Inside the World's Largest Wind Tunnel

(melodic rock music) (wind roaring)

[Narrator] If you're trying to build a super truck,

you're gonna need a super test.

And that means a trip to the world's largest wind tunnel.

(wind roars) (melodic rock music)

Truck maker, Navistar, has poured five

years of work into this concept, big rig.

It's part of the Department of Energy's

Super Truck program.

An effort to increase trucking fuel efficiency, by 50%.

The results of this truck can be used

to pass on greater fuel efficiency to our customers.

So, reduce emissions, lower cost for transportation.

[Narrator] It's all about cutting drag

to improve efficiency.

That means sleek cameras, instead of

bulky side view mirrors.

Wheel caps, extra trailer skirts,

even a boat tail, to reduce the truck's wake.

But there's only so much Navistar

can learn from simulations.

So the company hauled the truck

to Mountain View, California, home of

the national, full scale, aerodynamic complex,

to see how it handles high velocity winds.

Open during World War II, this facility

helped develop early jet planes, and the NASA space shuttle.

In 1987, they added this tunnel, the world's biggest.

It's 80 feet high, and 120 feet wide.

Large enough to hold a Boeing 737.

This sucker has blasted 100 mile per hour

winds at everything from helicopters, and planes,

to the parachute that landed the Curiosity rover, on Mars.

At the beginning of each test, engineers

in the control room, fire up six massive turbines.

Each runs a 22,500 horsepower motor,

and in minutes, this place becomes a giant vacuum.

Sucking air from the outside, and

steering it back out the other end.

It moves so much wind, the Air Force,

which now runs the facility, warns

local pilots about turbulence before

cranking up to full speed.

No surprise, things can get a bit out of hand.

For example, parts can break off

and go flying down the tunnel.

There's a lot of things that can go wrong,

so we have an entire crew of people

making sure that we're doing this properly, safely,

and that everybody walks away, at the end of the day,

and ready to go again tomorrow.

[Narrator] Today's test is a bit calmer.

Navistar engineers study data

from inside the vehicle, and monitor

how this smoke flows around the exterior.

They only use the test results to

spot weak points, and perfect the aerodynamics.

In the meantime, the team at the

wind tunnel is already preparing for its next, giant client.

(melodic rock music)