[markdbullock]

I worked at NASA Ames for seven years on a system which supported wind tunnel tests. For a while my team worked in a cold and noisy computer room under the 80x120 wind tunnel test section. We supported around seven of their large wind tunnels.

We had a PDP-11 system for data acquisition and real time display of data. That sent data to a VAX for data storage and near real time calculations and then to an Evans and Sutherland system for visualization. I worked on the RMS data storage and CLI.

We supported tests on airplanes, helicopters, submarines, space capsules, and even a tractor trailer. Since then I've seen a few tractor trailers on the road with flaps at the rear which help smooth the airflow.

One time our customer found a bug while a test was in progress. A co-worker and I went into the control room next to the test section. We could hear the air roaring and feel the building shaking while we worked on finding the issue. No pressure like that!

[Gibbon1]

My dad worked on the Unitary Plan wind tunnel. I've been inside it and in the control room one time when it was running. Indeed is loud.

I think it pulls up to 100 megawatts when running.