Straight
winged airplanes always had stability issues when flying at high speeds, but
research into the aerodynamics of straight winged airplanes did not start until
after the death of a Lockheed test pilot named Ralph Virden in 1941. John Stack pioneered the study of airflow
over airplane wings using a special kind of photography called Schlieren
Photography.
Schlieren photography |
This
photography allowed him to see the airflow moving over the top of the
wings. He noticed that in straight
wings, small pockets of air moving faster than the speed of sound were creating
small shockwaves. These shockwaves
disrupted the flow of air over the wings, causing increased drag and decreased
lift. By angling the wings backwards,
air is able to move diagonally along the front of the wind. This results in less air moving over the
wings and less shockwaves when traveling at high speeds.
John Stack |
But he
did not angle the wings back right away. His
first idea was to place a small flap on the underside of the wing. This flap increased the lift of the plane
during high speeds to prevent an uncontrolled dive. Then during the production of the Bell X-1 he
used very thin wings and raised the tail wing above the height of the
wings. This kept the tail out of the
disrupted airflow of the wings, allowing for better speed and control. The Bell X-1 became the first manned vehicle
to break the sound barrier even with straight wings.
Bell X-1 (1946) |
The
Bell X-5 was the first plane that could change its sweep angle during
flight. It was able to sweep its wings
farther back based on how fast the plane was flying. Although John Stack was not on the primary
development team for the X-5 his research was crucial to its success.
Bell X-5 (1951) |
John
Stack’s creativity came mainly from motivation.
He was externally motivated by the death of test pilot Ralph
Virden. This pushed him and his field to
develop safer ways to fly at high speeds,
but also created the problem for him. We discussed how often finding the problem
was the hardest part of creativity. Ralph
Virden’s crash showed John Stack that the problem was in the wings of the
aircraft. He was also a pioneer in his field.
As Collins and Amablile explored, “creativity is motivated by the
enjoyment and satisfaction that a person derives from engaging in creative
activity.” As a pioneer he was
intrinsically motivated to push the limits of his field because he enjoyed his
work.
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