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Memorial Tributes Volume 15 (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Richard T. Whitcomb 1921-2009
Pages 416-421

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From page 417...
... 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.
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From page 418...
... 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.
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From page 419...
... 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
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From page 420...
... 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.
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  • nae home
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  • plates added
  • flow studies
  • flying close

  • built airplane
  • reduce drag
  • wave drag
  • assembly attach
  • uncanny sense

  • included aviation
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  • double shift
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  • vertical plate
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  • aircraft shock
  • transonic speeds


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