https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/37a3140d-489e-4c47-b31d-370de0a5ca5a This 23-second video taken April 5, 1966 shows the PA-30 Twin Comanche during a tail flutter test over Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert. After being purchased in 1967, NASA 808 was used as a testbed for general aviation flight control research. NASA's first project with the PA-30 was the determination of the aircraft's stability and control characteristics in the Langley full-scale wind tunnel. Engineers then correlated the wind tunnel measurements with in-flight measurements of the stability and control characteristics at NASA's Flight Research Center (now Armstrong). This was the first time full-scale wind tunnel measurements of a general aviation aircraft had been made since the late 1930's. As a result of the studies, several changes were made by the contractor to the aircraft to improve its flying qualities. These changes were manifested in later models of the airplane. Another project involving general aviation was the PA-30 project to define the operating techniques necessary to enable curved landing approaches as a part of routine operation at major airports. The project, in support of NASA's Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) project, was designed to facilitate large and small, STOL, and conventional aircraft using the same runway. In the early 1970's, the PA-30, serial number 30-1498, was used to test a flight technique used to fly Remotely Piloted Research Vehicles (RPRV's). The technique was first tested with the cockpit windows of the light aircraft blacked out while the pilot flew the aircraft using a television monitor which gave him a "pilot's eye" view ahead of the aircraft. Later pilots flew the aircraft from a ground cockpit, a procedure used with all RPRV's. TV and two-way telemetry allow the pilot to be in constant control of the aircraft. The apparatus mounted over the cockpit was a special fish eye lens camera, used to obtain images that were transmitted to the ground based cockpit. This project paved the way for sophisticated, highly successful research projects involving high risk spin, stall, and flight control conditions, such as the Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) and the subscale F-15 remotely piloted vehicles. Over the years, NASA 808 has also been used for spin and stall research related to general aviation aircraft and also research to alleviate wake vortices behind large jetliners. In November 1973, the PA-30 and an F-104 were used to measure the force and effects of wake vortices behind large aircraft using a three engine B-727. Smoke generators were placed on the 727 and the smaller aircraft followed to measure the vortices. This project directly influenced the later wake vortex tests on NASA's 747 using a T-37B and a Learjet as chase aircraft, which led to successful means of alleviating dangerous vortices. Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/TfL6iyeH8OA Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:51:12 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/ec5edb1e-3795-4978-be4f-c67e98fbc992.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/37a3140d-489e-4c47-b31d-370de0a5ca5a All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.