Northrop HL-10 - Definition and Overview

The Northrop HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC--later Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space. It was a NASA design and was built to evaluate "inverted airfoil" lifting body and delta planform.

Development

Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and Northrop M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of "heavy" lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. The contract for construction of the HL-10 and the M2-F2 was $1.8 million. "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Main gear was modified T-38 system retracted manually, and lowered by nitrogen pressure. Nose gear was modified T-39 nose gear, retracted manually and lowered with nitrogen pressure. Pilot Ejection System was a modified F-106 system. Silver zinc batteries provided electrical power for control system, flight istruments, radios, cockpit heat, and stability augmentation system. To assist in pre-landing flare, four throttleable hydrogen peroxide rockets provided up to 400 lbf (1.8 kN) of thrust.

Operational history

After delivery to NASA in January 1966, the HL-10 made its first flight on December 22, 1966, with research pilot Bruce Peterson in the cockpit. Although an XLR-11 rocket engine was installed in the vehicle, the first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control. In the end, the HL-10 was judged to be the best handling of the three original heavy-weight lifting bodies (M2-F2/F3, HL-10, X-24A).

The HL-10 was flown 37 times during the lifting body research program and logged the highest altitude and fastest speed in the lifting body program. On February 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag piloted the HL-10 to Mach 1.86 (1,228 mph). Nine days later, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the vehicle to 90,030 feet, which became the highest altitude reached in the program.

During a typical lifting body flight, the B-52 -- with the research vehicle attached to the pylon mount on the right wing between the fuselage and inboard engine pod -- flew to a height of about 45,000 feet and a launch speed of about 450 mph.

Moments after being dropped, the XLR-11 rocket engine (same type engine used in the Bell X-1 ) was ignited by the pilot. Speed and altitude increased until the engine was shut down by choice or fuel exhaustion, depending upon the individual mission profile. The lifting bodies normally carried enough fuel for about 100 seconds of powered flight and routinely reached altitudes of 50,000 to 80,000 feet and speeds above Mach 1.

Following engine shutdown, the pilot maneuvered the vehicle through a simulated return-from-space corridor into a pre-planned approach for a landing on one of the lakebed runways on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards. A circular approach was used to lose altitude during the landing phase. On the final approach leg, the pilot increased his rate of descent to build up energy. At about 100 feet altitude, a "flare out" maneuver dropped air speed to about 200 mph for the landing.

Some new and different lessons were learned through the successful flight testing of the HL-10. These lessons, when combined with information from it's sister ship, the M2-F2/F3, provided an excellent starting point for designers of future entry vehicles, including the Space Shuttle.

• HL-10 pilots
  • John A. Manke - 10 flights
  • William H. Dana - 9 flights
  • Jerauld R. Gentry - 9 flights
  • Peter C. Hoag - 8 flights
  • Bruce Peterson - 1 flight

• Most of text taken from NASA Dryden webpage. (http://trc.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/HL-10/HTML/index.html)

• Additional text taken for this NASA Dryden HL-10 Fact Sheet. (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-010-DFRC.html)

HL-10 flights

Aircraft serial number

• Northrop HL-10 - NASA 804, 37 flights

Specifications (Northrop HL-10)

General Characteristics

• Crew: one pilot
• Length: 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
• Wingspan: 13 ft 7 in (4.15 m)
• Height: 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m)
• Wing area: 160 ft² (14.9 m²)
• Empty: 5,285 lb (2,397 kg)
• Loaded: 6,000 lb (2,721 kg)
• Maximum takeoff: 10,009 lb (4,540 kg) (propellant wt 3,536 lb - 1,604 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 x Reaction Motors XLR-11 four-chamber rocket engine. 8,000 lbf (35.7 kN) thrust

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,228 mph (1,976 km/h)
• Range: 45 miles (72 km)
• Service ceiling: 90,303 ft (27,524 m)
• Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
• Wing loading: 62.5 lb/ft² (304.7 kg/m²)
• Thrust-to-weight: 1:0.99

External link

• NASA Dryden HL-10 Photo Collection (http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/HL-10/)
• Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. NASA History Series SP-4220 1997 PDF (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980169231_1998082126.pdf)
• Developing and Flight Testing the HL-10 Lifting Body - NASA 1994 (PDF) (http://dtrs.dfrc.nasa.gov/archive/00000234/01/RP1332.pdf)

Related content

Related development:

Comparable aircraft: X-24 - M2-F1 - M2-F2 - M2-F3

Designation sequence:

See also:

• X-plane - A list of all the X planes
• List of experimental aircraft