4 YEARS OF AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH — HUNSAKER 267 



better performers, and production engines more powerful. Fortu- 

 nately, a considerable backlog of design data was available for appli- 

 cation to such subjects as low-drag wings, high-speed propellers, sta- 

 bility and control, and improved systems for cowling and cooling 

 engines. Between December 1941 and December 1944, the Commit- 

 tee's research centers worked on 115 different airplane types. In July 

 1944, 78 different models were under simultaneous investigation. 



Perhaps the best comment on the value of NACA's World War II 

 work is to quote from a statement by the late Frank Knox, made in 1943 

 when he was Secretary of the Navy : 



New ideas are weapons of immense significance. Tlie United States Navy was 

 the first to develop aircraft capable of vertical dive bombing; this was made 

 possible by the prosecution of a program of scientific research by the NACA. 

 The Navy's famous fighters — the Corsair, Wildcat, and Hellcat — are possible 

 only because they were based on fundamentals developed by the NACA. All of 

 them use NACA wing sections, NACA cooling methods, NACA high-lift devices. 

 The great sea victories that have broken .Japan's expanding grip in the Pacific 

 would not have been possible without the contributions of the NACA. 



The end of World War II marked the end of the development of the 

 airplane as conceived by Wilbur and Orville Wright. The power 

 available in the newly developed turbojet and rocket engines for the 

 first time brought within man's reach flight through and beyond the 

 speed of sound. 



In the years following World War II there were changes, too, in 

 the membership of the Committee. In 1948, the death of Orville 

 Wright closed 28 years of his membership on the NACA. Though he 

 was but one among many strong men who had given of time and talent 

 to the work of the Committee, his passing sharpened the realization 

 that in the working years of one man's life — between December 17, 

 1903, and January 30, 1948 — the speed of the airplane had been in- 

 creased from hardly 30 mph. to almost 1,000 mph. 



In 1948 the membership of the Committee was increased to 17. 

 This permitted the inclusion of a representative from the Department 

 of Defense, presently the Assistant Secretary (Research and Develop- 

 ment). Since the war the Committee has included one Presidentially 

 appointed member from the airframe, the engine, and the air-transport 

 industries, thus insuring awareness of the needs of those major seg- 

 ments of American airpower. 



In 1948 Dr. Lewis died. In 1945, his health broken by the war 

 effort, he had been forced to withdraw from active participation in the 

 work of the Committee. For almost two years, Jolm W. Crowley, Jr., 

 served as acting director of aeronautical research. With the Com- 

 mittee since 1921, Crowley had been chief of research at Langley for 

 a number of years. He provided vitally needed leadership during a 

 critical period. 



