Vale Richard Whitcomb

[Brian Abraham]

Just received this from AVweb. Probably not too many people who fly heavy stuff and fighters who are not beneficiaries of this mans work.

Richard Whitcomb, Revolutionary Aircraft Designer, Dead At 88

Engineer Richard Whitcomb, whose innovative ideas are incorporated in the design of most aircraft flying today, died in Newport News, Va., on Oct. 13. Whitcomb "was the most important aerodynamic contributor in the second half of the century of flight," according to historian Tom Crouch, of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Whitcomb won the Collier Trophy in 1954 for his development of the "transonic area rule," which reduces the shock wave drag that occurs near the speed of sound. "We built airplane models with Coke-bottle-shaped fuselages and lo and behold the drag of the wing just disappeared," said Whitcomb. "The wind tunnel showed it worked perfectly." In the 1960s, Whitcomb's supercritical wing design was revolutionary, according to NASA. The airfoil design was flatter on the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve on the trailing edge. That shape delayed the onset of drag, increasing the fuel efficiency of aircraft flying close to the speed of sound.

In the 1970s, Whitcomb developed his third significant innovation -- winglets. Other engineers had suspected that end plates added to the wingtips could reduce drag. But Whitcomb showed that the structure would work best if it was an airfoil. Winglets are found on a wide range of aircraft today and improve fuel efficiency. Whitcomb worked at the NASA Langley Research Center, in Virginia, from 1943 until he retired in 1980. "Dick Whitcomb's three biggest innovations have been judged to be some 30 percent of the most significant innovations produced by NASA Langley through its entire history," said Langley chief scientist Dennis Bushnell. "That's from its founding in 1917 to the present. He is without the doubt the most distinguished alumnus of the Langley Research Center."

[BOAC]

Clever man indeed. The Whitcomb bumps', as they were known, became widespread, the Buccaneer fuselage being typical. Without him there might have been no 'Upper Class' on the Jumbo.

[Ian Corrigible]

The 'Whitcomb bumps', as they were known

Surely better known as the 'Marilyn Monroe' (or 'wasp waste'). :ok:

Richard Whitcomb: the man who turned the F-102 lemon into the F-106 jewel.

I/C

[D120A]

One of my heroes, someone who could run his fingertips across a wing surface of a wind-tunnel model and pronounce it a thousandth of an inch too proud or too thin - and be proved right.

There is a story that once he sent a colleague to fetch something from his car and his friend found the passenger footwell knee-deep in similar-looking papers. When he picked them up to examine them, they were all Whitcomb's monthly NASA salary cheques (that should probably read checks) - uncashed. The man had other priorities and interests.

[papazulu]

Clever man indeed. The Whitcomb bumps', as they were known, became widespread, the Buccaneer fuselage being typical.

Very poor example, me thinks. The Buccaneer was designed as subsonic, low-lever strike a/c and those embedded engines did not help, no matter the area rule!

Perhaps the F102 was the 1st practical example that professor Whitcomb was bang-on right. Then the F104 seems to me the perfect example of how the Coke-bottle-like fuselage should look...

Worth to mention that this man had a go on scimitar-blade props. :)

RIP professor

PZ:suspect:

[John Farley]

I would support the Buccaneer as a good example of the value of Whitcomb's work. Once we are talking about .8 and above there will be bits of supersonic flow attached to 'fat' bits. Watching the likes of the Javelin and Scimitar accelerate at sea level (and full poke) and then suddenly behave as if they had hit a brick wall was an educational youthful experience.