NASA Langley Open House (October 21, 2017)

Up early and down the road for a very rare visit to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. It was the first open house in a long time, this one to celebrate the center which has been in operation since 1917 (that is a 100 years in case you didnt do the math). For much of that it was as NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Became NASA in the 1950's but this Aeronautics is still the first "A" in NASA. 

 Still doing some amazing flight research. A lot of history for the past 100 years have been made in these buildings. Much of the developments in aviation and certainly many in spaceflight have come out of the minds that work in these buildings and do the research there. I got there early and stayed for some four hours exploring the buildings and meeting some of the people who are making the world of flight so amazing and changing the world we live in. 

 One of the coolest things I saw was this. You are inside what is known as the "14-by 22 foot subsonic tunnel. It is a wind tunnel used to test models and larger models of fixed wing and helicopters (and other V/STOL) aircraft. They can be set up in a number of ways such as seen here, or on a tether.
Got to see a number of models, as well as the amazing control room where the tests are conducted.

 This is the outside of the Subsonic tunnel. There were a number of amazing things and buildings and can't forget again to mention the people who make it all happen. It was a very fun and exciting day and want to thank everyone at NASA for making this remarkable event happen. I just hope they do it again real soon...would love to go back again!