Stanley P Butchart
1928 - 2008After receiving primary and secondary civilian pilot training. Butchart enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1942. Upon his completion of flight training at Corpus Christi, Tex., he joined torpedo-bomber Air Group VT-51 and flew the Grumman-General Motors TBM Avenger from the aircraft carrier San Jacinto in South Pacific during World War II. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Presidential Unit Citation among other service medals. While continuing to fly in the Naval Reserve, he earned bachelor degree in aeronautical and mechanical engineering at the University of Washington.
Following graduation in 1950, he worked as a design engineer for Boeing Aircraft before beginning his career as a research pilot. From December 10, 1966, until his retirement on February 27, 1976, Stanley P. Butchart served as Chief (later, Director) of Flight Operations at NASA's Flight Research Center. During his career as a research pilot, he flew a great variety of research and air-launch aircraft including the D-558-1, D558-II, B-29, (plus its Navy version, the P2B), X-4, X-5, KC-135, CV-880, CV-990, B-47, B-52, B-747, F-100A, F-101, F-102, F-104, PA-30 Twin Comanche, JetStar, F-111, R4D, B-720, and B-47.
He became one of 65 charter members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He was later elected a Fellow of the Society and became its President in 1980.
C-140 Jetstar[Right Panel]
A/C SN - N814NA
Date Acquired: - January 2003
Acquired From: - Loan, NASA Edwards AFB, CA
Displayed: May 2005
Our C-140 JetStar was flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center from 1964 to 1989 on a variety of projects applicable to civilian aircraft. Built by Lockheed, the aircraft arrived at Dryden in May 1963, and carried tail number 814. Dryden, in co-operation with the Lewis Research Center, used the JetStar to investigate the acoustic characteristics of a series of sub-scale advanced design propellers in the early eighties. The propellers were designed to rotate at the tip speed faster than the speed of sound. They are, in effect, a "swept back wing" version of a propeller. The JetStar was modified with the installation of an air turbine drive system.The drive moving with a 24-inch test propeller, was mounted in a pylon atop the JetStar. The Aircraft research team was awarded the Collier Trophy for their efforts in 1987.
In the 1960's the same JetStar was equipped with an electronic variable stability flight control system. Called then a General Purpose Airborne Simulator (GPAS), the aircraft could duplicate the flight characteristics of a wide variety of advanced aircraft and was used for supersonic transport and general aviation research, and as a training support system for Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests at Dryden in 1977.
In 1985 the JetStar wings were modified with suction and spray devices in laminar (smooth) air flow program to study ways of improving the flow of air over the wings of airliners. The test article mounted on the right wing used suction through approximately 1 million 0.0025 - inches diameter holes in the titanium skin to maintain laminar flown on the upper surface of the article. The Aircraft arrived in January , 2003 and was put on display May 2005.
[Left Panel]
C-140 Jetstar
General InformationManufacturer: Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Production Period: 1960 TO 1973
Number Produced: 16 for the US Air Force, 204 total including civilian variants
Production Series: C-140A, B and VC-140B
Roles: Operational platform for evaluation of military navigation aids; VIP transport for senior US Air Force staff and government officials, including the President; in-theater operational airlift support.
Performance and Specifications
(Figures given are general to the C-140 Series)Maximum Speed: 598 mph
Service Ceiling: 45,000 feet above sea level
Range: 2,200 miles
Weapons: None
Crew: Four (plus eight passengers)
Length: 60 feet, 5 inches
Wingspan: 54 feet, 11 inches
Height: 20 feet, 5 inches
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 42,000 lbs.
Powerplant: Four Pratt & Whitney J60 turbojets providing 3,000 lbs. of thrust each
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