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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Walter P. Maiersperger was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1916 of German and Austrian immigrants and had a love of transportation. When Lindbergh flew the Atlantic during the week of my eleventh birthday, I decided I wanted to become a pilot. His book “We” recommended an engineering background with pilot training at Kelly Field or Pensacola. I took preparatory course to enter the City of New York College in Mechanical Engineering. Following came the Air Corps Flying School, graduating from Kelly Field in the Class of 40B.
There followed assignments in the Eighth Pursuit Group and 22nd Bomb Group at Langley Field, Virginia. I participated in the Accelerated Test program at Patterson Field on the original Martin B-26 and was the lead pilot during its deployment to Australia in February 1942.
The 22n Bomb Group flew its 1st mission on 5 April 1942, but I had already been transferred to the combined USAR Australian Headquarters as engineering officer for the 5th Air Force. During that tour the B-17 engines were suffering excessive wear and replacement of the engines. I discovered that the piston rings manufactured in the States were oversized and causing extra wear.
Another B-17 had belly landed in Northern Queensland on the ocean floor and wrecked its right landing gear. By dispatching a ground crew overland with necessary parts obtained from local wrecks, she was made within two months. Natives prepared a runway, and I flew the plane back to its base. In fulfilling the 38 months of this overseas assignment, I became a Representative for Sydney of the SWPA, C.O. of a Special Projects Section, Hqs SWPA Material Command, and lastly 60th Air Commander before being returned to the States.
The new orders sent me to the Engineering Division of Wright Field. Under my direction in-flight refueling was finally adopted. It was used by the first crossing of the ocean by jet planes, as well as the first combat use in Korea, where it made possible the breakout from the peninsula by USA troops, and ever since on long range deployments. This activity expanded my office to Aircraft Special Projects Section, equal in status to the cargo, fighter and bombardment sections. By 1954, my time at Wright Field was up. I was now rated as a Director of Research and development and transferred to the Aircraft Division of Hqs R&D, Pentagon.
Although I continued to monitor In Flight Refueling projects, my scope of work was enlarged to include a new branch of aeronautics known as VTOL – Vertical Take-Off and Landing (of airplanes, not helicopters). One generic type of such an airplane is now in service in the USA and Britain. Another in development is the Marine Corps “Osprey”. In 1954, I was assigned the Ryan “Vertijet” X-13 which rose vertically and transitioned to horizontal flight. It landed by reversing the order. It was demonstrated in 1957 from the front entrance to the Pentagon before an invited audience of 3,000. It was the world’s first VTOL airplane. I was also assigned other topics such as cockpit standardization and seat ejection.
In 1959 I retired from the Air Force and worked for a think-tank. The work involved performance analysis as well as logistic organization. In 1970 my efforts were no longer required. I resigned permanently. I occupy my mind by analyzing airplane accidents.