One Small Step: The History of Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University

One Small Step:-

The History of

Aerospace Engineering

at Purdue University

SECOND EDITION

Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering

One Small Step:-

The History of

Aerospace Engineering

at Purdue University

SECOND EDITION

BY

A. F. GRANDT, JR.

W. A. GUSTAFSON

L. T. CARGNINO

PUBLISHED BY

SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS & ASTRONAUTICS

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Copyright © 2010 by Purdue University, West Lafayette,

Indiana 47907. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information address:

School of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Purdue University,

701 W. Stadium Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045

ISBN 978-1-55753-599-3

Printed and bound in the United States of America

Second edition, October 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

INTRODUCTION

  1 P REFLIGHT C HECK:

Aeronautical Engineering Before World War II

  2 C OUNTDOWN :

World War II Programs

  3 I GNITION :

The Five-Year Postwar Period 1945–50

  4 L IFT -O FF! :

The 1950s

  5 G AINING A LTITUDE :

A New Era 1960–73

  6 M IDCOURSE C ORRECTION :

Transition and Growth 1973–80

  7 A LL S YSTEMS G O :

1980–95

  8 I N O RBIT :

Golden Anniversary Benchmark 1995

  9 I N -F LIGHT R EFUELING :

1996–2009

10 M ISSION C ONTROL :

Alumni Accomplishments

11 R E -E NTRY :

Reflecting on the Past — Looking To the Future

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

ABachelor of Science Degrees Awarded

BMaster of Science Degrees Awarded & Thesis Titles

CPhD Thesis Titles

DTeaching and Research Award Recipients

ESummary of School Titles & School Heads

FOutstanding Aerospace Engineer Award Recipients

GSummary of AAE Faculty

INDEX

LIST OF FIGURES

INTRODUCTION

I.1 First official delivery of U.S. airmail by John Wise in his balloon Jupiter, from Lafayette, Indiana, on August 17, 1859. (Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association)

I.2 Greater Lafayette’s first aviation show, held June 13, 1911, at Stuart Field on the Purdue campus

I.3 Airplane on Purdue Stuart Field (1918)

I.4 Amelia Earhart visits Professor George Haskins’ aeronautical engineering class (September 1936)

CHAPTER 1

1.1 Professor George W. Haskins (left) and Richard Arnett with Curtiss Robin cabin plane lent to Purdue by the Curtiss Services Corp. for class work (January 1930). Professor Haskins served on the faculty from 1929 to 1937

1.2 View of aeronautics laboratory showing wind tunnel, Curtiss Robin aircraft, and engine (May 1930)

1.3 Professors Haskins (right) and Hollister (left) examining twelve-inch wind tunnel (November 1931)

1.4 Aeronautical engineering class. Left to right: P. D. Pruitt (standing), W.H. Rivers, M.G. Haines, M.S. Finch, W.W. Halsteadt, J.L. Fihe, and Professor G.W. Haskins (September 1934)

1.5 Captain Haskins and class of students examining turbo charger for aircraft engine (September 1934). Left to right: D.P. Keller, W.H. Rivers, R. Warren (kneeling), M.G. Haines, and Captain Haskins

1.6 Aeronautics class around aircraft at Purdue airport (October 1934)

1.7 Students move glider into position for flight at the Purdue airport (May 1934)

1.8 Professor G.W. Haskins (second from right) and students examining airplane (October 1936)

1.9 Class of aeronautical engineering students studying construction of Navy aircraft sent to Purdue airport (October 1936)

1.10 Professor Karl D. Wood (1898–1995)

1.11 Professor Joseph Liston (1906–78)

1.12 Professor Elmer F. Bruhn (1899–1984)

1.13 Senior aeronautics students Frank Crosy (left) and Paul Marshall (right) working on radio-controlled model airplane designed by Professor Wood (February 26, 1938)

1.14 Students testing strength of aircraft wings with bags of sand (July 1940).

1.15 Purdue wind tunnel showing balance system used to measure aerodynamic loads (February 4, 1939)

1.16 Professor Liston (second from left) and students examining aircraft engines (circa 1943)

1.17 Construction of Purdue airport building (June 5, 1934). The Purdue airport was established in 1930 as the first university-owned airport in the nation

1.18 Students with aircraft at Purdue airport (1930s)

CHAPTER 2

2.1 Collection of photographs from 1945 school pamphlet showing first Aeronautical Engineering building located on main campus, and students working with aerodynamics and flight test facilities

2.2 Aerial photograph of Purdue campus and airport circa 1943 (facing southwest)

2.3 Photographs from 1945 pamphlet showing students working in aircraft structures laboratory located in main campus Aeronautical Engineering building

2.4 Photographs from 1945 pamphlet showing students working in aircraft power plant laboratory located at Purdue airport

2.5 Curtiss-Wright Cadettes working in various laboratories

a. Drafting was an important phase of the Curtiss-Wright program. Front row, left: Betty Schaefer; center: Maxine Stevens. Back row, left: Dorothy (nee Wurster) Rout

b. Structures laboratory

c. Power plant laboratory

d. Wind tunnel tests

2.6 Morrow airplane project (1944)

a. Back row, left to right: unidentified, Professor E. H. Bruhn, Les Schneiter, Dave Mendenhall, Lewis Jones, Ralph Trueblood, and Paul Brink. Second row: unidentified, Walter Smith, Bob Boswinkle, Oscar Lappe, Mr. Morrow, Stanley Meikle (Director of Purdue Research Foundation). Front row: unidentified, Leonard Rose, Bob Pendley, Jack Allen, and Bill Gaugh

b. Students testing Morrow airplane

c. Completed Morrow airplane examined by (left to right): Professor Bruhn, Mr. Morrow, and unidentified students

CHAPTER 3

3.1 Organization chart showing relation of Purdue Aeronautics Corporation and School of Aeronautics

3.2 Original air transportation curriculum for new School of Aeronautics

3.3 Professor Lawrence T. Cargnino (1945)

3.4 Original aeronautical engineering curriculum for School of Aeronautics

3.5 Students in air transportation power plant laboratory (circa 1947). Professor Cargnino is standing at rear center in white lab coat, and Professor Briggs is standing front right

3.6 Air transportation laboratory (circa 1947)

3.7 Second-floor corridor connecting Building Units 1 and 2 (circa 1949). Rhea Walker (shown at right) served as head secretary for many years

3.8 Professor Liston, Instructor Crosby, and Mr. Bean in power plant laboratory (circa 1947)

3.9 Propeller laboratory (circa 1947). Instructor James Basinger is second from left

3.10 Professor Briggs with students in engine disassembly laboratory (circa 1946)

3.11 Students in power plant lecture room (circa 1946)

3.12 Various wind tunnels operated by School of Aeronautics during 1940s.

a. Professor Wood and student with wind tunnel (February 1943)

b. Low-speed free flight wind tunnel designed by Professor Wood (March 1943)

c. Variable-density wind tunnel originally built in Japan

d. Large subsonic wind tunnel constructed under direction of Professor Palmer (in background). Tunnel was renovated and renamed The Boeing Wind Tunnel in 1992

3.13 Students working in structures laboratory

a. Conducting wing test

b. Professor Bruhn and students (note slide rules). Rear table, left to right: Prof. Bruhn, G. Christopher, R. H. Turner, L. T. Cheung, W. G. Koerner, A. M. Arnold (back to camera), unknown, H. F. Steinmetz. Front table, left to right: R. W. Taylor, R. M. Rennak, R. J. Wingert

c. Compression test with Tinius Olson test machine

d. Strain measurements

3.14 Aircraft metal working laboratory developed by Professor Lascoe of General Engineering Department. Instructor J. Borodavchuk standing at center

3.15 War surplus C-46. Students Wade E. Mumma and Joseph P. Minton at aircraft windows. Standing left to right: E. F. Bruhn, E. A. Cushman, L. T. Cargnino, W. Briggs, and James Bassinger. Also note P-47 aircraft visible behind C-46 at left

3.16 War surplus P-59 jet aircraft (circa 1950)

3.17 Research project carried out under direction of Professor Hsu Lo (left)

3.18 Test rig for determining ultimate dynamic energy absorption of basic structural units. PhD program conducted by A. F. Schmitt under direction of Professor Bruhn. L. A. Hromas, top left (circa 1952)

3.19 Undergraduate enrollment (sophomore through senior) in School of Aeronautical Engineering from 1942 to 1960

CHAPTER 4

4.1 Professor Milton U. Clauser, school head, 1950–54

4.2 Professor Harold M. DeGroff (1954), school head, 1955–63

4.3 Professor Maurice J. Zucrow (1952)

4.4 Professor Angelo Miele (1955)

4.5 Professor Paul S. Lykoudis (1956)

4.6 Professor Madeline Goulard (1958)

4.7 Professor C. Paul Kentzer (1954)

4.8 Professor Joseph Liston points out features of early jet engine to air transportation student Robert Bass (1954)

4.9 Professors H. M. DeGroff, G. M. Palmer, and M. U. Clauser near subsonic wind tunnel (1953)

4.10 Professor M. U. Clauser standing in subsonic wind tunnel (1954)

4.11 Air transportation student Joanne Alford, Purdue homecoming queen (1952)

4.12 Students preparing to board United Airlines DC-6 planes for visit to aerospace industries in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, areas (January 1951)

4.13 Air transportation students preparing to board flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York City for return to Purdue (January 1950)

4.14 Members of Purdue Glider Club studying glider plans (1951)

4.15 Tow car and glider used by Purdue Glider Club (1951)

4.16 Professor Mart I. Fowler, on right shaking hands with Captain Chuck Yeager (first pilot to break sound barrier in 1947). Professor Elmer Bruhn looks on, Captain Massa in doorway (circa 1950)

4.17 Purdue Aeromodelers (early 1950s)

4.18 Purdue Aeromodelers club (Neil Armstrong is fourth from left in second row)

4.19 Captain Iven C. Kincheloe (BSAE ’49) holds a model of the X-2, the jet he flew to a record-breaking height of 24 miles in September 1956 (August 1958 Redbook magazine photo)

4.20 Professor Hsu Lo (1964)

CHAPTER 5

5.1 Aeronautical and Engineering Sciences Building, 1995 (currently Nuclear Engineering Building)

5.2 Aerospace Sciences Laboratory (1995)

5.3 Professor John L. Bogdanoff (circa 1971)

5.4 Undergraduate enrollment in Aeronautical and Engineering Sciences

5.5 Astronauts Grissom (BSME ’50), Chaffee (BSAE ’57), and White with the Apollo Entry Vehicle (1966)

5.6 Grissom Hall, 1995 (formerly the Civil Engineering Building)

5.7 Chaffee Hall (circa 1980)

5.8 Professor Paul E. Stanley (on right) with Dr. McLeod of the Student Health Service (1967)

5.9 Linda McClatchey Flack, administrative assistant (circa 1975)

5.10 Professor Robert L. Swaim with TR-10 analog computer (1968)

CHAPTER 6

6.1 Professor Frank J. Marshall (1974)

6.2 Professor George M. Palmer — buildings in the wind tunnel (1970s)

6.3 Rhea Walker, secretary to the head of the School (1961). Ivy-covered building in the background is Old Heavilon Hall Shops

6.4 Professor Ervin O. Stitz (on right) with Dean Emeritus A. A. Potter (1972)

CHAPTER 7

7.1 Undergraduate enrollment in School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (Does not include engineering sciences.)

7.2 AAE graduate enrollment from 1961 to 1995

7.3 Summary of annual sponsored research expenditures

7.4 Calendar year summary of MS and PhD theses completed by the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics

7.5 Professor H. T. Yang advising student (circa 1980)

7.6 Professors A. F. Grandt, W. A. Gustafson, and F. J. Marshall at reception commemorating School’s 40th anniversary (July 1, 1985)

7.7 Professor J. P. Sullivan with laser Doppler velocimetry experiment (circa 1980)

7.8 School of Aeronautics and Astronautics staff (September 1992)

7.9 Professors J. Hancock and T. J. Herrick (July 1, 1985)

7.10 Professors L. T. Cargnino and E. F. Bruhn (circa 1982)

7.11 G. D. Calvert and Professor G. P. Palmer (circa 1987)

7.12 Professors M. M. Stanisic, C. P. Kentzer, and G. P. Palmer (1982)

7.13 G. P. Harston, Professor D. K. Schmidt, and C. R. Malmsten examining circuit board for General Automation computer (circa 1981)

7.14 Professors D. A. Andrisani, K. C. Howell, R. E. Skelton, and D. K. Schmidt (1982)

7.15 Professor K. C. Howell discusses an orbit mechanics problem with graduate students David Spencer (seated) and Hank Pernicka (1985)

7.16 Professor T. A. Weisshaar (center) with R. Benford (left) and S. Stein from Thiokol Corporation with Thiokol SPACE Award plaques (1991)

7.17 Students Eric Bennett and Margaret Struckel adjust model rocket in preparation for launch (1991)

7.18 Professor C. T. Sun with materials testing machine in Composite Materials Laboratory (circa 1987)

7.19 Graduate student John J. Rushinsky and Professor Andrisani fly constrained radio controlled airplane in subsonic wind tunnel (circa 1987)

7.20 Students performing AAE 334 wind tunnel experiment (circa 1987)

7.21 Graduate student Matt Leddington prepares to make dynamic photoelasticity measurements with ultra-high-speed camera (circa 1988)

7.22 Graduate student David P. Witkowski prepares drone for measurements in subsonic wind tunnel (circa 1988)

7.23 Graduate student Robert Frederick performs high-pressure propulsion measurement (circa 1987)

7.24 Graduate student Jason Scheuring and Professor A. F. Grandt examine fatigue crack growth specimen (1994)

7.25 Graduate student Robert T. Johnston conducts a flow visualization experiment of an aircraft model in the subsonic wind tunnel (circa 1990)

7.26 R. Bateman (BSAE ’46), J. Hayhurst (BSAE ’69), and R. Taylor (BSME ’42) represent The Boeing Company at September 19, 1991, dedication of the Boeing Wind Tunnel

7.27 Professor S. Schneider works with Ludweig tube hypersonic wind tunnel (circa 1992)

CHAPTER 8

8.1 1994–95 AAE faculty and research interests

CHAPTER 9

9.1 Summary of undergraduate enrollment in School of Aeronautics and Astronautics (excluding freshmen)

9.2 Summary of graduate enrollment in School of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 1961 to 2008

9.3 Summary of annual externally funded research expenditures by School of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 1970 to 2007

9.4 School of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2006 faculty and staff

9.5 Aerial view of the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories (Summer 2007)

9.6 Graduate students Brad Wheaton, left, and Peter Gilbert stand near a segment of the Boeing/AFOSR Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel, March 2009 (Purdue News Service photo/Andrew Hancock)

9.7 Purdue President France A. Córdova, from left, and former Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, listen to speakers during October 27, 2007 dedication of the Neil A. Armstrong Hall of Engineering. Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Cernan, the first and last men to walk on the moon, joined 14 other astronauts and former astronauts who are Purdue alumni at the dedication ceremony. (Purdue News Service photo/Dave Umberger)

9.8 Third floor view of atrium of Armstrong Hall showing installation of replica of Apollo I command module. Purdue astronauts Gus Grissom (BSME ’50) and Roger Chaffee (BSAE ’57) died with Ed White in a training accident when a launch pad burst into flames on October 27, 1967 (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)

9.9 Professor Farris with (clockwise) Faculty Emeriti W.A. Gustafson, G.P. Palmer, and L.T. Cargnino at the Neil Armstrong statue dedication (October 2007)

CHAPTER 10

10.1 Typical graduation class (1986)

10.2 Purdue’s first class of aeronautical engineers (1943) at their 50th reunion (April 1993). Left to right, back row: M. Howland, R. Herrick, P. Brink, R. Boswinkle, D. Ochiltree, J. Goldman, W. Fleming, I. Kerr. Front row: A. Streicher, C. Hagenmaier, J. Dunn, J. Allen, R. Beebe, R. Pendley

10.3 Purdue alumni selected for space flight. Thirty-seven of the 101 U.S. manned space flights completed by July 1995 had at least one crew member who graduated from Purdue

10.4 Alumni astronauts pose with Purdue President France Córdova at the Neil Armstrong dinner, October 26, 2007. Back, left-right: Mark Brown, Jerry Ross, Gregory Harbaugh, Janice Voss, Andrew Feustel, Mark Polansky, David Wolf, John Blaha, Charles Walker, Michael McCulley, Donald Williams; Front: Gary Payton, Neil Armstrong, France Córdova, Gene Cernan, Loren Shriver, Richard Covey (Photo by Vincent Walter)

10.5 Distinguished Engineering Alumnae Lana Couch (BSAE ’63) with (left to right) Dean Yang, Professors Gustafson, Cargnino, Sullivan, and Palmer (April 1994)

10.6 Purdue President S. C. Beering, former faculty member S.S. Shu, Professor A.F. Grandt, and Dean H.T. Yang at the May 1991 commencement prior to awarding the Honorary doctorate to Dr. Shu

10.7 Honorary doctorate recipient R. Bateman with Professor A.F. Grandt and Dean H.T. Yang at May 1992 commencement

FOREWORD

TO THE FIRST EDITION

L. T. Cargnino

A. F. Grandt, Jr.

W. A. Gustafson

This history of the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was prepared in the spring of 1995 in connection with the school’s golden anniversary celebration. The authors are all current or former members of the school faculty. Professor L. T. Cargnino joined the school in 1945, and taught until his retirement in 1984. Professor W.A. Gustafson joined the school in 1960, and has been its associate head since 1979. He also served as acting head during the 1984–85 academic year and the spring ’93 semester. Professor A.F. Grandt joined the school in 1979, and served as head from 1985 to 1993. By coincidence, he was born in July of 1945, the same month the current school was formally established as an independent academic unit in the Schools of Engineering, and two months before Professor Cargnino joined the original faculty.

Much of the material in the first three chapters has been edited from an internal Purdue University report by Professor Elmer F. Bruhn titled A History of Aeronautical Education and Research at Purdue for Period 1937–50. Professor Bruhn came to Purdue in January of 1941, and served as first head of the School of Aeronautics from 1945 through 1950. Written during the 1966–67 academic year, this report was Professor Bruhn’s last major assignment before retiring from Purdue in June of 1967. Although Professor Bruhn’s school history was written nearly 30 years ago, and copies are in the Purdue University libraries, it has not been widely circulated. Thus, the present authors felt it would be appropriate to include portions of that document here.

Although we have heavily edited Professor Bruhn’s report for length and style, and have supplemented his descriptions with additional information in some cases, most of Chapters 1 through 3 retain Professor Bruhn’s original organization and interpretation of early school events. In several instances we have quoted directly from Professor Bruhn’s writings when it seemed appropriate to give his first-person description of an event or individual. Such cases are clearly identified in the text.

Most of Chapter 4 was prepared in 1988–89 by Professor Cargnino, and was originally published in May of 1989 as a School of Aeronautics and Astronautics report titled Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University from 1950 to 1960. That report was subsequently revised in May of 1991, and both versions have been distributed on an informal basis by the school.

The remaining chapters have been prepared by the authors for this volume. We have relied heavily on internal University documents as well as personal recollections and those of other staff and alumni. The detailed information in Chapter 8 [now Chapter 10] about members of the class of 1943 was assembled by James R. Dunn (BSAE ’43) in connection with his class’s 50th anniversary reunion.

We apologize for any errors in the text, and would appreciate having them brought to our attention. We welcome comments from readers, and would appreciate receiving other anecdotes about the school’s programs, its staff, and its alumni.

We dedicate this book to our current and former students. Truly it can be said that faculty bask in the reflected glow of alumni achievements. We are proud of the accomplishments of former students, and thank them for setting high standards which motivate current students (and faculty) to achieve higher levels of performance.

We wish to acknowledge and thank the many individuals who helped us prepare this volume. Diane Schafer typed much of the manuscript, and Linda Flack and Terri Moore helped assemble information from various school records. Lisa Tally, Engineering Administration, proofread most of the text, and provided some of the statistics about astronaut accomplishments recorded in Chapter 8 [now Chapter 10]. James Dunn gave permission to use much of the information he collected about his 1943 classmates included in Chapter 8 [now Chapter 10], and he and fellow classmate Jerry Goldman reviewed several of the first chapters dealing with the School’s early programs. Professors J. L. Bogdanoff, S. J. Citron, and A. L. Sweet read parts of the manuscript and made a number of helpful suggestions. Michele Brost provided some enrollment data from the Registrar’s Office. Helen Schroyer, Library Special Collections, and Vincent Walter, Office of Publications, helped locate in the University archives some of the photographs reproduced in the text. Many of the early photographs are from the J. C. Allen & Son collection. The Engineering Productions Office prepared final camera-ready artwork for the book: Matt Harshbarger illustrated the aircraft featured on chapter title pages and Susan Ferringer designed the final text and arranged printing of the book.

Following the original edition in August of 1995, another printing was made in January of 1996. The second printing corrected a few minor typographical errors and omissions, but made no major changes. At the time of the third printing in the fall of 1999, it was also desired to provide an update of school activities. Since the 1995 text represents the status of the school and its alumni at the time of its 50th anniversary, it was decided to relegate subsequent additions (except for correction of minor errors and omissions) to an addendum incorporated at the end of the original volume.

A. F. Grandt, Jr.

W. A. Gustafson

L. T. Cargnino

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Purdue University

September 1999

FOREWORD

TO THE SECOND EDITION

The first edition of this history of the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was prepared in spring 1995 in connection with the school’s golden anniversary celebration. Two printings of the original version resulted in 400 and 250 copies respectively. (The second printing corrected a few minor errors.) A third printing of an additional 400 copies followed in September 1999 and contained a new addendum intended to update progress that had occurred in the intervening four years.

This second edition is a more ambitious updating of the many developments that have occurred since the 50th anniversary celebration. The past decade and a half has been a most exciting period in the school’s history, marked by substantial growth in academic and research programs, many new faculty, increased recognition, and relocation to a new home in the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering. Rather than relegate description of these changes to a separate addendum as in 1999, we decided to reorganize the book.

Most of the first seven chapters are largely unchanged, except for a few minor additions and corrections. The original benchmark Chapter 9 that described the 1994–95 academic year has been renamed as Chapter 8; a new Chapter 9 has been added to reflect the 1995–2009 period; and the original Chapters 8 and 10 have been relocated as Chapters 10 and 11. The appendices also have been updated to reflect current data, a new appendix F has been added, and an index has been added.

We wish to acknowledge and thank the following staff from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for helping assemble the information for the second edition: A. Broughton, L. Crain, L. Flack, K. Johnson, P. Kerkhove, J. LaGuire, and T. Moore. We also greatly appreciate the assistance of S. Ferringer, M. Hahn, and A. Roberts for editing and designing the final text for printing. The dedicated efforts of Ms. Roberts to update the original text to incorporate the many changes to this second edition are gratefully acknowledged.

The authors hope that this updated volume is of interest to the many students, alumni, friends and supporters of the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As before, we would appreciate learning of errors in the text, and would welcome comments and additional anecdotes from readers.

Profs. Grandt, Cargnino, and Gustafson, June 2009

A.F. Grandt, Jr.

W.A. Gustafson

L.T. Cargnino

Purdue University

School of Aeronautics & Astronautics

Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering

701 W. Stadium Ave.

West Lafayette, IN 47907–2045

Telephone: (317) 494–5117

July 2010

INTRODUCTION

Purdue University has played a leading role in providing the nation with the engineers who designed, built, tested, and flew the many aircraft and spacecraft that so changed human progress during the 20th century. It is estimated that Purdue has awarded 6% of all BS degrees in aerospace engineering, and 7% of all PhDs in the United States during the past 65 years. These alumni have led significant advances in research and development of aerospace technology, headed major aerospace corporations and government agencies, and have established an amazing record for exploration of space. More than one third of all U.S. manned space flights have had at least one crew member who was a Purdue engineering graduate (including the first and last men to step foot on the moon). Originally written on the occasion of the golden anniversary of the Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, this book attempts to describe how that organization has developed into one of the world’s leading institutions of aerospace education and research.

Although it may surprise some that a small community in northwest Indiana has played such a leading role in developing air and space travel, Greater Lafayette has a long history with air transportation. Lafayette was, for example, the location of the first U.S. airmail delivery on August 17, 1859.¹* This aviation experiment, which occurred before Abraham Lincoln became president, was accomplished by means of the hot air balloon Jupiter (Figure I.1). The balloon pilot was John Wise of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his flight was directed by U.S. Postmaster Thomas Wood of Lafayette. This first airmail delivery consisted of 123 letters and 23 circulars, and traveled approximately 25 miles to Crawfordsville, Indiana, where the balloon was forced to land due to lack of buoyancy. The mail was then transferred to another U.S. mail agent, who sent it on by railroad to New York City. It also has been reported that Mr. Wise conducted scientific experiments during this flight to measure the presence of ozone in the upper atmosphere. Thus, 10 years before Purdue University was established in 1869, Lafayette already had a history of experimentation with air travel, and with using that new technology for scientific exploration.

Figure I.1 First official delivery of U.S. airmail by John Wise in his balloon Jupiter, from Lafayette, Indiana, on August 17, 1859. (Courtesy of Tippecanoe County Historical Association).

Community interest in aviation continued when Purdue University was established across the Wabash River in what was to become West Lafayette. Purdue alumnus George Ade, for example, referred to an aeronautical engineering department at the fictional Indiana Institute of Technology (his pseudonym for Purdue) in his 1908 musical comedy The Fair Coed. After opening in Lafayette, this play had a successful run on Broadway, and may have been the first suggestion that aeronautical engineering should play a strong role in Purdue’s curriculum.¹ The Purdue Aero Club was organized in 1910 under the direction of Professor Cicero B. Veal of mechanical engineering, and the community’s first aircraft demonstration was held on June 13, 1911, during Purdue’s Gala Week (Figure I.2). Sponsored by the Purdue Alumni Association and the Lafayette Journal newspaper, this Aviation Day attracted an estimated 17,000 people to see Lincoln Beachey and C. C. Witmer land flimsy biplanes on the Purdue athletic field.¹,² Although Aviation Day was a great success, plans to take George Ade and Purdue President Winthrop E. Stone aloft that day had to be canceled, as strong winds prevented Beachey and Witmer from carrying passengers. (It also has been reported³ that the Board of Trustees considered flight too dangerous, and forbade Stone from flying.) At any rate, an unplanned excitement did occur when Beachey’s engine failed during one demonstration, and he was forced to make a dead stick landing on a nearby Purdue farm field. Other flights to campus in the next few years continued to draw large crowds (Figure I.3).

Figure I.2 Greater Lafayette’s first aviation show, held June 13, 1911, at Stuart Field on the Purdue campus.

Figure I.3 Airplane on Purdue Stuart Field (1918).

The first Purdue graduate to become an aviator was J. Clifford Turpin (class of 1908), who was taught to fly by Orville Wright. Turpin set an altitude record of 9,400 feet in 1911, establishing an alumni tradition that was continued 55 years later, when an X-2 aircraft flown by Purdue graduate Captain Iven C. Kincheloe (BSAE ’49) set an altitude record of 126,000 feet in 1956. (That record was subsequently surpassed by alumni Neil A. Armstrong [BSAE ’55] and Eugene A. Cernan [BSEE ’56] during their flights to the moon.) Lieutenant George W. Haskins was the first alumnus to land at Purdue, as he flew from Dayton, Ohio, in 1919, and landed on the same Stuart Field that had been the site of the 1911 Aviation Day. Lieutenant Haskins carried a resolution from the Dayton alumni group proposing that a School of Aviation Engineering be established at Purdue.¹ As discussed in the following chapter, formal courses in aeronautical engineering finally began two years later in 1921 in the School of Mechanical Engineering. (Lieutenant Haskins later returned to campus himself to lead that effort from 1930 to 1937. See Figure I.4.)

Figure I.4 Amelia Earhart visits Professor George Haskins’ aeronautical engineering class (September 1936).

In 1930, Purdue became the first university in the United States to offer college credit for flight training, and it opened the nation’s first college-owned airport¹,² in 1934. Although somewhat controversial among faculty, the concept of providing academic credit for flight training was actively promoted by Purdue President Edward C. Elliott. Elliott became convinced of the future of aviation when, discovering that a snowstorm made area highways impassable, he asked local pilot Lawrence I. Aretz to fly him to Indianapolis to make a speech. Elliott later was responsible for bringing Amelia Earhart to Purdue as a counselor on careers for women, a staff position she held from 1935 until her disappearance in 1937 (Figure I.4). Purdue was also instrumental in providing funds for Earhart’s ill-fated Flying Laboratory, the Lockheed Electra that she intended to fly around the world in 1937. Purdue Libraries houses an extensive Earhart collection, which continues to be studied by those seeking to solve the mystery surrounding her final flight.

Purdue’s active involvement in flight training continued during the 1930s, and it was an important military flight training center during World War II. A program for teaching aviation technicians was started in 1954–55, and a two-year professional pilot program was created in 1956. A general aviation flight technology course was created in 1964, and a BS program in professional piloting was approved in 1964. These pilot training and aircraft maintenance programs continue in the aviation technology programs offered by the Purdue College of Technology.

The focus of this book, however, is on Purdue’s aeronautical and astronautical engineering programs. Chapter 1 describes the beginnings of aeronautical engineering at Purdue before World War II, and Chapter 2 traces the war activities that led to the establishment of an independent school in 1945. The subsequent growth and accomplishments of that program are chronicled in the remaining chapters.

* References listed on page 344.

CHAPTER 1

Preflight Check:-

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

BEFORE WORLD WAR II

Although the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics was not formally established as an independent member of the Schools of Engineering until July 1, 1945, aeronautical education and research started two decades earlier with programs in the School of Mechanical Engineering. Beginning with a few courses offered in the early 1920s, the fledgling aeronautical effort grew in depth and scope, leading to a formal four-year curriculum in aeronautical engineering during World War II. The first aeronautical engineering degrees were granted by a combined School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering in August of 1943. This chapter describes Purdue’s aeronautical engineering programs before World War II.

1920–30

Purdue began limited education in aeronautical engineering during the 1921–22 academic year with four elective courses offered in mechanical engineering. These courses are listed in Table 1.1 as they appeared in the 1924–25 Purdue catalog and were often referred to as the senior aeronautical option. Professor G. A. Young, head of the School of Mechanical Engineering, offered the new courses in response to strong student interest in aviation. Professor Martin L. Thornburg, a 1915 ME graduate and veteran of the Air Service, was in charge of instruction.¹ (The School of Mechanical Engineering had 25 staff members, 603 undergraduates, and 16 graduate students in 1922.) An aerodynamics laboratory was established in Heavilon Hall and equipped with a fully assembled airplane and operating engines. Professor Thornburg left Purdue in 1924 to become head of mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona, and responsibility for the aeronautical courses was given to Professors Elbert F. Burton and Alan C. Staley. They were followed by Major William A. Bevan (1876–1943) of the Air Service, who joined Purdue in 1926. Promoted to associate professor in 1928, Major Bevan left in 1929 to help establish an aeronautical engineering program at Iowa State College.

Table 1.1 Aeronautical Engineering Courses Offered by the School of Mechanical Engineering During the 1924–25 Academic Year

The course descriptions given in Table 1.1 are limited in theory or technical analysis. The beginning of this decade was, however, only 12 years after the Wright brothers had delivered the first military airplane to the Army. Performance requirements for that aircraft were a two-person payload, a cruising speed of 40 miles per hour, and a duration of two hours. Furthermore, only two years had elapsed since the end of World War I, and although a great expansion had occurred in military flight, commercial aviation was practically nonexistent. Thus, the courses described in Table 1.1 were realistic relative to the progress of aviation at that time. Although a formal four-year curriculum in aeronautical engineering was not available until the 1940s, many Purdue civil and mechanical engineering graduates took the aeronautical electives and entered the new aeronautical industry during the 1920s and 30s.

1930–37

As the 1930s began, two new names appeared on the list of mechanical engineering faculty giving courses in aeronautical engineering: Professor George W. Haskins (Figure 1.1) and Mr. Bauers. (Professor Haskins is the same Lieutenant Haskins who had flown to Purdue in 1919 from Dayton, Ohio, becoming the first graduate to land an aircraft on campus.) Subsequent Purdue catalogs show they modified and expanded the aeronautical courses offered as technical electives in mechanical engineering. Relatively few changes were made between 1930 and 1937, however, and the material presented in Table 1.2, taken from the 1930–31 catalog, is quite representative of aeronautical instruction during that period. Comparing the 1930–31 curriculum to that from 1924 –25 still shows heavy emphasis on the aircraft power plant. More treatment of performance, stability and control, and the theory of aerodynamics is, however, evident. Textbooks on aerodynamics were now becoming available, and much test data on airfoil characteristics were being published by the several NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) government research laboratories. Purdue also had its own wind tunnels for aerodynamic measurements,¹ with earlier tunnels having been constructed by Professor Solberg, by Professor Bridge Smith of civil engineering, and a third by Professor Haskins. Various photographs of school facilities and student groups from this era are shown in Figures 1.2–1.9.

Figure 1.1 Professor George W. Haskins (left) and Richard Arnett with Curtiss Robin cabin plane lent to Purdue by the Curtiss Services Corporation for class work (January 1930). Professor Haskins served on the faculty from 1929 to 1937.

Table 1.2 Aeronautical Engineering Courses Offered by the School of Mechanical Engineering During the 1930–31 Academic Year

Figure 1.2 View of aeronautics laboratory showing wind tunnel, Curtiss Robin aircraft, and engine (May 1930).

Figure 1.3 Professors Haskins (right) and Hollister (left) examining 12-inch wind tunnel (November 1931).

Figure 1.4 Aeronautical engineering class. Left to right: P. D. Pruitt (standing), W.H. Rivers, M.G. Haines, M.S. Finch, W.W. Halsteadt, J.L. Fihe, and Professor G.W. Haskins (September 1934).

Figure 1.5 Captain Haskins and class of students examining turbo charger for aircraft engine (September 1934). Left to right: D. P. Keller, W. H. Rivers, R. Warren (kneeling), M. G. Haines, and Captain Haskins.

Figure 1.6 Aeronautics class around aircraft at Purdue airport (October 1934).

Figure 1.7 Students move glider into position for flight at the Purdue airport (May 1934).

Figure 1.8 Professor G. W. Haskins (second from right) and students examining airplane (October 1936).

Figure 1.9 Class of aeronautical engineering students studying construction of Navy aircraft sent to Purdue airport (October 1936).

Aircraft were still relatively slow in 1930, with a maximum speed of approximately 200 miles per hour. Only three years before, Charles Lindbergh had made his famous 33-hour nonstop flight from New York to Paris in a single engine monoplane, cruising at 105 miles per hour. Mr. Lindbergh’s flight gave commercial aviation a big boost, and commercial air transportation was beginning with 10 to 25 passenger airplanes such as the Ford Tri-Motor, the Boeing Tri-Motor, and the Fokker Tri-Motored transport. The famous Douglas DC-3, which was so instrumental in beginning modern air transportation, was still several years in the future. Aeronautical engineers and scientists still believed that airplanes would be limited to the speed of sound, and few, if any, dreamed of the turbojet power plant and propellerless airplane that were in the near future.

1937–41

Professor Haskins left Purdue and returned to the Air Corps in 1937 and later joined the Civil Aeronautics Board. He was succeeded by three key individuals who were responsible for many important developments in aeronautical education and research at Purdue. In September 1937, Professors Karl D. Wood (Figure 1.10) and Joseph Liston (Figure 1.11) joined the faculty as professor and assistant professor, respectively, while Professor Elmer F. Bruhn (Figure 1.12) joined the school in January of 1941 as an associate professor.

Figure 1.10 Professor Karl D. Wood (1898–1995).

Figure 1.11 Professor Joseph Liston (1906–78).

Figure 1.12 Professor Elmer F. Bruhn (1899–1984).

Professor Wood came to Purdue after many years on the faculty of the Engineering Mechanics Department at Cornell University. The year before coming to Purdue, however, he was a full-time member of the engineering staff of Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation in San Diego, California. Professor Wood was possibly the first person to publish a comprehensive book on airplane design (K. D. Wood, Airplane Design, A Textbook on Airplane Layout and Stress Analysis Calculations with Particular Emphasis on Economics of Design, published by the author, 1st edition, 1934). His original book and its many subsequent revisions were widely used by both students and practicing engineers, and made a valuable, lasting imprint on aeronautical education in the United States and throughout the world. Professor Wood was a strong advocate of education that balanced theory, technical analysis, testing, and design. Although Professor Wood left Purdue in 1944 to become head of the Aeronautical Engineering Department at Colorado University, his dedicated guidance and leadership during his seven-year tenure left a permanent imprint on aeronautical education at Purdue.

Professor Liston came from the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of the Mechanical Engineering Department. His primary interest at that time was in the field of aircraft power plants. He had previously received his BSME in 1930 and MSME in 1935 from Purdue. Professor Liston remained on the aeronautical staff until 1972, completing 35 years of service to aero education at Purdue. Professor Liston was responsible for the development of outstanding power plant design courses and test facilities during the 1940–50 decade.

Table 1.3 gives the aeronautical engineering curriculum reported in the 1939–40 Purdue catalog. Seniors in mechanical engineering who desired limited knowledge of aeronautics were permitted to take six hours of technical electives in aeronautics courses 83 and 94. Admission to the aeronautical option was limited to students whose grades in mathematics, physics, and applied mechanics averaged at least a B. A fifth year, leading to an MS degree in ME with a major in aeronautical engineering, could be taken with the courses given in Table 1.4.

Table 1.3 Aeronautical Engineering Curriculum Offered by the School of Mechanical Engineering During the 1939–40 Academic Year

Table 1.4 Fifth-Year Curriculum in Mechanical Engineering Leading to MS Degree with Major in Aeronautical Engineering (1939-40)

Comparing this curriculum with those given earlier, one notes that aeronautical education was greatly expanded under Professors Wood and Liston, particularly in the fields of theoretical aerodynamics, airplane design, and aircraft engine design. The curriculum did not, however, have courses in aircraft structures (i.e., materials, stress analysis, structural design, aerodynamic loads, dynamics, flutter, etc.). Furthermore, laboratory courses in aerodynamics and aircraft propulsion were practically nonexistent.

When Professors Wood and Liston joined Purdue in the fall of 1937, laboratory facilities consisted of a small continuous-flow wind tunnel located in old Heavilon Hall (Figure 1.2), plus an assortment of airplane and aircraft engine parts that only could be used as teaching aids for descriptive phases of an aeronautical course. Professors Wood and Liston soon initiated steps, however, to develop laboratory facilities (Figures 1.13–1.16).

Figure 1.13 Senior aeronautics students Frank Crosby (left) and Paul Marshall (right) working on radio-controlled model airplane designed by Professor Wood (February 26, 1938).

Figure 1.14 Students testing strength of aircraft wings with bags of sand (July 1940).

Figure 1.15 Purdue wind tunnel showing balance system used to measure aerodynamic loads (February 4, 1939).

Figure 1.16 Professor Liston (second from left) and students examining aircraft engines (circa 1943).

The structural-design weakness was ably addressed by the recruitment of Professor Elmer F. Bruhn in January of 1941. Professor Bruhn received a BS in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1923 and an MS in 1925 from the Colorado School of Mines. There he taught subjects dealing with mechanics and structures for five years, advancing to