The Aircraft Research Association (ARA) is an aerodynamics research institute in the north-west of Bedford.
History The association was founded on 22 January 1952.Companies House 14 main British aviation companies funded £1.25m to build a large wind tunnel.
It was first proposed in 1953 to build the site at Stevington, north-east of Bedford.Bedfordshire Times and Independent Friday 27 February 1953, page 7 By March 1953, the current site was chosen.
Construction Work started on Monday 7 September 1953.Bedfordshire Times and Independent Friday 11 September 1953, page 7
The wind tunnel was fabricated by Moreland Hayne of east London.Times Monday 4 January 1954, page 3
The transonic tunnel first ran in April 1956.Times Tuesday 1 September 1959, page 22
Visits The Duke of Edinburgh visited on the morning of Friday 4 May 1956. He had been planning to land by helicopter in the south-east of Bedford, and to be driven from there to the site by car, but weather conditions were unsuitable.Times Saturday 5 May 1956, page 8
Structure The site has the largest transonic wind tunnel in the UK, known as the TWT, with speeds up to Mach 1.4, powered by a Sulzer axial compressor. It is 25,000 hp electric-powered.
Wind tunnels Supersonic tunnel, Mach 1.4 - 3.5, built in 1958
Two hypersonic tunnels Mach 4-5 tunnel, built in 1965 Mach 7 tunnel, built in 1968
Research Projects worked on include Concorde, the Harrier and most Airbus aircraft.Airbus wing development February 2002 The Rolls-Royce RB211 was tested there.Derby Evening Telegraph Thursday 18 August 1988, page 48
The site now works with RUAG of Switzerland.
See also Aerospace Technology Institute, in Bedfordshire, launched in 2012 by the government as the UK Aerodynamics Centre British Hydromechanics Research Association (BHRA), also in Bedfordshire UK Aerospace Research Consortium (UK-ARC), formed in 2018, an alliance of university departments List of wind tunnels
References
External links ARA Bedford