Tag Archives: NACA
Robert Gilruth and the NACA’s Entry into Space Technology
During the latter part of World War II leaders of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor to NASA, had become interested in the possibilities of high-speed guided missiles and the future of spaceflight. It created at the … Continue reading
NACA and Documenting of Progress in Aerodynamics
The aeronautical research that the NACA between 1915 and 1958 undertook found dissemination in a complex set of technical publications that the agency made available to all on an equal basis. Most NACA research was accomplished “in-house” by scientists or … Continue reading
Women Computers at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory
With the attention Hidden Figures has received in the media of late, the story of African American women computers working for NASA during the Moon race is finally starting to be told. While the film takes many liberties with the … Continue reading
Recalling the Great NACA Fact-Finding Trip to Germany in 1936, and its Results
Eighty years ago a great adventure took place. In the first part of 1936 John J. Ide, the NACA’s European representative since 1921, fired off an alarming report on the state of aeronautical science on that continent. Ide, the sometime … Continue reading
The Beginnings of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory
We are approaching in 2017 the centennial of the founding of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (LMAL) by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), at Hampton, Virginia. Now NASA’s Langley Research Center this facility transformed aeronautics in the United States … Continue reading
A Short History of the Birth of the NACA in Less Than 1,000 Words
On March 3, 2015, we will commemorate the birth of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) that took place in 1915. This organization was very much a product of its time and place and circumstance. For the first twelve years … 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
Edward P. Warner and the Transformation of Aeronautics in America
I have been researching the history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and compiling biographical information on several of the early leaders of the organization. Edward Pearson Warner (1894-1958) is one of those key people. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, … Continue reading
The NACA, World War II Aircraft, and Drag Clean-Up
I have often wondered just what research took place at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) during World War II in relation to “drag clean-up.” John F. Victory, NACA’s secretary boasted in 1942 that “The employees of the NACA … Continue reading
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