Prandtl-D

Overview

The Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag, or Prandtl-D was a series of unmanned experimental glider-aircraft developed by NASA under aerodynamicist Albion Bowers. The acronym is a reference to early German Aerospace Engineer Ludwig Prandtl, whose theory of the bell-shaped lift distribution deeply influenced Bowers. The Prandtl-D1 and the Prandtl-D3 models are preserved in the National Air and Space Museum and the California Science Center, respectively.