NASA Aviation Pioneer Honored
To commemorate the 104th anniversary of the first powered flight and to honor the achievements of NASA aviation pioneer Richard T. Whitcomb, a ceremony was held to recognize these accomplishments. At 86 and in poor health, Whitcomb could not attend the event. Family members as well as NASA Langly employees, who are carrying on Whitcomb’s legacy of aerodynamic innovation, were in attendance.
The crowd met at the Wright’s Brother’s National Memorial in North Carolina. The honoree spent most of his career doing research in wind tunnels 100 miles north of Kitty Hawk at NASA’s Langly Research Center in Hampton VA. The portrait gallery, Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine, recognizes men and women who have made the most significant contributions to flight science and technology. The shrine was established by the First Flight Society in 1966 in the visitor center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Honorees, which included Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and many others.
Whitcomb’s role in aeronautics research is virtually unmatched. “Dick Whitcomb’s intellectual fingerprints are on virtually every commercial aircraft flying today,” said Tom Crouch, noted aviation historian at the Smithsonian Institution. In 1952, rather early in his career, the aeronautics engineer discovered and experimentally verified a revolutionary aircraft design principle that became known as the “area rule”. He discovered if he narrowed the fuselage of an airplane so it is shaped more like an old-fashioned soda bottle, he could reduce drag and increase the speed of a transonic aircraft without adding power. The “area rule” has been applied to almost every United States supersonic aircraft designed since then.
This achievement earned him the prestigious 1954 Collier Trophy for the most important aeronautical advance of the year. In 1960, his supercritical wing revolutionized the design of jetliners. The key was the development of a swept - back wing airfoil that delayed the onset of increased drag, increasing the fuel efficiency of aircraft flying close to the speed of sound. In 1970, Whitcomb developed wingtip devices that reduced yet another type of drag and further improved aerodynamic efficiency. Wingtips, utilized by many airliners and private jets, are angled up for better fuel performance. “He, like the Wright Brothers, possessed the most important characteristics of a successful inventor - - - perseverance and tenacity”, said Dennis Bushnell, senior scientist at NASA Langly who worked with Whitcomb. “He invested a decade of his life on each of his major contributions.”
This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Mission History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
