1951 North American Sabre undergoing tests in the wind tunnel at NACA's Ames Laboratory in California

A North American Sabre, world's speed champion of the 1950s, is shown above being lowered into the world's largest wind tunnel at NACA's Ames Laboratory in California. The tunnel test will show air flows over its sweptback wings at landing speeds. Massive, 60-ton doors swing down to form an airtight seal when the big F-86 Air Force jet has settled on wing- and tail-supporting struts. These are connected to scales that weigh aerodynamic performance - lift, drag, and thrust - when winds up to 250 m.p.h. blow through the tunnel.

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images and info provided by the Popular Science archive from the Zetu Harrys Collection