1966 HL-10 Lifting Body, Torrance Airport, California


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1966 HL-10 Lifting Body, Torrance Airport, California

Courtesy The Western Museum of Flight, Torrance, California.
Edited by David Barth, 13 April 2014. Photos were taken by David Barth, 14 April 2013.

The Western Museum of Flight (WMOF) is an aviation museum located at Zamperini Field, the municipal airport in Torrance, California. WMOF is operated by the Southern California Historical Aviation Foundation. It houses not only historic aircraft, many of which were built in Southern California, but also has an extensive collection of historic photographs and blueprints.

The museum has several rare aircraft among its collection, including one of only two Northrop YF-23 stealth fighter prototypes. Also on display is a Northrop YF-17 Cobra, a lightweight fighter which was the basis for the heavier Boeing (originally McDonnell-Douglas) F/A-18 Hornet currently used by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. In addition, a Grumman F-14 Tomcat and a Northrop JB-1 (one of only three JB-1s flying wings remaining) are both on public display, plus numerous other notable jet- and propeller-drive airplanes.

1966 HL-10 Lifting Body
1966 HL-10 Lifting Body.
The HL-10 "heavy" lifting body The "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studies by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center.

Its first flight was on December 22, 1966, during which it had major control problems requiring minor changes to the shape of the vertical fins. The first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control.

The HL-10 was flown 37 times and with use of a rocket engine, it reached 1,228 miles per hour and an altitude of 90,030 feet.

The data collected during the lifting body program helped in the development of the Space Shuttle.

1966 HL-10 Lifting Body
1966 HL-10 Lifting Body.