Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 416
OCR for page 417
ricHard T. WHiTcoMB
1921–2009
elected in 1976
“For pioneering research and application in the
aerodynamic design of high performance aircraft.”
By ricHard H. PeTerseN
sUBMiTTed By THe Nae HoMe secreTary
ricHard T. WHiTcoMB, aviation pioneer, died in
Newport News, Virginia, on october 13, 2009, at the age of
88. The National aeronautics and space administration
(Nasa) langley research center engineer has been called
the most significant aerodynamic contributor of the second
half of the 20th century. His work changed the way we fly
today with three design innovations that allowed airplanes
to fly farther and faster using less fuel. He was elected to the
National Academy of Engineering in 1976 for his “pioneering
research and application in the aerodynamic design of high
performance aircraft.”
Born on february 21, 1921, in evanston, illinois, richard
Travis Whitcomb was the son and grandson of engineers. He
grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, in an era when aviation
pioneers such as charles lindbergh were household names.
He built and flew rubberband-powered model airplanes. His
interest in aerodynamics continued into college at Worcester
Polytechnic institute, where he joined the aeronautics club and
spent a lot of time in the school’s wind tunnel.
Whitcomb came to what is now Nasa’s langley research
center in Hampton, Virginia, in 1943, during World War ii,
after graduating with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical
engineering with highest honors. it was a busy time for
aeronautical engineers working to improve america’s military
417
OCR for page 418
418 MeMorial TriBUTes
air superiority, and Whitcomb dived right in. in less than a
decade he tackled and solved one of the biggest challenges of
the day—how to achieve practical, efficient transonic flight.
in interviews over the years, Whitcomb told how he was
sitting one day with his feet up on his desk when he had a
“Eureka!” moment and came up with what is known as the
area rule. He theorized that the shape of the fuselage could
be changed to reduce the aircraft shock wave drag that occurs
near the speed of sound. The basic idea was to ensure a smooth
cross-sectional area distribution between the front and back
of the plane. Because projections from the fuselage increase a
plane’s cross section, narrowing the fuselage where the wings
and tail assembly attach reduces drag. “We built airplane
models with coke-bottle shaped fuselages and lo and behold
the drag of the wing just disappeared,” said Whitcomb. “The
wind tunnel showed it worked perfectly.” (The wind-tunnel
model Whitcomb used to develop the area rule is displayed
in the smithsonian’s air and space Museum.)
The Area Rule was first tested in flight on the Convair YF-
102, a delta-winged jet fighter that flew well at supersonic
speeds but had difficulty passing through transonic speeds.
The plane was lengthened and given the now-famous “Coke-
bottle” fuselage. in the words of a test pilot, the redesigned
Convair YF-106 “slipped right past the speed of sound and
kept on going.”
for his development of the area rule the langley engineer,
aged 34, was awarded the National aeronautics association’s
collier Trophy for the greatest achievement in aviation in 1954.
Previous recipients included aviation pioneers such as glenn
H. curtis, glenn l. Martin, elmer a. sperry, and donald W.
douglas.
looking at almost any large airplane today—especially
those that fly at transonic and supersonic speeds—one can see
the genius of dick Whitcomb. He developed three important
aeronautical innovations while working at Nasa langley, one
in each decade of his career. The area rule was Whitcomb’s
major accomplishment of the 1950s, but his “supercritical
wing” revolutionized the design of jet liners after the 1960s.
OCR for page 419
419
ricHard T. WHiTcoMB
The key was the development of an airfoil that was flatter on
the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve
on the trailing edge. That shape delayed the onset of drag,
increasing the fuel efficiency of aircraft flying close to the
speed of sound.
in the 1970s it was an article on birds that led Whitcomb to
develop his third significant innovation—winglets—refining
an idea that had been around for decades. other engineers had
suspected that end plates added to the wing tip could reduce
drag. But the langley engineer proved a simple vertical plate
wasn’t enough. “It is a little wing. That’s why I called them
winglets,” said Whitcomb. “It’s designed with all the care that
a wing is designed.” Winglets reduce wingtip vortex drag
and increase lift, thus improving aerodynamic efficiency.
Many airliners and private jets use winglets for better fuel
performance.
Those who worked with Whitcomb remember him as
brilliant, driven, and single-minded with aerodynamics
dominating his thoughts at work and at home (he never
married). He often would work a double shift, taking a short
nap on a cot next to the wind tunnel where he tested, and then
going right back to work. He was known for his intuitive sense
of airflow and aerodynamics. “I didn’t run a lot of mathematical
calculations,” he said, “I’d just sit there and think about what
the air was doing, based on flow studies in the wind tunnel.”
His co-workers said he had an uncanny sense of aerodynamics,
unbelievable concentration, and a phenomenal memory.
The famed aerodynamicist retired from Nasa langley
in 1980, but his contributions remain some of the research
center’s greatest accomplishments. He continued to work as a
consultant for Nasa and for aerospace companies. He did not
work for money and had little use for it. He often used expired
checks as bookmarks.
Whitcomb earned many honors in his life. Besides the
collier Trophy, he received the U.s. air force exceptional
Service Medal in 1955, the first National Advisory Committee
for aeronautics distinguished service Medal in 1956, the
NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1959, the
OCR for page 420
420 MeMorial TriBUTes
National Medal of science (personally conferred by President
richard Nixon) in 1973, and the National aeronautics
association’s Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 1974. He
also was inducted into the National inventors Hall of fame
in 2003 and the Paul e. garber first flight shrine at the
Wright Brothers National Memorial. Whitcomb’s alma mater,
Worcester Polytechnic institute, also awarded him an honorary
doctorate in 1956 and its Presidential Medal in 2003.
“There’s been a continual drive in me since I was a teenager
to find a better way to do everything,” Whitcomb told the
Washington Post in 1969. “A lot of very intelligent people are
willing to adapt, but only to a certain extent. if a human mind
can figure out a better way to do something, let’s do it. I can’t
just sit around. i have to think.”
OCR for page 421
