NASA Aerodynamics Legend Enters Aviation Hall of Fame

Oct. 05, 2012

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886
kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 12-345

NASA AERODYNAMICS LEGEND ENTERS AVIATION HALL OF FAME

WASHINGTON -- Aeronautics engineer Richard T. Whitcomb, whose
legendary NASA research contributions made supersonic flight
practical, will join other aerospace pioneers in the National
Aviation Hall of Fame Saturday, Oct. 6.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame, located at the National Museum of
the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, is dedicated to honoring
individuals who have contributed uniquely to America's rich legacy of
aviation achievement. In the past 50 years, it has inducted more than
200 of the nation's premier air and space pioneers, including the
Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and astronauts
John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and others.

Whitcomb, who died in 2009 at age 88, may not be as much of a
household name as others in the Hall of Fame, but aerospace
professionals say his role in aeronautics research is virtually
unmatched.

"During his almost four decades of federal service, Whitcomb's
fundamental insight into aerodynamics and his practical solutions led
to three of the most significant and practical contributions to
aeronautics in the 20th century," said Lesa Roe, director of NASA's
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

Those three contributions include the area rule, supercritical wing,
and winglets.

Whitcomb spent his 37-year career at Langley, arriving fresh out of
college in 1943. Nine years later in 1952, the young aeronautics
engineer discovered and experimentally verified a revolutionary
aircraft design principle that became known as the area rule.
Whitcomb discovered if he narrowed the fuselage of a transonic
airplane so it is shaped more like an old-fashioned soda bottle, he
could reduce its drag and increase its speed without adding power.
The area rule has been applied to almost every U.S. supersonic
aircraft designed. The achievement earned Whitcomb the prestigious
1954 Collier Trophy for the most important aeronautical advance of
the year.

Whitcomb's supercritical wing revolutionized the design of jet liners
in the 1960s. The key was the development of a swept-back wing
airfoil that delayed the onset of increased drag, increasing the fuel
efficiency of aircraft flying close to the speed of sound.
In the 1970s Whitcomb came up with winglets, wingtip devices that
reduce yet another type of drag and further improve aerodynamic
efficiency. Many aircraft currently sport wingtips that are angled up
for better fuel performance.

Whitcomb received the National Medal of Science from President Richard
Nixon in 1973, the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Service medal in 1955,
the first National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' (NASA's
predecessor) Distinguished Service Medal in 1956, the NASA
Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1959 and the National
Aeronautics Association's Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 1974.
The engineer also was inducted into the National Inventors' Hall of
Fame in 2003, the National Academy of Engineering in 1976 for his
pioneering research in the aerodynamic design of high performance
aircraft, and the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine at the Wright
Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina. Whitcomb's alma mater,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, awarded him an
honorary doctorate and its presidential medal.

Being inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame along with
Whitcome are well-known aviation artist Keith Ferris, female aviation
pioneer Geraldine Cobb, and the late Elwood Quesada, an Air Force
general and pilot who in 1929 helped develop and demonstrate
air-to-air refueling and was the first commander of the USAF Tactical
Air Command and the first head of the Federal Aviation
Administration. The ceremonies will held at the Dayton Convention
Center in Dayton, Ohio.

To see a video of Whitcomb's accomplishments, go to:

http://alturl.com/frx3a

For more information about NASA programs go to:

http://www.nasa.gov


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