Richard T. Whitcomb 1921-2009

A article in todays Wall Street Journal- Remembrances, page A13

Richard T. Whitcomb 1921-2009
"He Sparked Supersonic Flight With a Coke Bottle and File"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125556173987086009.html

So long and good travels to a true aviation pioneer and inventor.

Whitcomb

I'm glad you posted this. I never met him but I have worked with people who did. Here's one quote worth remembering:

In a 2000 interview with the Daily Press, he summed up his contributions to aeronautics by saying: "I have a reputation of talking with the air. I can visualize what the air is doing. It's telling me what needs to be done."

Another article appears here.

There are those few, those very rare few, who are gifted in ways that others can't comprehend as they comprehend what others cannot bring themselves to explore. Their quiet contributions rock the world and yet are often overlooked by the masses.

Mr. Whitcomb certainly seems worthy of that honorific.

RIP

NASA has also released article with videos and such:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/richard_whitcomb.html