Testing Limits - Pushing Frontiers

Welcome to my website of NASA´s huge and historical fleet of one-of-the-kind research aircraft, often called and described as

My intention is to show you the large variety of aircraft used in the last decades by NASA and its predecessor, the NACA.

Since 1987 I have been dealing seriously as a model builder with NASA´s historical and recent astronautical achievements, especially with custom model kits of the Apollo- and Space-Shuttle era.
In 1993, I have started a new field of interest, the more or less unknown (in the German public) first A in NASA: The aeronautical research. I was inspired to focus on NASA-aircraft by my first book dealing with this subject: "Flying The Frontiers" by Arthur Pearcy (Airlife Publishing Ltd, 1993; see right picture).

To show you the exploring spirit of the people involved in aeronautical research of those days, I quote as follows (THOMPSON, M., PEEBLES, C. ,1999):
"When the Space Shuttle ´Columbia´ came out of the reentry blackout April 14, 1981, my eyes filled with tears. NASA had accomplished a lifting reentry and a fly-back to a precise landing on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base. When I arrived at Edward 1956, I didn´t foresee what I was about to be part of. The golden age of flight test was nearing its end. We were almost finished with the X-1 program; the X-3, X-4, and X-5 programs had ended; and the X-2 was in trouble. I thought to myself, "The X-programs are all over, I´ve missed it all." Then came the X-15, the Dyna-Soar program, the Parasev, and the lifting bodies. I hadn´t missed it after all."

Over the following years, I have tried to set up an unique fleet, as extensive as possible, of aircraft — helicopters, jet- and rocket-powered planes — NASA has had in its inventory over the years.
My fleet of NASA-aircraft comprises now approximately forty models, all in scale 1:72 for better comparison. Usually, I have tried to use customary plastic model kits by customary manufacturers. In order to match the original, I often had to convert these kits and had to create the required decals and paint schemes on my own. Some types of NASA-aircraft are represented in multiple versions.

THE FLEET:
OV-103 "Discovery", the Lifting Bodies M2-F2, HL-10, X-24A und X-24B, KC-135, WB-57F, NC-130B, P-3, YF-12C, U-2, B-57B, F-4A, F-5F, A-5A, SC-7, AV-8A, OV-10A, F-14A, F-15A, F-16C und F-16XL, F-18A u. B, F-20A, XF-85, JF-100C, F-104A, NF-104N, TF-104G, NF-106B, F-111A, XV-6A, YAV-8B, XV-15A, T-38A, TH-1S, SH-3G, X-1, X-13, X15, X-29 and new models are still to come...

Since 1990 I have been a member of the VdPM Hannover e.V., one of Germany´s eldest scale modelling societies. Founded in 1979, the VdPM (Verein der Plastik Modellbauer) currently has about 70 members and covers Hanover region. At our annual model-exhibition, I present my models to the public (see pictures below).

More information about me: For more than 20 years I have been dealing extensively with Air & Space Since 1987 air & space-related plastic-modelling Since 1990 member of the "Verein der Plastik-Modellbauer Hannover e.V." From 1998 till 2000 second Chairman and from 2002 till 2005 webmaster of the society´s website www.vdpm-hannover.de Since 1992 subscriber of the periodical "Raumfahrt-Journal", published by T. Block, Goslar, Germany Since 1996 member of the "British Interplanetary Society" (BIS) and subscriber of the monthly BIS-magazine "Spaceflight" Since 2000 user of air & space-related websites		Air & Space-related visits until now: 1992 and 1996 visit of the Kennedy Space Center, Florida 1992 and 1993 visit of the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. 1993 visit of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space-Museum, New York 1994 visit of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 1995 visit of the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan, the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Michigan Space Center, Jackson, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, the Neil A. Armstrong Museum, Wapakoneta, Ohio and of the U.S. Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio including the Annex located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 1996 and 1997 visit of the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California
The author with a selection of his model-fleet during the annual plastic-modelling exhibition of the VdPM Hannover in 2005 (Photograph: Kletzsch)		The model-display of the author comprising various air- and spacecraft (Photograph: Kletzsch)
As shown above: McDonnell Douglas F-18A and B, Lockheed NF-104N, TF-104G as well as YF-12C (Photograph: Kletzsch)		As shown above: Northrop T-18A, Shuttle Transportation System, Lifting Bodies and Lunar Module (Photograph: Kletzsch)

 

During a three-week vacationtrip through the Southwest of the USA I visited (by a stroke of good fortune) the DFRC on the weekend of September 6th and 7th in 1996. Exactly that weekend the DFRC celebrated an open house day and airshow to commemorate its 50th anniversary. I was very lucky by chance, because until my arrival at Lancaster, California, on September 5th I didn´t know anything about this unique event!
So, I took this opportunity to have a look behind the scenes of the DFRC, to talk to DFRC-staff and to photograph extensively.

The author of this website on the apron of the Dryden Flight Research Center, after a visit of the SCA " NASA 905 " and in front of the huge aircraft-hangar 4802, containing the exhibition of NASA-aircraft commemorating 50 years of Dryden Flight Research Center (Photograph: Scharfenberg)		The official logo of Dryden Flight Research Center commemorating the 50th anniversary (September 30th, 1946) as former station of Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory

Just 13 month later, on the weekend of October 18th and 19th in 1997, I visited Edwards Air Force Base again for the mega-event "Edwards Open House and Air Show", celebrating 50 years of U.S. Air Force und 50 years of supersonic flight. A truly never-to-be-forgotton experience!

I hope you have learned a little about myself and my interests/intentions and you have enjoyed visiting my little website.

Any suggestions of improvement, corrections or further information about NASA-aircraft would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free (or please don´t hesitate) to contact me via E-Mail.

I hereby assure I only have informative and respectively educational intentions (for private use) and pursue no commercial interests neither on this homepage nor in the sources I have used and stated.

If not stated otherwise all photographs have come from NASA.

Michael Kletzsch

Langenhagen, Germany

"The author is not responsible for any contents linked or referred to from this website."