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An aeronautical engineer who played a major role
in wind tunnel design and experimentation before and during the birth of the Space
Age. DeFrance was a military aviator with the Army’s 139th Aero Squadron during
World War I, then earned a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University
of Michigan in 1922 before beginning a career with NACA
(National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). He worked in the flight research
section at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory and
designed its 9 x 18 m wind tunnel, completed in 1931 and the largest in existence
at that time. He directed the research carried out in that tunnel, and designed
others, before becoming director of the new Ames Aeronautical
Laboratory in 1940, a position in which he remained until his retirement in
1965. During his time at Ames, the center built 19 major wind tunnels and conducted
extensive flight research, including the blunt-body research necessary for returning
spacecraft from orbit without burning up.
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