134 



National Resources Planning Board 



Figure 28. — Average Passenger Fare Per Mile 



which exploit a new technology, but is very difrerent in 

 operation owing to the Government's paramount 

 interest. An industry grows naturally from discovery 

 as applications prove their utility. Examples can be 

 found in chemistry, metallurgy, radio, and many sorts 

 of special machinerj'. But in all of these fields, re- 

 search is conducted liy the induslry for itself and is un- 

 coordinated, except as a trade association or patent 

 pool may assist members. Such private research is not 

 given formal direction by its customers. On the other 

 hand, the aeronautical itKhistry, in its research, experi- 

 ments, designing and testing, is led by the Government 

 by three compelling strands. 



First, the Government, through the Civil Aeronautics 

 Authority, permits no civil airplane to be flown without 

 technical inspection and a license as to air worthiness. 

 For example, landing and take-ofl" performance, as well 

 as control and stability requirements may be changed 

 from time to time by the C. A. A. as a result of experi- 

 ence (accidents perhaps) or as a result of National 

 Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' research. 



Secondly, the Army and Navy, as purchasers of air- 

 craft in volume, set the trend of design by their speci- 

 fications to bidders. No recent design competitions 

 have failed to procure airplanes of superior performance 

 as compared with the last competition. The Govern- 

 ment's requirements are set somewhat ahead of the ex- 

 isting state of the art, and are based on the tactical 

 needs of the services. Naturally, the industry is under 

 compelling pressure to direct every efTort through re- 

 search and development work to meet the requirements 

 of the competition. The Army might decide that per- 

 formance will be judged at high altitude. Research men 

 would then have to work on superchargers for engines, 

 pressurized cabins for personnel, jiropellers geared for 

 take-ofT at ground level, speed at altitude, and a host of 

 other difficult problems. Similarly, the Navy might 



stress low landing speed on the deck of an aircraft 

 carrier, and research men would be put to the study of 

 high lift devices for wings and means to provide control 

 at the stall. I>ikewise, tactical requirements maj' de- 

 mand dive bombing, involving terrific speed and ac- 

 celeration at the pull-out, and the research group will 

 then have to study compressibility efTects caused by 

 high speed, and clastic problems of wing strength. 



Thirdly, the Government leads and, to a large degree 

 coordinates, research in the industrj' through the 

 N. A. C. A. This Committee consists of 15 men ap- 

 pointed by the President under the authority of a 

 1915 Act of Congress. Nine members represent Gov- 

 ernment departments directly concerned with aero- 

 nautical progress and 6 arc appointed from civil life 

 but must be "acquainted with the needs of aeronautical 

 science, cither civil or military, or skilled in aeronautical 

 engineering or its allied sciences." The members serve 

 without compensation. For many years the chairman 

 has been President Joseph S. Ames of Jolms Hopkins 

 University, recently relieved by Dr. Vannevar Bush, 

 president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 

 The Committee receives annual appropriations from 

 the Congress "to supervise and direct the scientific 

 study of th(> problems of flight, with a view to their 

 practical solution." It makes an annual report to the 

 Congress via the President. The annual appropria- 

 tions, since th(^ inauguration of the Committee, total 

 about $25,0()0,non. (S(^e tabic 2.) 



Table 2. — Approprinlions of the National Advisory Committee 

 for Aeronautics, 1915-40 



1 .\llottnt\nt from Public Works Administration funds. 



Research of the 



National Advisory C^ommittec for Aeronautics 



Research laboratories and staff are maintained at 

 Langley Field, Va., on a site made available by the 

 War Department. The Committee's research activity 

 w-ill be practically doubled by a new laboratory now 

 being built at Moffett Field, Calif. 



The N. A. C. A.'s work is primarily concerned with 

 those fundamental problems of flight which are basic 

 to the entire industry. Such research does not concern 



