Manometer Boards below the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Analysts at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory take data readings from rows of manometers in the basement of the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Manometers were mercury-filled glass tubes that indicated different pressure levels in the test section. Manometers look and function very similarly to thermometers. Pressure sensing instruments were installed on the test article inside the wind tunnel or other test facility. Each test could have dozens of such instruments installed and connected to a remotely located manometer tube. The mercury inside the manometer rose and fell with the pressure levels. The dark mercury can be seen at different levels within the tubes.

Since the pressure readings were dynamic, it was necessary to note the levels at given points during the test. This was done using both female computers and photography. A camera is seen on a stand to the right in this photograph.