|
Items in cart [0] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
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 57
ANTONIO FERRI
1912-1975
BY ADOLF BUSEMANN
A NTONIO FERRI, Vincent Astor Professor of Aerospace Sciences
at New York University, President of General Applied Science
Laboratories Inc., and Senior Vice-President of Marquardt Corpo-
ration, died on December 28, 1975, of a heart attack at his home on
Long Island at the age of sixty-three. His death means a great loss
to the National Academy of Engineering and to the national and
international societies of aerospace engineering in which he was a
very active and knowledgeable member throughout his forty years
of professional life.
Dr. Ferri was born on April 5, 1912, in Norcia, Italy, and, during
his youth, Italy was one of the most successful participants on the
Schneider Cup Races for seaplanes, being the first country to win
the cup a second and also a third time. Therefore, his choice to
study electrical engineering (Ph.D., 1934) and also aeronautical
engineering (Ph.D., 1936) at the University of Rome was quite
appropriate for a student of his interests. But, when Great Britain
became the first country to win the cup a fourth time in 1929 and
Italy's new airplane for the last race in 1931 could not participate
because of engine troubles, the Italian Air Ministry decided to
build a new research center in Guidonia near Rome. Dr. Ferri
received an appointment at the center when it was finished in 1935.
For the center's opening event, the Royal Academy of Italy selectee}
"High Speed Flight" as the subject of its Fifth Annual Volta
Congress in Rome. Participants included famous scientists such as
57
OCR for page 58
L. Prandtl, Theodore von Karman, and G. I. Taylor, as well as two
organizers of the Schneider (>up competition Prom England. The
purpose of the Congress was to discuss the past experience of and
future expectations for subsonic and supersonic flight.
Such an exposure to the latest ideas of the experts, as well as
having the opportunity to test their reality and limitations on the
most advanced wind tunnels, is certainly the fastest way to make a
new engineer able to stand on his own feet in this new field of
applications. In 1937 Dr; Ferri became the Head of the Supersonic
Wind Tunnel of Guidonia. During World War II high-speed flight
got even a greater priority, and he was charged with building new
facilities for investigations. He had to destroy them when, in 1943,
Italy wanted to surrender to the victorious Western Allies, but
Germany tried to prevent it. However, with the fall of Rome in
1944 the Allies succeeded, and the Office of Strategic Services of
the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (now a part of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) offered him a
chance to continue his research at the Langley Research Center,
near Hampton, Virginia. His earlier and new experience was very
much appreciated, and in 1949 he advanced to the Head of the
Gasdynamics Branch. He was also allowed to bring his wife, the
former Renata Mola, and his children to Hampton, and his admit-
tance to U.S. citizenship was legally complete in`June 1952.
In addition to his research publications for the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, Dr. Ferri wrote a well-known book,
Elements of Supersonic Aerodynamics, which was published by the
Macmillan Company, New York, in 1949. About that time the
universities realized that they needed fresh blood in their aeronau-
tics departments and new wind tunnels I'or the laboratories, and in
1951 Ferri joined the faculty ol' the Polytechnic Institute of Brook-
lyn as Professor for Aerodynamics. He became in 1954 the Director
of their Aerospace Institute, and in 1957 he became Head of' their
Department ol' Aerospace Engineering and Applied Sciences. He
was also President of the General Applied Sciences Laboratories,
Inc., which was founded with Professor Theodore von Karman in
1956. In 1964 Dr. Ferri joined the Department ol' aeronautics and
Astronautics, School of' Engineering Sciences, of' the New York
University.
58
OCR for page 59
The change from a government employee to a university profes-
sor in a city like New York gave Dr. Ferri plenty of opportunities to
become a consultant for the private airplane industry and to realize
their problems caused by the advancement of flight. Besides that,
he was also a consultant for the Air Force and other government
agencies.
The second half of Dr. Ferri's professional career became even
more interesting and diversified by the addition of space flight and
of hypersonic aerodynamics, overlapping at the reentry maneuvers
of space vehicles into the atmosphere. A new element at such
extremely high velocities is the surface heating of the vehicle by the
air. At smaller hypersonic velocities an airbreathing jet propulsion
is very advantageous if the combustion can be accomplished at
supersonic speeds; but a normal shock ahead of the entrance of the
duct can change the entrance speed from supersonic to subsonic.
Dr. Ferri invented an air inlet to recover automatically from such
shocks. He also helped solve the supersonic combustion problems
for the jet. Even the surface heating by the air at speeds up to
satellite speeds gave him plenty of ideas like separating the air from
the surface by a jet or by a heat shield and how to minimize the
cooling costs.
In his last years, Dr. Ferri was also working on the commercial
supersonic airplanes and the changes they need in order to reduce
the noise level and the air pollution in the upper atmosphere, and
he was convinced that the second generation of the SST will be able
to comply better with reasonable limits on these two ecological
Items.
Dr. Ferri, with his excellent combination of theoretical and
experimental talents to solve the most difficult problems in en-
gineering, was also an admirable teacher and a wonderful demon-
strator of the facts in the laboratory, as well as an experienced
leader of a research team on new problems. Though he earlier had
been a committee member for the National Academy of Sciences,
he was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Engineer-
ing in 1967 and became a great help in solving acute problems in
several committees of purely technical or even sociotechnical
character. He was also honored by many prizes and awards of
national or international societies, beginning with the Premio dell'
59
OCR for page 60
Accademia d'Italia (for science) (1938~; the Scientific Achievement
Award (1954~; the Italian Historical Society Award of America
(1959~; the Historical Society Award of America (1965~; and the
Akroyd Stuart Prize from the Royal Aeronautical Society (1965~.
He further received in 1966 the Department of the Air Force
Commendation for Meritorious Civilian Service in recognition of
his contributions to the U.S. Air Force as a member of the Scientific
Advisory Board. In 197Q he received the Department of the Air
Force Office of Aerospace Research Award for outstanding contri-
butions to research. In 1975 he received the Sylvanus Albert Reed
Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau-
tics.
Antonio Ferri will long be remembered by his friends, associates,
and students as one who had what it takes to make a new branch of
engineering blossom and grow.
60
OCR for page 61
OCR for page 62
)~ %~# #~# ~~ )~) ~~:~:~ ~~-~s~ ~~i~
Ad ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ s~ ~~ ~~:~:~>~ ~~.~s~ ~>~E~
~~{'~ aid. { {~: <~:~Si~S~S~SSS~S~S~S~ ~~ SO: ~S~5~S~Sll#l SE Sat #~ IS
~~ !! ~ ~~ ~~!~ ~ ~~ ~~!~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~:~!~!~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~!~ A ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~
. ~~
saw. < ~ ~ ~ ~ :~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~!~ ~ ~ ~5~ ~~ ~~ :~ ~~ ~~ ASKS I ~ ~ sat s
7` ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~:7 ~~ I:!::! ~~s~
A: ~~:~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~:~:~ ~!~
~ <~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~i~ ~ ~~'~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~<
Us ~ ~~:~ ~~!~ :E!~!~!~
A ~ ~~!~ ~~:~ ~~!~
< ~~ ~ :~:~:~:~:~ ~~!~!~!
A: ~~ ~~:~
~:~ i: i: Am! ~~!~
, Em: ~ ~~ : ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~S ~ at::: E
: : ~~ ~~ ~~ I: ~ At: ~~
S~jE.S)~St{~le)iSi~#SiSIE)~) ~S~)S~SS#S<~S##S i)
~~:~ ~~:~#
'A ~~SSS~E~?
~:~ ~~!~ ~~i
SO ~~,
~~< T~ <~Si~ As
'~: >~:~s~s~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~?
,,~:~-~s~ E! ~~ ~~ -
S>~S~:~ I Eats ..
~~ <~:~!~!~ As: _
S;~S~s~s~s~(s~sl ~~s~s~s~s~s~s~E~ ~~E~E~E~ S CENT ~ {E ~ E' HE :S
~~!~ ~~ ~~
S~SSE~SiSlS~S~S~ ~Sl.~S~E~? Ed: USA: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ :~ !S ~ ~ :: :
I ~ ~ ~~ S SO ~~ ~~ BEAT ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~:~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
~~'~ ~E~Z~!~:~:~:~ ~~ ~~ :~
{~) - <~5~ later ~~# ~ :~
~S~S~:~S~E~!~S~S ~~? S
~S~!~E~ ~~ ~ ~:~
~~!~!~s~E~E~: I:: 7<
{!~!~S~:~ ~~ ~~:~
~5 ~~: :~! BE ~~ :
3 ~~!~:~ ~~ ~~ sat
~'~;~s~s~ ~ ~~ {
E S~E~S~:~ Eat ~ ::: :~ ~~ :~ A: a:: :
~~!~!~
A ~~:
s :~: ~ {~ ~ : :
~~E~S~
ES~s~slE~:~S~ ~:~ SO
~~E~!~!~ i? {~ ~ sags ~ ~~
::~-~-~2EES~S~E#:~:~ S:: ::
·S ~~S~.~: SE:
~:~ )~S~.~ ~5
~:Sil~E~E{E~: :S~: :S
~~ ~~ ~~!E~:~ l: E I! ~ ~~ ~ ~
S~:S~s ::~S}~ ~ ~~S~E~S~ A: S:> :
~ ,
#~S~S~EEIE~:~!~E~ Aim: ~,~
l~lsl~s~ ~SiS~SSE~:E:iE~E~S~ ~ ~:~:~SISl: SS' EE:ES'S:
s A a: ~ ~ a, ~~:~
~S~S~s~:~S~S~ I TESS :: :~!:~ ~ ~ a:
~S~S~l'~:~:~lS~:~E~ ~~ S ~ AS::
ATE AS ~ E: ~ SURE ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~
~ s :?
S:S:S ~::.'..SS:.'S:: :E S.: ?:E: : :: ' . 2:
- : it: E E ~ . S S:S:E S S:E:5:E:~:E:~:~:>'S:E.'::::~:~
~ ~< a! ~!~ !~:~!~;~
a: ~~l ~ a: ~ E!S :E ~ a: ~~ USES ~~ ~~ S~S~SS ~~S~<'{ ~ ., ..
~ ~ _
~ ~ .~ ~
A:: E ~E7~!~!:~E~!;!~<~
#
.~ ~
./
Representative terms from entire chapter:
theodore von
