ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was established by act of Congress approved March 3, 1915, in recognition of the fact that the development of aviation must rest upon scientific knowledge, that it held vast undeveloped possibilities, and that it was essential to our national defense that America keep at least abreast of other nations. The law provides that this Committee shall be composed of 15 members: Two each from the War and Navy Departments, from the offices in charge of military and naval aeronautics; 1 each from the Bureau of Standards, the Weather Bureau, and the Smithsonian Institution; and 8 from private life (including a representative of the Bureau of Air Commerce, Department of Commerce). All the members are appointed by the President and serve as such without compensation. The membership of the Committee is as follows: Joseph S. Ames, Ph. D., chairman, president of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. David W. Taylor, D. Eng., vice chairman, Washington, D. C. Maj. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois, United States Army, Chief of the Air Corps. Harry F. Guggenheim, M. A., Port Washington, Long Island, N. Y. Rear Admiral Ernest J. King, United States Navy, Chief of the Bureau of Aerouautics, Navy Department. Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, LL. D., New York City. William P. MacCracken, Jr., Ph. B., Washington, D. C. Lt. Col. Henry C. Pratt, United States Army, Chief of the Matériel Division, Air Corps. Eugene L. Vidal, C. E., Director of Air Commerce, Department of Commerce. Edward P. Warner, M. S., Washington, D. C. Comdr. R. D. Weyerbacher (C. C.), United States Navy, Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department. Orville Wright, Sc. D., Dayton Ohio. ORGANIC FUNCTIONS * * The law provides that this Committee shall "supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution and also "direct and conduct research and experiment in aeronautics." GENERAL FUNCTIONS Briefly, the general functions of this Committee may be stated as follows: First. This Committee, in the field of aeronautical research, coordinates the needs of the various branches of the Government concerned. Second. The Committee approves research programs which include projects initiated by the Committee, in addition to those proposed by the Army and Navy, coordinated and broadened so as most efficiently and economically to yield results of maximum value. Third. The Committee maintains and operates the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory comprising a group of 11 structures erected on ground set aside for the Committee's use by the War Department. There the Committee conducts under its own direct control the fundamental scientific researches in aeronautics to meet the needs of the Army and the Navy, and to enable the United States to keep abreast of foreign nations in the technical development of military and civil aircraft. Fourth. The Committee supplies to the governmental agencies concerned the results of its researches and, through its office of aeronautical intelligence, disseminates such as is not confidential to aircraft manufacturers, universities teaching aeronautical engineering, and also to the public. Fifth. The Committee holds itself at the service of the President, the Congress, and the executive departments for the consideration of any scientific or special problem in the field of aeronautics which may be referred to it. In the exercises of its functions as an advisory committee it has made special reports to the President and to the Congress regarding the Air Mail Service, the development of a system of transcontinental airways and landing fields, the extension of aerological and weather report service, Federal regulation of air navigation, the development of airships, the production of helium, and the development of aviation generally for military and civil purposes. Sixth. The Committee may also, under certain restrictions, conduct special researches for and at the expense of individuals, firms, associations, or corporations within the United States. AERONAUTICAL INVENTIONS The foregoing duties and functions of the Committee, exercised under its organic act, were supplemented in 1926. Section 10 (r) of the act of Congress approved July 2, 1926 (U. S. C., title 10, sec. 310 (r)), creating an Aeronautical Patents and Design Board, consisting of Assistant Secretaries of War, Navy, and Commerce, and amended March 3, 1927 (U. S. C. Supp. V, title 10, sec. 310 (r)), gave to the Committee the additional duty of considering the merits of areonautical inventions submitted to/any branch of the Government and of making recommendations to the Aeronautical Patents and Design Board. SUBCOMMITTEES During the years since 1915 the Committee has developed a strong group of technical subcommittees organized along lines similar to the main Committee, that is to say, with membership including technically qualified representatives of the Army, Navy, Bureau of Standards, Weather Bureau, and Department of Commerce, and experts from private life, all of whom likewise serve without compensation. The subcommittees meet from time to time, prepare research programs primarily to meet the needs of the national defense and to advance also the safety, efficiency, and performance of civil and commercial aircraft. COORDINATION INCREASES VALUE OF RESEARCH The research needs of aviation are thus effectively determined with the assistance of the Army, the Navy, and experts from civil life. This policy and practice of coordinated planning of fundamental research and its continuous and orderly prosecution under the single and direct control of the Committee assure results of the greatest value to aeronautics, and at the same time prevent duplication and waste. INDEPENDENT STATUS ESSENTIAL The status of this Committee as an independent Government establishment has given it greater influence and prestige with the result that, although service is without compensation, no person has ever declined an invitation to serve on this Committee or any of its subcommittees. President Coolidge, in commenting on the Committee's organization and work on the occasion of sending to the Congress this Committee's tenth annual report in 1924, said: "The status of the Committee as an independent Government establishment has largely made possible its success." All of the executive departments and agencies concerned with the development of aeronautics are represented on the Committee. If the Committee were to be placed under any one of them, the existing equality and harmony of membership and enthusiasm of effort would be undermined. The Committee's influence would be so weakened that it could no longer command widespread patriotic service of eminent authorities in aeronautics, and its value would largely disappear. EFFECT OF SOUND GOVERNMENTAL POLICY The present advanced state of aeronautical development in the United States is largely the result of long-continued sound governmental policy that began with the act of Congress in 1915, when in establishing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight", the Congress laid the foundation for rapid and continuous progress in this new science. MUST KEEP ABREAST OF OTHER NATIONS America is the birthplace of aviation. Aviation is vital to our national defense and is becoming of increasing importance as a means of transportation. It offers perhaps the best possibility today for the development of an enlarged outlet for the energies of the American people. Its undeveloped possibilities are relatively limitless. Under the present organization and status of the Committee, 102526-3520 progress in aeronautics has been made in America at a most gratifying rate, and America has kept at least abreast of other nations. America cannot afford to be second best in aeronautics. It means too much to the people of this country. In time of war, for example, superior performance of aircraft, even if there be only a little superiority, would probably be a deciding factor in aerial combat, and a decision in the air is quite likely to be ultimately decisive of a war. Nor can America afford to be second best in commercial aviation, because commercial aviation at the present time is universally seen as a most promising effective instrument to improve national communications and to extend commercial and national influence. ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE COMMITTEE In order to develop aviation in this country and to keep abreast of progress in foreign nations, the Government appropriates many millions of dollars annually, but the proportion for fundamental research, which largely affects the Government's return on its investment, is less than 1 percent of the total. This fraction of 1 percent appropriated for this Committee has made possible many improvements and economies in the cost of construction, maintenance, and operation of aircraft that when fully applied will yield results of economic value to the Army and Navy alone in excess of the total appropriation for the Committee. One important result of research applied to military airplanes makes possible a direct saving to the taxpayers of approximately $3,000,000 a year. The results of 10 of the important scientific investigations conducted by the Committee within the last few years applied to military and commercial airplanes now in operation make possible economic savings annually in excess of the grand total of appropriations for the Committee for the 18 years of its existence. The economic savings referred to are in addition to the indeterminable savings in life and property resulting from improved safety and performance of aircraft, and to the immeasurable value of superior performance in aerial combat in time of war. Although technical progress in the development of aircraft has been gratifying for a number of years, there is yet an urgent need for greater safety and greater economy. The major problems are to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of aircraft, the horsepower and operating efficiency of engines, and the control of airplanes at low speeds. The committee, in the exercise of its prescribed function under the law, is investigating these and many other important problems which underlie progress in aeronautics. The committee's work leads directly to greater safety, efficiency, and reliability of aircraft, and its results are accepted by the Army and the Navy to such an extent that they do not conduct their own fundamental researches in their efforts to keep abreast of other nations, but rely upon their mutual and equal influence in the unified control and systematic prosecution of organized research by the single governmental agency authorized by law to direct and conduct scientific research in aeronautics, namely, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. INCREASE IN 1936 ESTIMATES This committee is an efficient going organization with a well-equipped laboratory economically administered. The continuous and orderly prosecution of fundamental scientific research by the committee offers the best assurance of continued steady progress in American aeronautics. The estimates of the com mittee for the fiscal year 1936, submitted in the amount of $839,500, are increased $113,008 over the appropriation for the fiscal year 1935. Approximately $66,000 of this amount is needed to restore employees' compensation to a 100-percent basis. The balance of approximately $47,000 is the minimum amount required for electricity and for expendable equipment to be used in the conduct of research with the new research facilities. This committee, operating on its present efficient basis, is accomplishing far-reaching results in improving the safety and efficiency of aircraft that, translated into dollars and cents, mean a direct economic saving to the taxpayers annually in excess of the total of all expenditures made by the committee since its establishment in 1915. The records and data that support this statement are available. Now, Mr. Chairman, following the custom of previous years, I should like to say a word or two in regard to the various things that are referred to in the statement I have submitted. The National Advisory Committee, with a membership consisting of 15 men, was established in the administration of President Wilson in 1915 to study the fundamental principles of flight, to operate its own laboratories, and to coordinate aeronautical research for all governmental agencies; in other words, to use the sicentific knowledge in existence at the moment and to work on problems which are of interest, both to the services of the Government, the Army, and the Navy and the Commerce Department, and on problems which are of interest to the aircraft industry. The committee obtains information as to the problems which are desirable to solve partly from these various sources and partly from our own staff. We emply a number of scientists, aeronautical engineers, and others to investigate these problems, and we have equipped at Langley Field, Va., on land which was allotted to us by the War Department, what many regard, and I myself think is, the bestequipped aeronautical research laboratory in the world. CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH SPEED AND FREE SPINNING WIND TUNNELS We have made during this past year a number of necessary and important additions to our equipment provided for by P. W. A. funds, some of which have been installed, and others are in the course of construction at the present time. One of these is a new high-speed wind tunnel through which a current of air may be drawn at enormous speed. This wind tunnel is 24 inches in diameter, and through it air can be drawn at various velocities up to 800 miles an hour. The purpose of this wind tunnel is primarily to study the efficiency of propellers. The tip speed of propellers now in operation approaches the velocity of sound. To obtain the maximum efficiency great care must be exercised in the design of the section of the propeller near the tip. This high-speed wind tunnel will provide an opportunity to study this problem. Another wind tunnel constructed by the committee with funds from the P. W. A. is the free-spinning wind tunnel. This wind tunnel provides a vertical current of air in which a model of an airplane can spin freely and its spinning characteristics studied. This study is most important in providing for adequate control of an airplane in a spin, and is equally important for military and commercial types of airplanes. Another wind tunnel being constructed by the committee is a fullspeed wind tunnel, having a throat 8 feet in diameter and an air velocity of 500 miles an hour. The general trend in the design of both military and commercial airplanes is toward greatly increased speeds, and this wind tunnel will make possible the investigation of the aerodynamic characteristics of airplanes at air speeds up to 500 miles per hour. SUBCOMMITTEES IN CHARGE OF RESEARCH WORK OF COMMITTEE The research work of the committee is conducted under the direction of various subcommittees. These subcommittees are constistituted in general on the same basis as the main committee. The main committee consists, as I have said, of 15 members, 2 represen tatives of the Army, 2 representatives of the Navy, a representative each of the Bureau of Standards, the Weather Bureau, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Bureau of Air Commerce and 7 members appointed from civil life who are acquainted with the problems of aviation. All of these members serve as such without compensation from the Government, except for their traveling expenses. There are various subcommittees acting under the main committee. The principal subcommittees are the committees on aerodynamics, aircraft engines, and materials for aircraft. Their organization, in general, is similar to that of the main committee; that is, they consist of representatives of the services of the Government and representatives from civil life who are particularly qualified to discuss aeronautical research problems in their respective fields. Research programs are prepared by these subcommittees and are then submitted for approval to the executive committee. By this means the aeronautical research problems of the various Government services are coordinated, so that duplication of effort is avoided and the allocation of each problem to the laboratory best equipped for its study is made possible. Most of the research is conducted in the committee's laboratories, because it is better equipped to handle most of the problems. Many problems, such as those concerned with aircraft materials, are assigned to the Bureau of Standards and other are assigned to institutions of learning. By virtue of the fact that representatives of the Army, the Navy, and the Department of Commerce serve as members of the main committee and of the subcommittees, duplication of aeronautical research in the Government is avoided, most of the problems of interest to the Government being investigated in one governmental laboratory under the direction of the committee. COMMITTEE AS AN INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION ESSENTIAL In my opinion the secret of the success of the Committee, and I feel that it has been successful, lies mainly in the fact that it is an independent organization coordinating the aeronautical research activities of the Government as a whole. As a result of its independent status and the representation of the other Government agencies on the main Committee and the subcommittees, free discussion of the important problems of each branch of the Government is made possible, and the Committee receives the whole-hearted cooperation of the other governmental agencies. The value of the Committee's independent status is recognized by the Army, the Navy, and the Department of Commerce. For the continued advancement of aeronautics, both from a military and a commercial standpoint, I am convinced that the present policy of the Government in keeping the Committee an independent establishment is not only sound, but essential. Mr. WOODRUM. Right there, Doctor, the question of consolidating this committee, or rather having it attached to some other depart ment, has on a number of occasions been before the administration, and each time, upon careful consideration, it has been decided that the view you express is the sound policy. |