1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,640 When looking back at American fighter planes of World War II, an impressive record of aerial 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:12,360 victory stands out. 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,800 This is especially true in the later stages of the war, when American air superiority 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,560 dominated both the Pacific and European combat theaters. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,640 But surprisingly, this was not the case in the beginning stages of the war. 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,640 Early American fighters could not always match the speed and maneuverability of the enemy 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,700 aircraft that they were facing. 8 00:00:30,700 --> 00:00:35,440 To help find a way to improve the aircraft American pilots were flying, U.S. military 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:40,440 planners turned to NASA's predecessor, NACA, which they hoped could find a way to help 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,160 the United States gain air superiority over World War II's battlefields. 11 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:50,120 On the eve of World War II, with the prospect of war looming in the United States, military 12 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:55,200 planners began an exhaustive look at the preparedness and equipment that it would use to fight a 13 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:56,200 war. 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,400 One area where the United States had fallen noticeably behind to its future enemies was 15 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,160 in aircraft. 16 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,640 Many of the aircraft that U.S. pilots were flying were much slower and less maneuverable 17 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,860 than the aircraft that they would soon be facing in combat. 18 00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:14,560 With this knowledge in hand, a concerted effort was made by the U.S. government to find ways 19 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,880 to quickly improve the American aircraft situation. 20 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:22,720 Since NASA's predecessor, NACA, or the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, was the 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:28,440 preeminent aeronautics lab in the country, a large part of this examination fell to them. 22 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,840 NACA researchers knew that they could improve an aircraft's performance by simply reducing 23 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,800 the amount of drag the aircraft experienced. 24 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,560 This was called drag cleanup. 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,600 The Navy's XF-2A Brewster Buffalo was the first of many military aircraft tested by 26 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,160 NACA in an effort to improve performance. 27 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,640 Researchers at the NACA Langley Research Center took only five days to determine several key 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,720 areas in which the Buffalo could be improved. 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,520 To the untrained eye, the Buffalo appeared aerodynamically clean. 30 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,780 However, the wind tunnel information showed a very different picture. 31 00:02:02,780 --> 00:02:07,240 Many parts, like the gun sights, the engine cowling, and landing gear on the Buffalo, 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,200 protruded into the slipstream, causing increased drag, which slowed the aircraft tremendously. 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:17,040 The researchers at NACA modified these problem areas, which increased the Buffalo's speed 34 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,680 by an impressive 10 percent. 35 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,760 Such a performance improvement, without raising engine power or reducing fuel efficiency, 36 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,960 immediately caught the eye of many aircraft designers. 37 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:33,280 Extra speed for a fighter plane, even as little as 15 miles per hour, could determine who 38 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,680 won or lost in an aerial dogfight. 39 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:42,160 When Langley researchers streamlined the U.S. Navy's F-4F Wildcat, it was able to fly a 40 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,280 full 45 miles per hour faster. 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:50,680 The F-4F's successor, the F-6F Hellcat, was also streamlined, making it faster and more 42 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,960 maneuverable, able to reach a maximum speed of 375 miles per hour. 43 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,720 This extra speed proved valuable in combat, allowing Hellcat pilots to destroy nearly 44 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:06,160 5,000 enemy planes in aerial engagements. 45 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,420 NACA Langley proved a key stopping point for dozens of aircraft on their way to combat 46 00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:12,400 duty in World War II. 47 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:18,880 In one month alone, in July 1944, 36 U.S. Army and Navy planes were evaluated in detailed 48 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,880 studies of stability, control and performance. 49 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:29,640 NACA Langley tested 137 different airplane types between 1941 and 1945, either in wind 50 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:31,560 tunnels or in flight. 51 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:36,120 While NACA's pioneering drag cleanup work helped save the lives of many American pilots 52 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:42,020 during World War II, it also shortened the war considerably and saved the lives of countless 53 00:03:42,020 --> 00:03:43,340 others around the world.