F.E. Newbold V/STOL Award
This award is presented biennially to recognize
outstanding creative contributions to the advancement and realization
of powered lift flight in one or more of the following areas:
Nomination forms can be downloaded from the
AIAA web site in Doc
and PDF format.
Troy Gaffey, an AHS Alexander Klemin Award winner, played a significant role in the development of the first production military and civil versions of the tiltrotor aircraft. While serving as Vice President, Projects, Mr. Gaffey led the development of the V-22 Full Scale Development program and provided the technical and cost guidance that resulted in the V-22 Engineering and Manufacturing Development program. During this period, he managed the technical, schedule, and production aspects of Bell's commercial and military helicopter activities. When he was appointed Vice President, Engineering, he played a leading role in keeping the V-22 EMD program on track to a successful conclusion.
In the late 1960s, Mr. Gaffey was instrumental in developing a mathematical model of the complex rotor-wing aeroelastic instability phenomenon, thereby providing the foundation upon which the design of future tiltrotor aircraft would be based. This insight was applied to the proof-of-concept XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft by Mr. Gaffey who served as chief engineer for the project in the early 1970s.
AS JVX and V-22 Technical Director, he brought XV-15 research technology into application for production, established criteria to be used for tilt rotor design, and directed solutions to aeroelastic, aerodynamics, and structural design problems. Through contacts with high level government and military personnel, he convinced decision makers that tiltrotor technology was practical for the intended missions. He also actively participated with government agencies to initiate the definition of the ground and airspace infrastructure to allow the commercial tiltrotor to achieve its full potential.
Mr. Gaffey continues to demonstrate his commitment to the future of VTOL technology by providing the vision and direction to start development of the BA609 as the world's first commercial tiltrotor. He also provides support for the programs necessary to develop a Quad tiltrotor based on the V-22 that will meet military needs for 20-ton payload heavy lift high airspeed VTOL aircraft in a timely manner. In addition, Mr. Gaffey was responsible for the technical and managerial leadership for Bell Helicopter Textron Engineering for the M407, M430, and M427 commercial helicopter programs.
Troy Gaffey's lifelong contributions have enhanced military effectiveness and capabilities through the development of tiltrotor technology and its applications to the V-22 program. He has dedicated himself and is leading his company to the introduction of the world's first commercial tiltrotor aircraft thereby assuring that the United States retains its position among the world's leading V/STOL aircraft developers.
Richard E. Kuhn - 2000
Richard E. Kuhn, an AIAA associate fellow, as more than fifty years of experience in aerodynamic research. Mr. Kuhn is the nation's foremost authority on the power-induced effects on V/STOL aircraft aerodynamics. His more than 100 publications document many major contributions, especially in the V/STOL area in the last 40 years.
From 1943 to 1978, as a NASA research engineer and supervisor, Mr. Kuhn focused on V/STOL aerodynamics and aero-propulsion interaction effects. He developed dedicated NASA facilities, such as the Langley V/STOL tunnel, and provided major technical contributions to the XC-142A tilt-wing V/STOL aircraft, the YC-14 upper surface blown STOL transport, the YC-15 externally blown flap STOL transport, the AV-8B Harrier, and to several jet VTOL and STOVL combat aircraft concepts currently under study. He also served NASA in several administrative roles supervising aerodynamic research. When he retired he was Chief of the Subsonic-Transonic Aerodynamics Division at the NASA Langley Research Center and responsible for research in nine major NASA wind tunnels. In these roles he influenced the hiring and technical development of many of the present generation of NASA research engineers at a time when most of the engineers who began during World War II era were retiring. This was a major contribution to the maintenance of the agency's technical capability and corporate memory as a national resource for the aeronautical community.
Since 1978, Mr. Kuhn has served as a V/STOL consultant and contributed to programs for a dozen government and private organizations. He has concentrated on the development of the experimental data base and empirical estimation methods needed for the design and evaluation of STOVL aircraft aero-propulsion effects during hover and transition flight. He has been the key motivator for some current NASA and Air Force research investigations of the unique V/STOL problems due to jet suckdown/fountain and hot gas ingestion effects during hover in ground effect. He has structured these programs to provide a data base for aircraft development, for improved empirical methods, and for the verification of newly developed CFD solutions for selected aspects of power-induced flow fields.
Mr. Kuhn has made notable and valuable contributions throughout his career to V/STOL aerodynamics and to the understanding of aero-propulsion interactions, both through his own research activity and through his leadership of NASA research programs.
Gordon M. Lewis - 1998
Gene Newbold was a major figure as: