DOCTOR WALCOTT AND THE NATIONAL ADVISORY 

 COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS 



BY JOSEPH S. AMES 



The relations of Doctor Walcott with the National Advisory Com- 

 mittee for Aeronautics differed in several important respects from 

 those which he had with the other institutions referred to today. The 

 National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics owes its origin to 

 Doctor Walcott, and whatever success it has achieved is due in a large 

 degree to his personality and influence. When one speaks of the 

 Committee or its work, one thinks instantly of Doctor Walcott. 



In tracing the origin of the Committee one is struck with the fact 

 that a man of vision, of judgment and of scientific talent may plan 

 with success an organization to consider problems in a field quite 

 remote from his own. Few branches of science are as far apart as 

 geology and aeronautics. I doubt if Doctor Walcott knew the meaning 

 of such words as lift and drag, thrust and torque, pressure distribu- 

 tion, scale-effect, etc., words occurring in the every day language of 

 those engaged in aeronautic research. Yet Doctor Walcott organized 

 successfully a committee whose fundamental purpose is the study of 

 aeronautic problems. B)?- his vision he saw the need of systematic 

 investigation of these, by his judgment he was able to draft a measure 

 to establish the Committee which met the approval and support of the 

 Congress and the President ; his own standards of scientific work 

 were so high that all those working for the Committee were impressed 

 from the beginning with the need of making their researches reach 

 the same standards. 



But Doctor Walcott's wisdom extended much further. While he 

 recognized the importance of the scientific investigations to be under- 

 taken by the Committee, he knew that it would be at least two years 

 after it was organized before a staff of workers could be collected 

 and even simple laboratories equipped. He felt the need of having 

 at once an organization under the President, and reporting to him 

 directly, made up of men high in the service of the government and 

 of others drawn from civil life, who commanded the respect of the 

 country, an organization able and willing to give advice on aeronautic 

 matters to all branches of the government, one which even on its face 

 had such a standing that it could invite to conference any group in 

 the United States and be sure that the invitations would be accepted 



