|
|
 |
|
|
|
Item Details
|
|
 |
 |
| Heading: |
(Aeronautics) |
| Author: |
Fowler, Harlan D. |
| Title: |
Archive of letters, documents, blueprints, photographs and other material relating to Harlan D. Fowler and his invention of the Fowler flap |
| Place: |
Various places |
| Publisher: |
|
| Date: |
c.1915-1940 |
| Item # : |
194742 |
|
|
| Sale Number |
|
387 |
| Lot Number |
|
1 |
| Sale Name |
|
|
| Americana - Travel & Exploration - Cartography |
| Sale Date |
|
09/11/2008 |
| Price realized |
|
$ 11400 |
| (Includes 20% Buyer's Premium) |
|
This item was sold in a live auction.
If another copy or a similar item comes
up for auction, we can let you know.
Pressing the button below will add
the title to your 'want list', and if
the item comes up for auction again,
we will notify you via email.
|
|
|
| Description: |
| Archive comprised of hundreds of letters, offprints, blueprints, patent documents, wind tunnel tests, photographs and other material, described below. The archive fills a box measuring 12x9½x10”. |
| Important archive of primary source material relating to the development and marketing of one of the key contributions to aeronautic design and flight. The Fowler flap, invented around 1924 by Harlan Fowler, a young aeronautical engineer who worked for the U.S. Army Air Corps, is a flap normally forming a part of the trailing edge of an airplane wing, capable of being moved backward and rotated downward in order to increase lift through increased camber and wing area. It enables greater lift at low speeds, while not hindering performance at high speeds. The material in the archive, dated from around 1915 to 1940, traces his early aeronautical studies, development and refinement of the flap, his efforts at marketing the innovation, and finally the drawn out defense of his patents from others, as well as his fight against litigation for his own alleged patent infringement. The archive includes, but is not limited to: Six-page pencil ms. by Fowler, on translucent paper, titled “The Fowler Wing,” giving an overview of the wing design and operation, and its advantages: “Have you ever thought of the powerful advantage the birds of the air possess by their ability to expand or contract their wing spread and to alter the curvature of the feathered ribs? …Man has conquered the air, an achievement, perhaps, of far greater consequence than any invention produced by him… The airplane, as we know it today, is probably in principle correct… But the demand of progress in carrying larger loads and to obtain higher cruising speeds is leading towards two serious factors. Increased power, representing an uneconomic development, and high stalling speed, representing an unsound safety development… The development and perfection of the Fowler Variable Area Wing presents a very sound and practical solution…” * U.S. War Department “Full-Flight Report on trail of Model Vought Advanced Training Aircraft (P-23),” 1918, with 11 blueprint leaves of the typed report, 2 blueprint graphs, and 2 original photographs of the plane. * Notebook containing inserted typed excerpts on such subjects as “The Lift of a Wing. Locating the Center of Lift in a biplane”; “Rudder Design. Resistance, Frictional”; “Relative Strength of Clear Spruce and Elm”; “Types of Wings employed by various manufacturers,” etc. The writings are very scientific in nature, and while some may be the work of Fowler, most seem to have been gleaned from other sources. The notebook is undated, but one of the sources referenced is dated 1914. * War Department “Report on Study of Parasite Areas” by B.F. Senart, 1923. 14 blueprint leaves of typescript, graphs, tables, etc., plus 47 original photographs of airplanes, 7x9”, mounted on blue leaves. The planes pictured include a Thomas-Morse MB-3; Verveille (also known as Marseille) VCP-1 and PW-1; Fokker D-7 and D-8; Dayton-Wright TA-3; Loening PA-1; and many others. * Report by Fowler, “Structural Analysis, Pitcairn ‘Fleetwing II’ Model PA-4. Report Nos. 1015-1020 inc.” dated June 10, 1927, Pitcairn Aircraft, Inc., Bryn Athyn, Pa. Approx. 87 blueprint leaves of typescript, diagrams, measured drawings, etc., some folding. * 1929 ms. “Report of Test Flight of MCA-1” by John Miller, Pilot, 3 pp., on letterhead of The Miller Corporation, New Brunswick Airport, New Brunswick, NJ: “Landed plane at 9:10 am and taxied off shore. Considerable spray was developed by wheels and landing gear in water… Stopped motors and drifted off beach. Inspected hull for leaks and none were found… Started motors and attempted to taxi… Severe spray developed over bow and around wheels (wheels up) opened both motors (Whirlwind JJ-C) to get on step. Front propeller struck green water. Plane took off before it was realized on account of spray. Climbed easily to 500 feet made circle and landed…” The MCA-1 amphibian biplane, engines front and rear, was a product of the Miller Corporation. * Eighteen reports from the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics, New York University, giving results of structural and wind tunnel tests of the Fowler Wing and related fittings, 1929. * Ms. notes on various subjects including “Summary of Performance” comparing Orowing PA-3, Fowler Extended, and Fowler Normal, with layout of business plan involving the Miller Corporation. “Variation of Performance with Area” including 3 tables and three graphs. * Blue-line of measured drawing/design by Fowler for an “Air Freighter, Cargo Load – 2400 lbs.,” Fowler Airplane Wings, Inc., inscribed and signed in ink by Harlan D. Fowler, Jan. 22, 1931. * Series of six drawings and graphs for display purposes, three in color, showing the Fowler Wing and detailing its performance. Undated. * Series of seven large blueprints of the Fowler Wing and competing platforms, c.1935. * Photograph of a monoplane in a grassy field, signed by Fowler on the back with his New Brunswick address. * File of correspondence relating to Fowler’s sale of licensing rights to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, beginning with his initial approach, desired compensation, technical details of the flap, agreement that the use of the flap design be sub-licensed to a “foreign concern,” Fowler’s observations on his flap with regard to length of airstrips, etc. * Report by Harlan D. Fowler on “Air Express Transportation Problems of the Future,” blueprint of 20 leaves including 3 folding drawings. 1937. * Four folders containing hundreds of letters and documents, c.1936-1940, relating to patent infringement cases regarding the Fowler Flap. Fowler has hired Haseltine, Lake & Co., Chartered Patent Agents, to defend his patent in the UK against infringement by Short Bros. and Westland. Involved are the Air Ministry, Lockheed, the Patent Office, and others. Included are carbon copies of letters from Fowler to Haseltine, Lake & Co.; letters from that firm to Fowler; British patent specifications for the flap, with diagram; Photostat copy of U.S. patent specifications, etc. Concurrent with these transactions was a suit by the Canadian firm Handley-Page, alleging patent infringement by Fowler, and involving the use of the Fowler Flap by Lockheed, with letters, telegrams and other documents back and forth. The Fowler Flap uses slots on the wing, which were patented by Handley-Page. However, the main effect of the Fowler Flap is based on variable area, with the slots necessary but incidental. Hence the uncertainty as to the validity of the claim of patent infringement. |
| Condition: |
| Overall in very good or better condition, a fascinating and highly significant archive. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
next lot
|
|
|
|
