Foil: 50 Panel: 3 Column: 1 Line: 8

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Betsy & Billy Beasley, Jr.

Bill Beasley, Sr. joined the electrical apprentice school at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), Langley Research Center (LaRC) in 1955. In 1958, NACA officially became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bill graduated from the apprenticeship in 1960, with Alan Sheppard serving as the graduation guest speaker. Bill retired from LaRC in 2005 after 49 combined years of service.
Over the course of his career, Bill received numerous awards and recognitions for his electrical support to experimental research facilities. Some of his accomplishments include being a member of the Scout Missile Project, supporting the research efforts of Dr. Richard Whitcomb in the 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel, and certification as safety operator for every piece of equipment at LaRC up to 115,00 volts. He was responsible for operations, maintenance and troubleshooting of LaRC wind tunnels to include the 8-Foot High Temperature Tunnel, 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel, Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, 16-Foot Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, National Transonic Facility, 19-Foot Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel, V/STOL Tunnel and the 7 x 10-Foot High Speed Tunnel. He was also responsible for maintenance and troubleshooting for many of the Center’s other large rotating drive systems.