Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

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.

Biographical Note

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.

Scope and Content

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.

Arrangement

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.

Series VII: Photographs, 1920-1969

Series VIII: Correspondence, 1942-1969

Series IX: Talks and Speeches, 1934-1963

Series X: Personal Files, 1930-1965

Series XI: General Files, 1925-1969

Related Material

Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives also has the following related collections: Christopher C. Kraft Papers, Ms1985-001 , Robert R. Gilruth Papers, Ms1990-053 , and Hartley A. Soule Papers, Ms1987-004 .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• United States. Civil Aeronautics Board
• Aeronautical engineers
• Air pilots
• Aircraft accidents
• Archives of American Aerospace Exploration (AAAE)
• Gilruth, Robert R. (Robert Rowe), 1913-
• Gough, Melvin N. (Melvin Neilson), 1906-1994
• Kraft, Christopher C.
• Science and Technology
• Soule, Hartley A. (Hartley Aiken), 1904-1988
• Test pilots
• United States. Federal Aviation Agency
• United States. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
• United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Melvin N. Gough Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).