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Manuscript Collections - John H. Geisse Papers
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JOHN H. GEISSE PAPERS, 1927-1988 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE John Harlin Geisse was born July 17, 1892 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the son of Charles F. and Jennie H. Geisse. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1917. Prior to graduation, Geisse enlisted in the Army Signal Corps for flight training. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, Reserve Military Aviator, in 1918. In the same year he was selected to attend a post graduate course in aeronautical engineering at M.I.T. In 1919-1920 he was assistant chief of the Power Plant Section, Engineering Division, McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio. In 1921-1922 he was experimental engineer for the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Patterson, N.J. and in 1922-1929 he was chief engineer of the Navy Aeronautical Engine Laboratory, Philadelphia Navy Yard. In 1929 Geisse initiated the formation of the Comet Engine Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin by the Gisholt Machine Tool Company, Madison, and Air Investors, New York, to carry out a Navy contract for the construction of an engine incorporating a novel type of cooling system on which he held the patents. The prototype was built and it passed the Navy acceptance tests but the company failed during the Depression. In 1933 he joined the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce where he initiated and organized a small airport construction program with the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Many small airports for general aviation use were constructed throughout the United States. He also wrote amendments to the Air Commerce Act of 1926 and secured their passage by Congress. These authorized the Branch to promote general aviation by aiding in the development of the equipment used by it. While chief of its new development section he wrote performance specifications for an airplane which would be easier to fly than those then available and called for bids on the construction of a prototype. Against both internal and external opposition, including charges that he was trying to force the industry back twenty five years, he awarded the contract for an airplane with a tricycle type undercarriage, type which had been abandoned many years earlier in favor of the tail wheel type. Tests made in the Civil Pilot Training (CPT) Program with airplanes meeting this specification revealed that the time required to learn to fly them was substantially less than that required for the other CPT plane and the time required for a pilot certificate limited to flying this type was reduced from 35 to 25 hours. The winning plane was based at the Army's Bolling Field and its performance there so impressed the Chief of the Army Air Force, General Arnold, that he had a tricycle gear put on an airplane then on order. Thereafter practically all Air Force procurement was shifted to the tricycle gear. It was then adopted by the Navy and airlines and later by general aviation. While acting as a CAA consultant to a National Research Council on the selection and training of pilots, Geisse became convinced that the military abandonment of flight simulators for use in basic flight training was due to the inability of these simulators to simulate the kinesthetic cues. At the time the consensus was that pilots should be taught to ignore rather than use these cues in instrument flying. Authorities in this field now recognize that this was a mistake. Geisse then invented a patented way of building simulators capable of providing the proper kinesthetic cues and had a prototype built. Designated representatives of both military air services inspected the unit and recommended it to their services. However, it was considered to be too late for World War II training. Later, when Assistant to the Administrator for General Aviation Development, and the Federal Airport Program was about to be started, Geisse initiated and directed an investigation of crosswind landing gears to determine whether or not their use could eliminate the need of building "windrows" type airports having multiple runways for wind coverage. Gears were developed for five airplanes ranging from a small trainer to an airline transport. All were successful and it was clearly demonstrated that multiple runways were unnecessary. A cost analysis was made that showed that all of the airplanes then in service could be modified for crosswind operations at a fraction of the cost of providing crosswind runways. The Administrator In 1950 Geisse was awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for "outstanding contribution to the public service and the nation". After leaving government service he continued to work on crosswind landing gears and invented and patented an entirely new type which was much simpler, less costly and lighter than any then available. Competitive tests by the Navy also showed that it provided a superior performance. The new type was manufactured under license by the Beech and Cessna airplane companies for both civil and military use. Geisse contributed extensively to the aviation press. He wrote the aviation engine section of the Enclyclopedia Brittanica, was consulting editor for Esquire's "Plane Talk" and co-author of Technology, of the Department of Commerce "Post War Outlook for Private Flying". He was a member of the Army-Navy Club, the Aero Club of Washington, the Wings Club of New York, the National Aeronautics Association, the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He served one term each as chairman of the Washington sections of the latter two. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The Papers of John H. Geisse contain correspondence, reports, drawings, descriptions, blueprints, articles, speeches, patent data, and clippings and other printed materials documenting his aviation activities. With a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin, Geisse enlisted in the Signal Corps of the Army for flight training in 1917. He continued his active life-time participation in aeronautical engineering at MIT; McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio; Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Patterson, N.J.; Navy Aeronautical Engine Laboratory, Philadelphia Navy Yard; and the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce. Some of the donor's aviation interests documented in these files are the Comet engine with a novel type of cooling system, the small airport construction program, a way of building flight simulators, and the crosswind landing gears to eliminate the necessity for multiple runways for wind coverage. This device saved the Federal Airport program millions of dollars in construction costs. Geisse contributed extensively to the aviation press and promoted general aviation through the development of the equipment used by it. FOLDER LIST Box Contents Aero Club, 1948 Articles, 1929 Commerce Department Correspondence, 1937‑1945 Consolidated‑‑Convair, 1950‑1959 Army Negotiations, 1957 2 Boeing 707's Undercarriage, undated D, General, 1940‑1955 Correspondence, 1937‑1945 (2 folders) Desloge‑Robertson Agreements, 1952‑1956 Articles, undated Correspondence, 1976‑1983 3 Esquire Correspondence, 1944‑1946 F, General, 1928‑1982 Correspondence, 1953‑1973 "Flivver" Planes, 1934‑1945 Advertisements, undated Geisse, John F. and Nancy, 1954‑1970 and undated Articles & Speeches, 1929-1944 (6 folders) 4 Articles & Speeches, 1945-1964, and undated (3 folders) Geisse, Harold L., 1939‑1951 Commerce Department, 1942‑1951 H, General, 1932‑1982 Clippings, 1945‑1946 5 Reports, undated (2 files) Navy Department Bureau of Aeronautics, 1923-1932, 1951-1957 (2 folders) New Years Cards, undated Canada, 1950‑1952 Patents Data, 1948‑1957 6 Patents Specifications, 1931‑1960 Correspondence, 1944‑1948 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 1933 Correspondence, 1936‑1940 T, General, 1943‑1955 7 (Oversize) Airplane Over Washington, D.C., aerial photo, undated
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