Supersonic Wind Tunnel, England

This Supersonic Wind Tunnel was part of an aircraft research facility. This site was founded in the 1940s and operated until the 1990s. Many of the buildings have been repurposed, but some buildings such as this one remain abandoned and neglected. The facility researched aerodynamics; the study of the effects of air flowing past a solid object, such as an aircraft or aircraft part. Despite serving military and civilian customers for over 40 years, the once state-of-the-art facility became surplus to requirement in the mid-1990s. The working area of the wind tunnel was demolished several years later, salvaging over 10,00 tonnes of steel from the machinery and ducting.

There were four wind tunnels at this site, added progressively as the decades passed and technology advanced. These high-quality research facilities allowed testing of aircraft components under a variety of wind speeds, starting from around 80mph and ranging up to supersonic speeds. This building is the remains of the penultimate addition; this area represents the remains of the 8×8 supersonic wind tunnel. “8×8” refers to the width and height of the tunnel, which was 8ft by 8ft. It was added in the 1950s and was able to produce supersonic wind speeds of up to Mach 2.5 (2.5 times the speed of sound, over 1900mph).

The wind tunnel fans and systems were controlled from the adjacent electrical control room, overlooking the large hall through several small windows. Banks of switches and dials offered complete control of this complex system.

More about wind tunnels

The immobilised plane/fuselage/wing would be fixed in the test chamber, inside this building. Air would be blow into the test area using a giant compressor and fan, which pressurised the air causing it to flow at high speed into the system. A 80,000hp (60 Megawatt) electrical source drove the powerful compressor and fans. Compression makes the air very hot, so a huge heat exchanger cools the air down before passing the airstream over a series of baffles. The baffles guide the air, removing turbulence and creating smooth airflow into the test area and over/around the test object.