USAFA professor wins NASA award

  • Published
  • By Amy Gillentine
  • Research Department
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY. Colo. --  A U.S. Air Force Academy professor received a high-level NASA award in December for his contributions to a six-month project researching the use of alternative biofuel to power aircraft.

Dr. Thomas Yechout, an Academy Aeronautical Engineering professor, was one of about a dozen consultants to receive the NASA Outstanding Group Achievement Award for 2013. One of the group's only non-NASA members, Yechout was part of a NASA Engineering and Safety Center team studying the possibilities of using of oil from the Camelina flower as jet fuel.

Specifically, Yechout was in charge of making sure the smaller Falcon Jet aircraft flying close behind the DC-8 to monitor the larger plane's emissions wasn't damaged.

"It's quite turbulent flying behind a jet," Yechout said. "The violence of the jet wash and wing tip vortices could tear the plane apart. We looked at loadings, structural aspects and flight test procedures. And we designed a test approach to keep the crew safer by mitigating hazards."

Yechout said his research at the Academy gave him insight into the aerodynamic forces the Falcon Jet would need to endure, and this knowledge helped him as he modified testing protocols to ensure the Falcon Jet crew could safely fly behind the DC-8.

Yechout has been consulting on NASA programs since 2003, when the space agency formed a safety inspection team after the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion.

"The idea is to have an independent group review the implications, mitigate safety issues and maximize safety for NASA," he said. "Most of the people on the team were from NASA, but not directly working on the project."

Yechout has been teaching at the Academy for nearly 30 years. In 2011, he was named Colorado Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching. He's served as a consultant to many development programs, including NASA's Flight Dynamics Technical Discipline Team, A-10 System Program Office, the NASA Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and Lockheed Martin's C-130 drag reduction program.