Drucella Andersen
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                   
January 5, 1994
(Phone:  202/358-4701)

Don Nolan
Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, Calif.
(Phone:  805/258-3447)

RELEASE:  94-2

NASA DEVELOPS ENHANCED RUNWAY VIEWS FOR SUPERSONIC PILOTS

     NASA is testing a new optical system that would let pilots 
see the runway during nose-high landings without relying on 
complex mechanical structures or computer-generated views.

     The Research External Vision Display (REVD) is a system of 
lenses and mirrors that reflects the view of the runway under the 
nose of the aircraft to a pilot in the cockpit.  It does not need 
electronics or video cameras and has no moving parts.  NASA 
started flight tests of the device on Dec. 23, 1993, using a 
modified F-104 aircraft at Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, 
Edwards, Calif.

     "Pilots of supersonic aircraft usually land at a high 
angle-of-attack to maintain the descent rate at low speeds.  This 
may block runway visibility at a crucial time during landing," 
said NASA project pilot Steve Ishmael.  "The REVD system, which is 
basically an upside-down periscope, could be an effective 
solution."

     The project will collect data to see how suitable such a 
system is to land an aircraft.  Up to 20 flights are planned in 
the current test schedule.  The program is slated to conclude by 
the end of January. 

     An REVD-like system could help pilots of a future U.S. 
supersonic airliner see the runway during the landing approach.  
The concepts for such a plane have a long, pointed nose that rules 
out forward-looking windows. 

     The European Concorde and Russian Tu-144 supersonic 
transports attack the problem by dropping the entire nose in front 
of the windshield.  This approach works, but the mechanism that 
moves the nose is heavy, complex and expensive.
  
     Another option is to equip a supersonic aircraft with video 
cameras or have an onboard computer create a "synthetic" view of 
the runway based on input from different types of sensors.
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     But the electronic components in cameras and computers are 
not as durable as a simple mirror system, and video cameras have 
only one-hundredth the resolution of the human eye.

     Future hypersonic aircraft, which would fly at more than five 
times the speed of sound, are expected to have similar problems 
with forward visibility.  Even heat-resistant glass, if developed, 
could be damaged by impacts of raindrops or dust particles.

     Installation of the device on the two-seat NASA F-104 
requires a fairing extending from the fuselage just below the 
cockpit. The fairing houses the lower part of the REVD system, 
which looks out from beneath the aircraft and reflects the view up 
to the pilot in the rear cockpit.

     Future designs may eliminate the fairing, which protrudes 
into the airstream.  This could be done by recessing the REVD into 
the fuselage or by designing a retractable device that would drop 
down during landings.

     The NASA-Dryden Project Manager is Roy Bryant.  The project 
is a joint effort of Dryden; NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain 
View, Calif.; the National Aero-Space Plane Joint Program Office 
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Lockheed Forth Worth 
Company, Texas; Kaiser Optical Electronics, Carlsbad, Calif.; and 
Systems Technologies Inc., Mountain View, Calif.  

                                                       -end-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos and video to accompany this release are 
available to media representatives by calling the Dryden Public 
Affairs Office, 805/258-3447.