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Apollo Milton Olin Smith (1911-1997), an aircraft designer and engineer known as 'AMO' for most of his life, was born in Columbia, Missouri. He began constructing gliders in high school and earned Masters Degrees in both Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from Caltech in 1938. After graduation, he began work for Douglas Aircraft, where he was to be employed until his retirement in 1975. His work for Douglas included wind tunnel testing of the A-20 bomber, performance analysis of the DC-5 and aerodynamic design of the A-26 light bomber. During a leave of absence from Douglas, he served as first chief engineer of the Aerojet Co. Smith's work in aerodynamics led to his participation in an important post-World War II mission to Germany, which revealed that country's developments in swept-wing design. AMO Smith's subsequent research would make him a leader in aerodynamics, especially regarding his contributions to boundary layer theory. He was the recipient of many honors and awards during his lifetime and was responsible for advances in research involving the use of rocket motors to assist takeoff (JATO) and the design of the D-558 Phase 1 airplane and the F4D Skyray.

 Identifier

NASM.2000.0014

Creator

Smith, Apollo Milton Olin (A. M. O.), 1911-1997

Date

1935-1981

Provenance

Elisazbeth Krost Smith, Gift, 2000, 2000-0014, unknown

Extent

1.09 Cubic feet ((1 records center box))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of the significant writings of Smith, including writings relating to his contributions to boundary layer theory. The collection also includes Smith's notebooks and related photographs of his post-World War II on-site appraisal of Nazi aeronautical developments.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Topics

Aerodynamics

Airplanes -- Wings, Swept-back

Airplanes -- Jet propulsion

Airplanes -- Assisted take-off

Boundary layer

Airplanes -- Motors

Aeronautics, Military

World War, 1939-1945

Aeronautics

Airplanes -- Germany

Douglas F4D (F-6) Skyray Family

Douglas D-558 Family

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Manuscripts

Drawings

Photographs

Publications