Inventor Name
Chillson, Charles W.
Repository
National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Division
Room 3100, MRC 322
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-2320
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/
Physical Description
3 cubic ft.
Summary
Charles W. Chillson (1910-?) was an expert in air and rocket propulsion. He received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University (1931) and went on to work in Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (1931-36). At the same time (1931-36), Chillson worked with C. K. Greene on a mechanical controllable-pitch propeller which progressed through whirl-testing at the USAAF Engineering Division at Wright Field, Ohio. He then moved to the Curtiss-Wright Corp., Curtiss Propeller Division, as an engineer and project designer (1936-40) and was later promoted to Chief Researcher (1940-47). In 1947 he won the Collier Trophy for his propeller work and became Chief Engineer of the newly-formed Rocket Department at Curtiss-Wright. In 1950 he became Program Chairman of the American Rocket Society (ARS) Board of Directors and was later elected Vice President (1951) and President (1952-55), before being made a Fellow of the ARS (1956). Papers include documents relating to Chillson's affiliation with the ARS, particularly his presidency of the ARS. Correspondence with ARS members, aerospace companies, and organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the British Interplanetary Society, the International Astronautical Federation, and the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. Papers presented to or published by the ARS, diagrams and photographs highlighting rocket plans or capabilities, pamphlets and articles on rockets.