Charles D. Walcott

Charles Doolittle Walcott was administrator of the Smithsonian Institution from 1907 to 1927. He was involved in American governmental aeronautics. In 1914 he held a conference on aeronautics that led to the creation of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and in 1915 he was appointed by President Wilson to be on the committee. He was involved in the Smithsonian's effort to deny credit to the Wright brothers.

En.wp summarizes his relations to aeronautics this way. Let's condense and hyperlink it here:

• In 1914 Walcott convened a conference in Washington, D.C. to encourage progress in aeronautic science and connect it to the U.S. government.
• "The conference led to an act of congress organizing an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics" (later renamed NACA) "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight with a view to their practical solution."
• It had 12 members, some experts in the field, and representatives of the US Army, US Navy, Smithsonian, Weather Bureau, and the National Bureau of Standards. "Brigadier General George P. Scriven, Chief Signal Officer of the Army, was chairman of the committee; Walcott was elected chairman of the Executive Committee. William F. Durand was one of the civilian members of the Committee."
• "In light of the Wright brothers patent war and to discredit the Wright brothers, Glenn Curtiss in 1914 helped Walcott secretly make major modifications to Langley's 1903 'aerodrome' ... to make it appear able to fly. After the flight demonstrations, Walcott ordered the Langley machine be restored to its 1903 condition to cover up the deception before it was put on display. ... [In 1928] the Smithsonian Board of Regents [passed] a resolution [more correctly] acknowledging that the Wright brothers deserved the credit for 'the first successful flight with a power-propelled heavier-than-air machine carrying a man.'" (1928 means it was just after Walcott had died.)

This person had 0 publications and 0 patents in this database.

Publications by or about Charles D. Walcott

• Brewer, 1921, The Langley Machine and the Hammondsport Trials (Simple title: The Langley Machine and the Hammondsport Trials, Journal: Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society)

References

Names	Charles D. Walcott; Charles Doolittle Walcott
Countries	US
Locations	Washington, DC
Occupations	paleontologist, administrator
Tech areas
Accreditations
Affiliations	Smithsonian Institution, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Family name	Walcott
Birth date	1850
Death date	1927
Wikidata id	Q362124