From The Archives: Full-Scale E-7A STOVL Model In NASA-Ames Wind Tunnel

Thirty-five years ago, the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Jan. 8, 1990, issue featured a full-scale model of the General Dynamics/NASA ejector-lift E-7A short-takeoff-vertical-landing supersonic fighter design mounted 40 ft. above the floor in the then-new 80 X 120-ft. test section of Ames Research Center's low-speed wind tunnel. 

Taking design cues from the F-16, the E-7A used thrust ejector nozzles to divert exhaust gas downward for vertical flight. The E-7A was the first full-scale aircraft model to be mounted in the world’s largest wind tunnel, which today is known as the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) and is operated by the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Complex.  

In 2006, the Air Force signed a lease with NASA to reopen the NFAC after the facility closed in 2003 due to budget pressures.

See the cover and read the full issue dated Jan. 8, 1990 | Aviation Week.

Read the feature on page 34. 

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