San Diego, CA - August 16, 2013 - The USA Luge Team brings a taste of the Olympic Winter Games to San Diego as two-time Olympian and 2009 World Champion Erin Hamlin visits the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) to conduct tests for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games. Some of Hamlin's team members will also be testing, including Chris Mazdzer, Taylor Morris, Julia Clukey, Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall. The test will take place on Monday, August 19, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.
Hamlin, of Remsen, NY, will be testing new sled configurations and geometries, in addition to race suit fabrics. The test will be conducted by USA Luge head coach and two-time Olympic medalist Mark Grimmette, Olympic medalist Gordon Sheer, Stephen Ryle, Aerotest Engineering Manager for the LSWT and Douglas Bohl, PhD, Associate Professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY.
Grimmette, of Muskegon, MI and Bohl, of Potsdam, NY, have been working together as part of a larger collaboration between Clarkson University and USA Luge, aimed at increasing the aerodynamic efficiency of the team’s equipment.
USA Luge has been testing at the facility since 2004. Virtually all of the top cyclists in the world for the past seven years have tested at the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s Low Speed Wind Tunnel, including Lance Armstrong. USA Bobsled also tested in the tunnel for the first time last year. The testing methodology and expert staff draw both world-class athletes and top aerospace companies. To date, the LSWT has conducted nearly 100,000 hours of testing and has been used extensively in numerous military and civil aerospace development programs, including those of the F-106, B-58, F-111, F-16, Global Hawk UAV, Tomahawk Cruise Missile, and Advanced Cruise Missile. In addition, it has recently served the testing needs of Cessna, Boeing, Gulfstream, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin. As the only wind tunnel in the nation capable of performing low-speed flutter testing, Boeing has used the facility extensively to test all its commercial airliners, from the 707 to the new 787 Dreamliner.
For more information on the LSWT, please visit www.lswt.com.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is California's official air and space museum and education center. The museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was the first aero-themed museum to be accredited by the American Association of Museums. Visit www.sandiegoairandspace.org for more information. The museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with admissions until 4:00 p.m. (winter hours) and 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (summer hours). Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
