Anecdotes

As airplanes got more complicated, engineering got more scientific. Seat-of-the-pants feel was gradually supplemented by measurement and, with numerical measurement, came calculation. The author deserves much credit for leading the transition to measured flight observations that could be reduced to standard conditions for comparison purposes. The author devised a system of engineering spreadsheets to perform the necessary calculations. After the raw observed data were entered on the sheets, a series of stepwise calculations were performed on each data value. The plotted results could be compared from aircraft to aircraft and from flights completed on different days under different (but similar) flying conditions.