most acceptable concept and development was
contracted to that company. In November 1961 NASA Headquarters launched a
paraglider development program, with Langely doing wind-tunnel studies and the
NASA Flight Research Center supporting the North American test program. The
North American concept was a capsule type vehicle with a stowed "parawing" that
could be deployed and controlled from within for a landing more like an airplane
instead of a "splash down" in the ocean as was the practice in the Mercury and
later the Gemini and Apollo programs. The logistics became enormous and the
price exorbitant, besides which, NASA pilots and engineers felt some baseline
experience like building a vehicle and flying a Parawing should be accomplished
first. The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) was used to gain in-flight
experience with four different membranes (wings) and was not used to develop the
more complicated inflatable deployment system. The Paresev was designed by
Charles Richard, of the Flight Research Center's Vehicle and System Dynamics
Branch, with the rest of the team being: engineers Richard Klein, Gary Layton,
John Orahood, and Joe Wilson; Frank Fedor and LeRoy Barto from the Maintenance
and Manufacturing Branch; Project Manager Victor Horton, with Gary Layton
becoming Project Manager later on in the Program. Mr. Paul Bikle, Director of
the Center, gave instructions that were short and to the point: build a
single-seat Paraglider and "do it quick and cheap." The Paresev was unpowered,
the "fuselage" an open framework fabricated of welded 4130 steel tubing referred
to as a `space frame.' The keel and leading edges of the wings were constructed
of 2 1/2-inch diameter aluminum tubing. The leading edge sweep angle was held
constant at 50 degrees by a rigid spreader bar. Additional wing structure
fabricated of steel tubing ensured structural integrity. Seven weeks after the
project was initiated the team rolled out the Paresev 1. It resembled a grown-up
tricycle, with a rudimentary seat, an angled tripod mast, and, perched on top of
the mast, a Rogallo-type parawing. The pilot sat out in the open, strapped in
the seat, with no enclosure of any kind. He controlled the descent rate by
tilting the wing fore and aft, and turned by tilting the wing from side to side
with a control stick that came from overhead. NASA registered the Paresev, the
first NASA research airplane to be constructed totally "in-house," with the
Federal Aviation Administration on February 12, 1962. Flight testing started
immediately. There was one space frame built called the Paresev that used four
different wing types. Paresev 1 had a linen membrane, with the control stick
coming from overhead in front of the pilots seat. Paresev 1A had a regulation
control stick and a Dacron membrane. Paresev 1B had a smaller Dacron membrane
with the space frame remaining the same. Paresev 1C used a half-scale version of
the inflatable Gemini parawing with a small change to the space frame. All
`space frames,' regardless of the parawing configuration, had a shield with
"Paresev 1-A" and the NASA meatball on the front of the vehicle. PARESEV-1 After
the space frame was completed a sailmaker was asked to sew the wing membrane
according to the planform developed by NASA Flight Research Center personnel. He
suggested using Dacron instead of the linen fabric chosen, but yielded to the
engineers' specs. A nylon bolt rope was attached in the trailing edge of the
150-square-foot wing membrane. The rope was unrestrained except at the wing tips
and was therefore free to equalize the load between the two lobes of the wing.
This worked reasonably well, but flight tests proved the wing to be too flexible
with it flapping and bulging in alarming ways. The poor membrane design led to
trailing edge flutter, with longitudinal and lateral stick forces being severe.
A number of different rigging modifications to improve the flying
characteristics were tried, but very few were successful and none were
predictable. Everything seemed to affect stick forces in the worst way. The
fifth flight aloft lasted 10 seconds. On a ground tow the Paresev and pilot fell
10 feet. Considerable damage was done to the Paresev with the pilot, Bruce
Peterson, being taken to the base hospital. Injuries sustained by the pilot were
not serious. After this accident the Paresev was extensively rebuilt and
renamed, Paresev-1A. PARESEV 1-A The sailmaker was asked again to construct a
150-square-foot membrane the way he wanted to. The resulting wing membrane had
excellent contours in flight and was made from 6 ounce Dacron. The space frame
was rebuilt with more sophistication than the Paresev 1 had. The shock absorbers
were Ford automotive parts, the wing universal joint was a 1948 Pontiac part,
and the tires and wheels were from a Cessna 175 aircraft. The overhead stick was
replaced with a stick and pulley arrangement that operated more like
conventional aircraft controls. This vehicle had much improved stick forces and
handling qualities. The instrumentation used to obtain data was quite crude,
partially as a result of the desire to keep the program simple and low in cost
and also because there was no onboard power. To measure performance, technicians
installed a large alpha vane on the wing apex with a scale at the trailing edge
that the pilot could read directly. A curved bubble level measured the vehicle's
attitude, and a Fairchild camera recorded the glide slope PARESEV 1-B The
Paresev 1-B used the Paresev 1-A space frame with a smaller Dacron wing (100
square feet) and was flight tested to evaluate its handling qualities with lower
lift-to-drag values. One NASA project engineer described its gliding ability as
"pretty scary." PARESEV 1-C The space frame of the vehicle remained almost
unchanged from the earlier vehicles. However, a new control box gave the pilot
the ability to increase or decrease the nitrogen in the inflatable wing supports
to compensate for the changing density of the air. Two bottles of nitrogen
provided an extra supply of nitrogen. The vehicle featured a partially
inflatable wing. The whole wing was not inflatable; the three chambers that
acted as spars and supported the wing inflated. The center spar ran fore and aft
and measured 191 inches; two other inflatable spars formed the leading edges.
These three compartments were filled with nitrogen under pressure to make them
rigid. The Paresev in this configuration was expected to closely approximate the
aerodynamic characteristics that would be encountered with the Gemini space
capsule with a parawing extended. The Paresev was very unstable in flight with
this configuration. The first Paresev flights began with tows across the dry
lakebed, in 1962, using a NASA vehicle, an International Harvester carry-all (6
cylinder). Eventually ground and airtows were done using a Stearman sport
biplane (450 hp), a Piper Super Cub (150-180 hp), Cessna L-19 (200 hp Bird Dog)
and a Boeing-Vertol HC-1A. Speed range of the Paresev was about 35-65 mph. The
Paresev completed nearly 350 flights during a research program from 1962 until
1964. Pilots flying the Paresev included NASA pilots Milton Thompson, Bruce
Peterson, and Neil Armstrong from Dryden, Robert Champine from Langley, and
astronaut Gus Grissom, plus North American test pilot Charles Hetzel. The
Paresev was legally transferred to the National Air and Space Museum of the
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. Despite its looks, the Paresev was a
useful research aircraft that helped develop a new way to fly. Although the
Rogallo wing was never used on a spacecraft, it revolutionized the sport of hang
gliding, and a different but related kind of wing will be used on the X-38
technology demonstrator for a crew return vehicle from the International space
station.