Template:POTD/2017-02-11
Wind tests being conducted on a volunteer at the Langley Research Center in 1946. In these tests, under the guidance of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and at the request of the United States Navy, the volunteer was subjected to wind speeds reaching a maximum of 457 mph (735 km/h); local wind speeds along the subject's face reached 720 mph (1,160 km/h)). These tests were intended to measure the effects of bailing out of a high-speed aircraft on the human body. They showed that "effects of the wind stream on clothing and gear were in many ways more pronounced than on the subject. Even at low speeds, loose clothing flapped and fluttered violently. The helmet and chin strap needed constant readjustment, and the helmet's seams began to tear during exposures to 400-mile-an-hour winds."Video: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics