Daedalus Flyer

Review of Equations of Motion from Daedalus Flyer

A detailed and very well written tome by a truly remarkable and interesting man. Just written and published by the author, as he was approaching 96 years of age, this is a record of his early career as an aeronautical engineer [MIT, Class of 1934] and later of his second career as race car designer and driver [1947-1956], and finally as engineer and consultant until today. The entire book is worth reading, but of particular interest to us Daedalians is the first half of the book, which chronicles Bill Milliken"s engineering accomplishments and involvement in some of the most important airplane design and testing of the 30"s and 40"s. After graduation, he worked as "Asst of the Wind Tunnel" at MIT, and as an engineer for Chance Vought, where he worked on the stability and control of the famous WWII US Navy fighter, the F4U-1 Corsair. In 1939, he transferred to Boeing where he worked as the Chief Flight Test Engineer until 1943; he was involved with the Stratoliner, the Clipper, the B-17s and the B-29s. There he became one of the first experts in what later would be called "Aviation Physiology". Later, at Avion, a Northrup subsidiary, he helped design the forerunner to the XB49 "Flying Wing", but left in protest before its ill fated flight. He next became an expert in dynamic stability and control research at the Curtiss-Wright Research Laboratory, later the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory.

His list of accomplishments goes on. He was also a pilot of note. He built and flew the first homebuilt aircraft made in Maine. In 1940 he flew a modified open cockpit Fairchild F-22 from Seattle to Maine in seven days! A large heavy book, but very readable, and an important record of the early days of the aeronautical engineering profession. This reviewer has been acquainted with Mr. Milliken for over twenty years-he has been continually amazed and impressed by his accomplishments

Review of Equations of Motion from Daedalus Flyer