Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434) 560 Drillfield Drive Newman Library, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 Business Number: 540-231-6308 specref@vt.edu URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu
The processing, arrangement, and description of this collection was created as part of the project, "Piercing the Veil: Creating
Access to the Archives of American Aerospace Exploration at Virginia Tech," funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) from 2022 to 2024.
Glenn L. McMullen, Director, and Kat Zinn, Archivist
Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Identification
Ms.1987.057
Title
Melvin N. Gough Papers 1919-1971
Quantity
30.9 Cubic Feet, 22 boxes; 1 oversize folder
Creator
Gough, Melvin N. (Melvin Neilson), 1906-1994
Location
Please note: This boxes in this collection are in off-site storage and require 2-3 days notice for retrieval. An oversize folder is available
onsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives for further information.
Language
The materials in the collection are in English.
Abstract
The Melvin N. Gough Papers span from 1919 to 1971 and include a wide variety of materials reflecting Gough's career as a test
pilot, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) administrator, and flight safety investigator. Types of materials
include NACA and Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) reports and documents, articles, correspondence,
notes and speeches, and newspaper and magazine clippings.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University
Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal
or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition
form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with
forms or to submit a completed form.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder],
Melvin N. Gough Papers, Ms1987-057, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Scope and Contents
The Melvin N. Gough Papers were donated to Special Collections and University Archives in 1987.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Melvin N. Gough Papers commenced and was completed in 1990.
Additional arrangement and description of the Melvin N. Gough Papers was completed as part of the project, "Piercing the Veil:
Creating Access to the Archives of American Aerospace Exploration at Virginia Tech," funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in 2024.
Melvin N. Gough was born in Washington, D. C., in 1906. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering
at Johns Hopkins University in 1926. In the same year he began a long career with the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in Hampton, Virginia. From 1926 to 1958, Gough was successively an engineer,
a test pilot (he was commissioned as a naval aviator in 1929), Chief Test Pilot, and Chief of Flight Research at NACA-Langley.
When NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, Gough transferred to Cape Canaveral, where
he was Director of NASA Operations at the Atlantic Missile Range for two years. In 1960, he became Director of the Bureau
of Safety for the Civil Aeronautics Board. From 1962, he was Director of Aircraft Development of the Federal Aviation Agency,
retiring from government service in 1964. He died on March 6, 1994.
Gough's professional organization memberships include the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (of which he was a Fellow) and
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (also a Fellow). He served on the Board of Governors of the Flight
Safety Foundation and was a charter member of the Society of Air Safety Investigators. He received the Octave Chanute Award
for Test Pilots from the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in 1941 for "outstanding contributions in the field of aeronautics";
the Distinguished Service Award from the Flight Safety Foundation in 1956 for "distinguished service in achieving safer utilization
of aircraft"; and the Flight Safety Foundation's Laura Taber Barbour Award in 1960 for championing "through unstinting personal
activity the cause of flight safety." For his contributions to aeronautical history, Gough was elected to the Virginia Aviation
Hall of Fame.
The Melvin N. Gough Papers span from 1919 to 1971 and include a wide variety of materials reflecting Gough's career as a test
pilot, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) administrator, and flight safety investigator. It is especially
rich in materials from his years at NACA-Langley and equally rich on the topics of aviation safety and accident investigation
procedures.
The papers are organized largely according to Gough's own filing system, and there is some degree of overlap in the contents
of folders. Many of the folders include manuscript materials and other items such as magazine articles and newspaper clippings.
The NACA reports and other documents that are individually listed include manuscript annotations, correspondence, or other
items that make them unique. Documents published before 1930 are also listed individually, whether they have manuscript items
associated with them or not. Other NACA reports and miscellaneous publications are arranged chronologically. NACA reports
are usually grouped by year; other publications are grouped by decade.
The collection has been separated into eleven series:
Series I: Aircraft Design Considerations, 1921-1971, contains materials related to aircraft design and flight, such as notes
and reports on aerodynamics, files on airplane parts such as cowling, landing gear, and instruments, and articles on design
and performance.
Series II: Specific Aircraft, 1919-1971, includes files specific to a certain type of aircraft, and is divided into three
subseries by subject.
Subseries A: Helicopter Files, 1943-1958, comprises materials related to helicopters such as notes, flight trials, articles,
and accident reports.
Subseries B: Missile Files, 1948-1960, documents missle development, such as progress reports and files on locations like
White Sands Proving Ground.
Subseries C: Planes, 1919-1971, alphabetized by plane name, contains reports, tests, and files on specific planes, such as
the Boeing 707, Lockheed Electra, and the Hiller X-18.
Series III: Logs, 1929-1959, consists of daily logs and pilot logs.
Series IV: Aircraft Safety, 1930-1968, divided into four subseries, comprises files on aviation safety—both crashes and preventative
measures.
Subseries A: Accidents and Incidents, 1948-1967, contains Gough's files on flight accidents and incidents, including crash
reports, photographs, and studies.
Subseries B: Fires, 1930-1963, has files on fires in aviation accidents and the safety of aviation fuels.
Subseries C: Investigations and Analyses, 1941-1962, focuses on accident analysis and methodology in accident investigations,
including reports and articles on the subject.
Subseries D: Safety and Prevention, 1950-1968, relates to flight safety, accident survival, and emergency procedures. It includes
bulletins from the Flight Safety Foundation, reports, and files from the first annual U.S. Air Force Safety Congress.
Series V: Aviation and People, 1933-1971, is divided into subseries by subject:
Subseries A: Piloting Aircraft, 1933-1959, focuses on pilots, such as publications on handling characteristics, psychological
aspects of instrument displays, pilot errors, and the pilot's role in space flight.
Subseries B: Files on People, 1934-1971, consists of Gough's files on people and personnel, such as pilots Warren Eaton and
Howard Lily, and NACA-Langley employees.
Series VI: Organizations and Consulting Files, 1925-1973, documents organizations Gough was a member of or did consulting
work for. Organizations include the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development, the Institute of the Aeronautical
Sciences, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Series VII: Photographs, 1920-1969, contains photographs depicting pilots, cockpits, and the Langley Research Center.
Series VIII: Correspondence, 1942-1969, comprises personal and professional correspondence, including letters, telephone calls,
and notes.
Series IX: Talks and Speeches, 1934-1963, includes notes on talks and speeches given by Gough.
Series X: Personal Files, 1930-1965, contains Gough's personal files, such as contacts, biographical information, curriculum
vitae, and calendars.
Series XI: General Files, 1925-1969, includes publications, papers, articles, and data on general topics.
When the arrangement of a series or subseries is chronological, all the files within a given year are arranged alphabetically.
Where the contents of folders span two or more years, they are arranged by period, with all the entries for 1941-1943 (for
example) before the entries for 1941-1944. The arrangement of a series or subseries is chronological unless otherwise noted.
The collection has been separated into eleven series:
Series I: Aircraft Design Considerations, 1921-1971
Series II: Specific Aircraft, 1919-1971. This series has been further divided into subseries by subject:
Subseries A: Helicopter Files, 1943-1958.
Subseries B: Missile Files, 1948-1960
Subseries C: Planes, 1919-1971. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by plane name.
Series III: Logs, 1929-1959
Series IV: Aircraft Safety, 1930-1968. This series has been further divided into subseries by subject:
Subseries A: Accidents and Incidents, 1948-1967
Subseries B: Fires, 1930-1963
Subseries C: Investigations and Analyses, 1941-1962
Subseries D: Safety and Prevention, 1950-1968
Series V: Aviation and People, 1933-1971. This series has been further divided into subseries by subject:
Subseries A: Piloting Aircraft, 1933-1959
Subseries B: Files on People, 1934-1971
Series VI: Organizations and Consulting Files, 1925-1973. This series is arranged alphabetically by entity name.
"Investigation of a Pressure-Type Fog Landing Device" (Carroll and Crowley)
1922
box-folder 1 folder: 6
"Standard Method of Engine Calculations" (Caminez and Iseler)
1922
box-folder 1 folder: 7
"Control of Aeroplanes at Low Speeds" (Jones)
1923
box-folder 1 folder: 9
"World Cruise Liberty Engine Performance"
1924
box-folder 1 folder: 11
Chapter V of "Airplane Design", The Prediction of Performance
1925
box-folder 1 folder: 13
Notes on the "Measurement of Maximum Level Flight Speed of an Airplane" (Vensel)
1925
box-folder 1 folder: 15
"Report on Part V—Appendix to Airplane Design"
1925
box-folder 1 folder: 16
"Report on Part VI—Appendix to Airplane Design"
1925
box-folder 1 folder: 17
"The Spinning of Aeroplanes" (Bryant, Advance Proof)
1927
box-folder 1 folder: 18
"A Warning Concerning the Takeoff with Heavy Load" (Reid and Carroll)
1927
box-folder 1 folder: 19
Sketches of Airplanes
1927-1929
box-folder 1 folder: 20
"The Formation of Ice Upon Exposed Parts of an Airplane in Flight" (Carroll and McAvoy)
1928
box-folder 1 folder: 21
"The Effect of Fillets Between Wings and Fuselage on the Drag and Propulsive Efficiency of an Airplane" (Gough)
1928
box-folder 1 folder: 23 oversize folder: 1
Cowling
1928-1930
box-folder 1 folder: 24
"Adoption of the NACA Low Drag Cowling..." (Carrol)
1929
box-folder 1 folder: 26
"Notes on the Design of the NACA Cowling"
1929
box-folder 1 folder: 27
"Report on NACA Low Drag Cowling" (Carroll)
1929
box-folder 1 folder: 28
"Spiral Tendency in Blind Flying" (Carroll and McAvoy)
1929
box-folder 1 folder: 30 oversize folder: 1
Speed Courses—Use and Data
1929-1936
box-folder 1 folder: 31
Blind Flying
1929-1938
box-folder 1 folder: 36
Effect of Humidity on Engine Performance
1930
box-folder 2 folder: 3
Directional Stability
1931
box-folder 2 folder: 4
Instruments—Memo
1931
box-folder 2 folder: 5
"Low-Drag Cowling for Radial Air-Cooled Engines" (McAvoy, Shey, Young)
1931
box-folder 2 folder: 9
"Variation in Pressure in the Cabin of an Airplane in Flight" (Gough)
1931
box-folder 2 folder: 11
Smoke Flow Research
1931-1932
box-folder 2 folder: 12
"The Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Model Wing..." (Weick and Harris)
1932
box-folder 2 folder: 14
"Methods of Visually Determining the Air Flow Around Airplanes" (Gough and Johnson)
1932
box-folder 2 folder: 16
"The Nature of Air Flow About the Tail of an Airplane in a Spin" (Scudder and Miller)
1932
box-folder 2 folder: 18
"Instructions for Installation and Operation of NACA VG Recorder"
1932
box-folder 2 folder: 21
"Study of Factors Affecting the Steady Spin of an Airplane" (Scudder)
1933
box-folder 2 folder: 22 oversize folder: 1
Visibility Measurements
1933
box-folder 2 folder: 26
"A Flight Investigation of the Lateral Control Characteristics of Short Wide Ailerons and Various Spoilers with Different
Amounts of Wing Dihedral" (Gough, Soule, Weick)
1934
box-folder 2 folder: 29
Cruising Control—Articles
1934-1935
box-folder 2 folder: 33
Ice
1934-1939
box-folder 2 folder: 36
NACA "Altitude Pressure Tables"
1935
box-folder 2 folder: 44
Landing a Flapped Airplane—Correspondence
1936
box-folder 2 folder: 45
"Landing Planes Equipped with Wing Flaps" (Gough)
1936
box-folder 3 folder: 2
"Full Scale Tests of a New Type NACA Cowling"
1936-1937
box-folder 3 folder: 3
Wing Flaps
1936-1937
box-folder 3 folder: 5
"An Attempt to Improve the Stalling Characteristics of a Low-Wing Monoplane" (Gough)
1937
box-folder 3 folder: 8
"Experiments with a Wing Passageway, Automatic Flaps, and Lateral Control..." (Hall)
1937
box-folder 3 folder: 10
Talk on Handling Characteristics of Modern Airplanes
1937
box-folder 3 folder: 11
Flight Notes, Memoranda
1937-1940
box-folder 3 folder: 12
"Tapered Wings, Tip Stalling, Stall-Control Flap" (Jacobs)
1937
box-folder 3 folder: 13
Landing Gear
1937-1949
box-folder 4 folder: 3
"Factors Affecting Elevator Control Forces" (Trimble)
1941
box-folder 4 folder: 5
"Requirements for Satisfactory Flying Qualities of Airplanes" (Gilruth)
1941-1947
box-folder 4 folder: 7
"Requirements for Satisfactory Flying Qualities of Airplanes" (Gilruth—Typescript and Notes)
1941
box-folder 4 folder: 17
"Certain Comments on Cockpits by Jesse W. Lankford"
1942
box-folder 4 folder: 18
"Comments on Proposed General Specifications for Stability and Control Characteristics of Airplanes"
1942
box-folder 4 folder: 20
"New Developments in Simplified Control" (Upson)
1942
box-folder 4 folder: 21
Supersonic Air Flight
1942
box-folder 4 folder: 23
"Altitude Wind Tunnel at AERL" (Witney)
1943
box-folder 4 folder: 24
Compressibility Notes
ca. 1943
box-folder 4 folder: 35
Flight Instrument Research Projects
ca. 1944
box-folder 4 folder: 40
Jet Propulsion
1944-1953
box-folder 5 folder: 2
ESMWT Course—Appreciation and Prediction of Flying Qualities
1945
box-folder 5 folder: 8
"Personal Light Airplanes-Investigation of Stability and Control Problems"
1945
box-folder 5 folder: 10
Boundary Layer Control
1945-1946
box-folder 5 folder: 17
Hydrodynamics—Seaplanes
1945-1958
box-folder 5 folder: 19
"Designing to the New Transport Category Performance Requirements"
1946
box-folder 5 folder: 24
Aircraft Stalling
1946-1956
box-folder 5 folder: 25
Aircraft Noise Reduction
1947
box-folder 5 folder: 27
Boundary Layer Control
1947
box-folder 5 folder: 30
Hydrodynamics—Seaplanes
1947
box-folder 5 folder: 31-33
Langeweiesche, Wolfgang—Articles
ca. 1947-1957
box-folder 6 folder: 6
Flying Qualities of Transport Airplanes
1947-1948
box-folder 6 folder: 10
Compressibility
1947-1950
box-folder 6 folder: 16
High Altitude and Engine Supercharging
ca. 1947-1957
box-folder 6 folder: 19
Airspeed—Pitot-Static and Yawmeter Head
1948
box-folder 7 folder: 8
Stall Warning Devices
1948-1952
box-folder 7 folder: 13
High-Speed Flight Problems
1948-1957
box-folder 7 folder: 23
"Notes on Some Recent and Current Aerodynamic Research Work in England" (Kerr)
1949-1951
box-folder 7 folder: 25
Jets—Miscellaneous Clippings, etc.
1949-1955
box-folder 7 folder: 26
Turbo-Props vs. Turbo-Jets
1949-1958
box-folder 7 folder: 27
Weather Conditions and Flying Problems
1949-1962
box-folder 8 folder: 3
Stall Warning Device, NACA Memo
1950
box-folder 8 folder: 4
"Review and Status Report of a High-Speed Research Airplane Program," (Hartley Soule)
1950
box-folder 8 folder: 7
Automatic Control Panel
1950-1952
box-folder 9 folder: 3
"Airplane Performance Determination At Velocities Below Critical Mach Number"
1951
box-folder 9 folder: 10
Slidable and Jettisonable canopies; list of navy aircraft delivered 1941-1945
1951
box-folder 9 folder: 11
Boundary Layer Control
1951-1952
box-folder 9 folder: 14
Inlets
1951-1954
box-folder 9 folder: 16
Loads
1951-1958
box-folder 9 folder: 18
"Cockpit Design and Safety" (Stieglitz)
1952
box-folder 9 folder: 20
NACA Investigation of a Trailing-edge Angle-of-attack vane, as stall-sensing device
1952
box-folder 9 folder: 25
Icing Rate Meter
1952-1953
box-folder 9 folder: 27
Auto-Pilot
1952-1955
box-folder 9 folder: 28
Turbo-Jet Performance
1952-1955
box-folder 10 folder: 1
Jet Engines
1952-1956
box-folder 10 folder: 2
Jet Streams
1952-1956
box-folder 10 folder: 3
Noise Problems
1952-1956
box-folder 10 folder: 4
Shoulder Harness
1952-1956
box-folder 10 folder: 6
Jet Transports
1952-1957
box-folder 10 folder: 7
Aircraft Seating
1952-1958
box-folder 10 folder: 8
Ice
1952-1958
box-folder 10 folder: 9
Temperature Instruments
1952-1958
box-folder 10 folder: 10
Spinning
1952-1968
box-folder 10 folder: 14
Fiftieth Anniversary of Flight
1953
box-folder 10 folder: 15
"Flight Research"—Memo
ca. 1953
box-folder 10 folder: 16
Flying Saucers
1953
box-folder 10 folder: 18
Performance Parameters
1953
box-folder 10 folder: 19
Thrust Indicator—talk by Vogelry and Gough
1953
box-folder 10 folder: 20
Turbojet—Water Damage
1953
box-folder 10 folder: 22
Reliability—Clippings and Reports
1953-1954
box-folder 10 folder: 23
Take-Off—Performance Indicators
1953-1954
box-folder 10 folder: 27
Ditching
1953-1956
box-folder 11 folder: 3
Cockpit Layout Standardization
1953-1958
box-folder 11 folder: 15
"Flight Tests of Airplanes Equipped with Irreversible Servo Controls" (Lefebvre)
1954
box-folder 11 folder: 17
"High-Speed Stability and Control Problems" (Phillips)
1954
box-folder 11 folder: 22
Supersonic Fighters
1954
box-folder 11 folder: 23
Thrust—Talk presented at operational conference, Cleveland, Ohio