2-860-704 - Heritage Space/Heritage Images

John Becker with the 11-inch Hypersonic Tunnel, Langley Research Center, Virginia, USA, 1950. American engineer John V. Becker helped lead some of America's most important early research into ultra-high-speed flight. This photo show the large expansion from the nozzle throat - a barely visible slit - to the test section needed to generate hypersonic speeds. The expansion contour had to be precisely machined for the tunnel to function well.