R&D Brief Vol 5. Num. 15b    October 6, 2008   Beech Wind Tunnel to celebrate 60th anniversary with Open House Wichita State University and the National Institute for Aviation Research will host an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Walter H. Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel. Visitors are asked to meet in the lobby of the WSU Engineering Research Laboratory Building just west of the NIAR building, where a guide will give an overview of the wind tunnel’s history and capabilities. A second guide will lead guests from the lobby to the wind tunnel at designated times. Visitors will see a historical display with photos and a timeline of the wind tunnel, as well as a demonstration of the wind tunnel in use. The wind tunnel and other selected NIAR labs will also be open to the public from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 in conjunction with the Ulrich Museum’s "What's Up in Flight R&D at WSU?” The event will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Ulrich Museum of Art and feature a combination of short talks that will capture the latest in flight research and development at WSU. The “What’s up in Flight” talks coincide with the Ulrich’s newest exhibit, “Jet as Art,” an exhibition of 35 large-scale airplane images by New York photographer Jeffrey Milstein. He captures his images at the end of the Los Angeles International Airport runway as planes pass overhead. Admission to Friday's and Saturday's events, including the faculty talks and tours of NIAR, is free. History of the Walter H. Beech Wind Tunnel The idea to build the WSU’s low-speed wind tunnel was proposed in 1946 by Walter H. Beech, former president of Beech Aircraft Co., and Dwayne L. Wallace, former president of Cessna Aircraft Co., who needed a place to do aeronautical research in Wichita. The project, directed by Ken Razak, former director of the School of Engineering at the University of Wichita, cost $165,000 and took two years to construct, making it the largest wind tunnel of its kind in the Midwest at that time. Recent Modernization A series of upgrades costing about $7 million was finished this year with the installation of three new internal balances and a new robotic sting system that allows models to be rigidly mounted from the rear to reduce the interference caused by traditional model support systems.   Earlier renovations included a completely rebuilt test section, flow conditioning equipment featuring a stainless-steel honeycomb flow straightener and anti-turbulence screen, a 2,500 horsepower electric variable-frequency fan, a heat exchange system that limits temperature rise in the tunnel at maximum operating velocities and an external balance with the highest measurement resolution available in the world today for this application. For more information about the Walter H. Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel, please visit http://www.aero-labs.org.   The National Institute for Aviation Research is a prestigious state-of-the-art aerospace research and development laboratory with global reach and expertise in research, design, testing, and certification. The Institute’s clientele includes many of the world’s aerospace manufacturers, NASA and the FAA. It is the largest aviation R&D academic institution in America.  The National Institute for Aviation Research is an unincorporated division of Wichita State University.