William Price Carl, Jr. Collection

William Price Carl, Jr. was born in 1918 and grew up on Long Island, New York. He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering degree. Also in 1940, he was drafted and served in the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as an Engineering Officer with the 80th Bomb Squadron, first as a Lieutenant and later as a Captain. In 1941, William Carl graduated from the USAAF School of Aeronautical Engineering in Chanute Illinois. In 1943, he was promoted to Major and assigned to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) site at Langley Field, Virginia where he would remain until 1946. Carl is credited with the conceptual design of the P-82 twin Mustang and the development of emergency ditching equipment for the B-24 during his time at NACA. Carl married Ann Gilpin Baumgartner, the P-82's test pilot and the first woman to fly a jet aircraft. Also during this time, he was awarded a U.S. patent for rigid sails. From 1946-1955, William Carl worked as the Chief Engineer for John H. Carl & Sons, Inc. where he built a supersonic wind tunnel for Princeton University and performed hydrofoil research for the U.S. Navy. This research led to the development of the XCH-4, a vessel powered by two aircraft engines, and to U.S. and foreign basic patents awarded to Carl for hydrofoils. In 1955, Carl co-founded Dynamic Developments, Inc. and served as the company's President. 50% of Dynamic Developments, Inc. was sold to Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in 1956, and the remainder was sold to them in 1962. Upon completion of the sale, Carl became general manager of Grumman's Marine Department. During his tenure with Grumman, Carl was in charge of designing many hydrofoil vessels, including HS Denison for the U.S. Maritime Administration, Landing Craft, AGEH, and Flagstaff for the U.S. Navy, and commercial ferries, as well as two wind generators. Upon his retirement in 1977, William Carl and Ann Carl embarked on a series of international sailing journeys. The Carls then moved to Virginia's Northern Neck where William worked on sailboats. He completed his last boat project, an 18-foot catboat built from scratch, at the age of 86. William Price Carl, Jr. died in February 2008.