Word: aero
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Wasp Waists. Searching for a prop that could be used efficiently above 450 m.p.h., Hamilton's engineers, led by Chief Aero-dynamicist George Rosen, tried all sorts of shapes. One design, intended to sidestep shock waves, had curved blades, quite like the swept-back wings of a fast modern fighter. Another had a blade with a pinched-in "waist." Some blades were short and broad so that they could spin rapidly without nearing sonic speed. All these designs proved unsatisfactory...
...almost 27-two years over the limit for airmen), took 17 days of training, soloed-grandly tearing off the whole undercarriage of his plane on his return-and got a lieutenant's commission and a pilot's wings. The dashing young college men of the 94th Aero Squadron, to which he was assigned, were not pleased. Rickenbacker was a celebrity and proud of it; he knew engines and said so; he was tough, uncouth, domineering, profane, full of advice and often oil-stained. He was pointedly ignored...