Tribute to a Pioneer

Abstract

TO those who have grown up with aeronautics the name of General Crocco is almost a legendary one, and he is in historical fact contemporary with the Wright Brothers since his investigations into the subject date from the very beginnings of the century, as is evidenced by the fact that he took out his first patent on the control of aeroplanes in 1903. He followed this in the ensuing year with a famous paper on the stability of airships read before the Academie des Sciences, and one on the theory of aeroplane flight; while the catholicity of his early interests is further shown by his association with Ricaldoni in a series of experiments with airscrews mounted on a hydroplane, for the construction of which he was partially responsible, on Lake.Bracciano in 1907. When it is recalled that in 1906 he was concerning himself with the phenomena of auto‐rotation in connexion with helicopters, the breadth of his out‐look on aeronautical problems, and his astonishing prevision, is manifest. For many years he was, of course, chiefly known for his association with a series of ingeniously designed semi‐rigid airships produced by the Italian Government, but his interest in heavier‐than‐air flight throughout his career found outlet in innumerable articles. In recent years he has been particularly associated with the allied phenomena of stratospheric and supersonic flight; as witness his paper entitled ‘Flying in the Stratosphere’, which we had the privilege of publishing in Aircraft Engineering in July 1932.

Citation

(1948), "Tribute to a Pioneer", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 219-219. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb031657