Collaboration Key to Advancing High-Confidence Design Analysis Tools for Safe, Efficient Aircraft of the Future
Sustainable Flight National Partnership Mission Integration Manager with NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) and AIAA Fellow, delivered the Applied Aerodynamics Award Lecture this week at the 2025 AIAA AVIATION Forum, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of aerodynamic testing and the future of flight.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Wahls shared insights from his decades-long career, highlighting the enduring importance of wind tunnels, the rise of computational tools, and the importance of national and international collaboration to enhance the state of the art in aerospace engineering.
Despite the rapid advance of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and digital modeling, Wahls is adamant that wind tunnels remain indispensable. “They always have been, and they will for a long, long time,” he said.
The NTF, for example, allows researchers to test small-scale models of aircraft under conditions that closely mimic real flight, thanks to its ability to pressurize and cool nitrogen gas. Pressurizing and cooling effectively scales the air flow to the model scale for more accurate simulation of the real flow physics in full-scale flight.
Wahls explained that while computational tools have improved dramatically, they are not yet a complete substitute for physical testing.
“There’s always a push, because wind tunnels are big infrastructure, to close them down,” he noted. “But computations are not mature enough to eliminate the need for wind tunnels.”
