Raspet Lab Director George Bennett

RASPET LAB

COMPLETES
A HALF CENTURY
OF LEADERSHIP IN
FILGHT RESEARCH

by Bob Ratliff
photos by Fred Faulk

August Raspet, an aerophysicist, came to Mississippi State in late 1948 to conduct viscous flow studies by using sailplanes to observe the flight of birds.

"Gus Raspet spent long hours aloft in sailplanes . . . observing the ever-present buzzards as he recorded aerodynamic data," according to J. Chester McKee, retired vice president of research, in his overview of research activity at Mississippi State.

Marveling at the large birds' ability to soar and maneuver, Raspet realized the birds changed the shape of their wings to maintain a smooth, or laminar, flow of air over the wing surface. He began using high-speed photography to study his airborne companions. His resulting publications on how laminar flow could be achieved on fixed-wing aircraft led to a long-term federally funded program in low-speed aerodynamics and application of composite materials in aircraft.

Raspet Flight Research Lab

In 1951, the Office of Naval Research awarded Raspet $32,000 to continue his work. The meager grant was the first federally supported research grant at Mississippi State for work outside the area of agriculture.

By the time of his death in 1960, Raspet was nationally recognized for his research.

Today, the flight laboratory named in honor of August Raspet is part of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at MSU and the largest and best-equipped university flight research facility in the United States. Located at Bryan Field in Starkville, the lab is staffed by research engineers, pilots, machinists, welders, aircraft mechanics, electronic and composite specialists and others.

A scientist's drive to study birds in flight a half century ago spawned a facility that today provides national leadership in flight research.

"The objectives of the Raspet Lab always have been to conduct leading-edge research and to provide graduate and undergraduate students hands-on experience to supplement their classroom activities," said George Bennett, director of the lab. "Because of the excellent reputation of the laboratory, students involved with Raspet Lab projects receive excellent job offers from industry after graduation."

During the past 50 years, the students and staff of the lab have built a series of experimental aircraft, including the XV-11A Marvel designed and built at the lab in the early 1960s. In 1982, the Marvel was extensively modified using modern composite materials. The resulting Marvel II is designed to operate from a sand runway and has been demonstrated in Saudi Arabia.

Mississippi State Glider Club - 1954

Bennett noted that the lab's international reputation for successfully employing modern composite materials was greatly enhanced in 1986. That was the year the research and development arm of Japan's Honda Motor Co. signed a major, multi-year contract with the university to design and assemble large aircraft components from composites.

In addition to millions of dollars in research, Honda built and equipped a modern 50,000-square-foot laboratory that later was donated to Mississippi State. The facility is located adjacent to the Starkville airport and near the Raspet Lab.

"The laboratory's ability to construct complex, large-scale composite structures was demonstrated in 1992 with the construction of a one-third scale mock-up of the X-30 National AeroSpace Plane," Bennett said.

Sweitzer TG-3A Research Glider

The 50-foot long, 5,000-pound mock-up was constructed as a senior design class project in four months using AUTOCAD and the lab's five-axis gantry robot. The MSU student-constructed space plane was sent on a nationwide tour by NASA and is now on permanent display at the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.

The lab currently has a fleet of 10 aircraft and facilities for the manufacture and assembly of flight-worthy craft ranging from small remotely piloted vehicles to twin-jet composite aircraft. Facilities include a clean room, layup room, a four-foot diameter and 10-foot diameter autoclave, and a large five-axis milling machine used for making molds for composite parts.

In 1998, the Raspet Lab received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Piper General Aviation Award in recognition of its 50 years of outstanding contributions leading to the advancement of general aviation.

Current projects with industrial support include work with Florida-based Mod-Works for automated cockpit panel design and fabrication and development of an all carbon fiber concept demonstrator for DuPont Aerospace Lab

"The facility named in honor of Gus Raspet has earned an international reputation for the successful use of modern composite materials in aircraft," Bennett said. "The lab is ready with the personnel, equipment, laboratory, and hangar space to meet the challenges of designing, building, and conducting flight test operations for 21st century aircraft."

The lab recently completed a 10-year project with Honda for the development of two prototype, turbine-powered aircraft and a five-year Westinghouse Electronics supported project for unmanned vehicle development.

Current projects with industrial support include work with Florida-based Mod-Works for automated cockpit panel design and fabrication and development of an all carbon fiber concept demonstrator for DuPont Aerospace. Lab personnel also are working with Bosch Aerospace Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., on a unique propeller concept and on aircraft parameter identification methods with funds provided by the Jackson-based Hearin Foundation.

Rotor Tower Test Stand

"The objectives of the Raspet Lab always have been to conduct leading-edge research and to provide graduate and undergraduate students hands-on experience to supplement their classroom activities."

--George Bennett

The Raspet Lab currently is part of a university/industry team developing large-scale composite structures for the Office of Naval Research. Other current projects with federal support include a NASA study of platforms to support remote sensing, a National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) ultrasonic imaging project, and NSF-supported work with machine operation using neural networking.

In addition to its use by aerospace students, faculty, and staff, the laboratory also works with students and personnel from other departments on campus who lead or support projects at the facility.

The laboratory staff also provides flight support for other MSU units. The lab's aircraft are used to conduct aerial surveys of Mississippi forests and for low altitude photography in support of the Department of Forestry. The Raspet staff also has photographed archaeological sites for the Cobb Institute of Archaeology and tracked radio tagged fish and animals for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.