In the not too distant memory of our predecessors, the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory or NASA Langley was a “City Upon a Hill” (see John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity, 1630) in that it was the wind tunnel capital of the world. The world looked upon us with envy and watched what we did. No other place on Earth contained the number, kind, quality, or capability of NASA Langley. Wind tunnels of NASA are catalogued in many public books, including those published by NASA (see NASA SP-440 or NASA SP-2025-4320). Such a place was special for those who worshiped in the temples of the wind.
There were certainly close seconds, most notably the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), which was founded in 1918 (very close to the founding of NACA) under the initiative and leadership of N.E. Zhukovsky. One can see satellite photos of the complex at Ulitsa Zhukovskogo, 1, Zhukovskiy, Moscow Oblast, Russia, 140181. The CCCP wind tunnels were accompanied, and perhaps surpassed, by Soviet theoretical brilliance from household names such as Academician Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, but that is another story. I was very honored in my lifetime to visit facilities at TsAGI and NPO Energomash near Moscow, Russia, to view both historic wind tunnels and rocket engines.
Today, one might look around within our own city upon a hill and wonder – are we still the center of experimental excellence, not just in experimental fluid dynamics, but in other experimental fields?
One needs to look just outside our own “Ivory Tower to Iron Tower” to see a growing mountain of experimental, numerical, and theoretical brilliance that is now the new Wind Tunnel Capital of the World – The People’s Republic of China (PRC). For example, consider China’s Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CARDC) in Mianyang, Sichuan, PRC. One can examine dated Google satellite photos of just one location: CMHM+73Q, Fucheng District, Mianyang, Sichuan, China, 621005. Some facilities remain unfinished, but are spectacular. Now, the world watches the PRC and its new experimental developments.
America put the first domino in motion in the 1950s when we deported (traded) Qian Xuesen (钱学森), Theodore von Kármán’s student at Caltech / NASA JPL, back to the PRC. His legacy is alive today. After returning to China, he became a foundational figure in the development of PRC missile, rocket, space, and aerodynamic science.
It is interesting today to view academic and research positions in China. Last year I did my own numerical study and found a ten-to-one ratio of open aerospace faculty positions and research positions in the PRC relative to the US. The derivative is increasing. The visible scale of China’s present investment in aerodynamic experimental infrastructure is difficult to match with an American counterpart today. A wind tunnel without scientists is just machinery. If America wants to remain a leading scientific nation, it should create two things at once – facilities and people.
As for my personal opinion, I can only feel proud of my former students who are now making their way through the craft of research in the PRC, as they were not given a station in the United States to practice our craft. I wonder whether, in ten or twenty years, I will be welcome to visit them and their temples to the wind, much like I did long ago in the US, Europe, and Russia.