 One of NASA's major goals for the 1980s in aerodynamic research has been to explore the nature of the air that passes over surfaces of an airplane's wings and fuselage. The smooth flow of smoke from this burning cigarette is a good example of laminar airflow. When an airplane wing is built perfectly smooth, without joints, gaps and rivet holes, the same type of undisturbed airflow over the wing results. If the airflow hits debris on the wing as small as six thousandths of an inch, even bugs, turbulence results, and the scrubbing action of the air causes drag. Maintaining laminar airflow can reduce aerodynamic drag from 25 to 40%, resulting in greater fuel efficiency. A research team working out of the A.M. Dryden Flight Research Facility in California applied a jet-star business-sized aircraft with two specially adapted wing sections as seen in this model. The test sections are designed to artificially induce laminar flow over the wings. The idea is that airflow can be held laminar over a very smooth wing section if air is sucked through regularly spaced pores or swats in the wing. Both wing sections have systems that keep the wing clean of bugs, ice, and other contaminants. The primary focus of this study is to fly the jet-star in typical commercial airline routes across the country in order to cool both systems' worthiness under real conditions. Pilot John Mattis There's really just a general exposure of all of the country in the airline environment. Get it out of the test area and put it to work. Scientists at the Langley Research Facility in Hampton, Virginia are also studying laminar flow. They use a lear jet that has a modern wing design incorporating smooth surfaces through which chemicals are applied, allowing researchers to see natural laminar and turbulent airflow patterns as they occur during different flight conditions. A promise in breakthrough is a new, different crystal chemical that changes color according to aerodynamic effects. Never has continuous transition between laminar and turbulent flows been seen before. Since the late 1930s, it was believed that laminar flow couldn't exist on airplane wings. The smoothness of plane wings today makes the difference. Richard Wagner talks about going a step further and applying laminar flow to supersonic applications. We intend to flight test an F-106 and look to see how much laminar flow we can get on the wings and on the vertical pale. Many people believe that laminar flow control at supersonic speeds could be the answer to an economical supersonic transport. Laminar flow for many years ignored as a way to reduce drag in aerodynamic research. Now, a promising approach to greater efficiency in flight.