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Spinoff story

Lightplane Wing Design

A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.

About this technology

Overview

Venture, a kit airplane designed and manufactured by Questair, is a high performance lightplane with excellent low speed characteristics and enhanced safety due to NASA technology incorporated in its unusual wing design. In 1987, North Carolina State graduate students and Langley Research Center spent seven months researching and analyzing the Venture. The result was a wing modification, improving control and providing more usable lift. The plane subsequently set 10 world speed records.