Category Archives: aeronautics
Announcing “The NACA Centenary: A Symposium on 100 Years of Aerospace Research and Development”
On March 3, 1915, Congress established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or N-A-C-A, “to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight with a view to their practical solution, and to determine the problems which should … Continue reading
The NACA, World War II, and Jet Aviation
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) entered the effort to achieve victory in World War II by pursuing aeronautical R&D across a broad front. Overall, the NACA was justifiably pleased with its contributions in terms both of applied and fundamental … Continue reading
Willa Brown: Out from the Shadows of Aeronautical History
Willa Bernice Brown was an aviation pioneer and flight instructor, but she is unknown to almost all, even those knowledgeable about the history of flight. Born in Glasgow, Kentucky, in 1907, her parents gave her more opportunities than most other African Americans … Continue reading
The Great NACA Fact-Finding Trip to Germany in 1936, and its Results
Last week I presented a discussion of the political process whereby two additional NACA laboratories were created. Here is the pre-history of that set of decisions. In the first part of 1936 John J. Ide, the NACA’s European representative since 1921, … Continue reading
The NACA and New Research Laboratories in World War II
As the United States moved into the World War II era its military forces called upon the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as never before to provide the aeronautical technology necessary to win the war. It was not easy … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Blue Sky Metropolis: The Aerospace Century in Southern California”
Blue Sky Metropolis: The Aerospace Century in Southern California. Western Histories. Edited by Peter J. Westwick. Foreword by William Deverell. (Berkeley: University of California Press; San Marino: Huntington Library, 2012. xii + 308 pp. Illustrations, table, notes, bibliography, index. $44.95, … Continue reading
The NACA and the National Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan
During World War II it became obvious that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) required new tools to pursue a high-speed/high altitude research program. The National Unitary Wind Tunnel Act of 1949 addressed these needs, providing NACA funds to … Continue reading
Bert Acosta and the “Golden Age of Flight”
You have to love Bert Acosta (1895-1954), an aviation pioneer who became famous for his talent and his misbehavior in pre-World War II aviation. His quest for speed, which was always a part of Acosta’s daredevil psyche, led him both to piloting advanced aircraft … Continue reading
Guaranteeing Aeronautical Innovation: Is that Possible?
For the twentieth century no set of technological innovations are more intriguing than those associated with aviation. Perhaps no technological development in this century has more fundamentally transformed human life than the airplane, coupled with its ground support apparatus and … Continue reading
The NACA Makes the Jet Engine both More Efficient and More Powerful
I have been working on a general history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor to NASA, and I have been working on a section of jet research in the 1940s and 1950s. Comments on this draft … Continue reading
