The National Advisory Committee For Aeronautics (NACA)

Summary The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was founded on March 3, 1915 as a government agency with a very few members, volunteering their time to work on the advancement of aeronautic research in the United States. While the United States had not moved forward much since the Wright Brothers’ first flight, the Europeans had. “Aeronautical researchers in Europe, however, were more aggressive in developing the airplane and by the time World War I began in 1914 the United States was behind the world in aviation. Forming the NACA was a direct response to that situation” (Banke).
Problem Statement NACA was responsible for developing, testing, and creating legislation relating to aeronautics in the United States, either
“to administer a cross-license agreement, issue licenses to aircraft companies, aid the aircraft industry, and encourage aeronautical development. The subscribers were airplane manufacturers who were stockholders and paid fees for every plane that they manufactured. The association protected its members' patent rights” (Univ. of Wyoming). The MAA was created to be independent of the government, the airplane manufacturers paid fees to the association for every airplane manufactured. The MAA was dissolved in 1971 after a long anti-trust legal battle.
Recommendation
The NACA was created out of a true intent to help guide, invest in technology experimentation and with the best interest of the manufactures at heart, be it a large corporations such as Curtiss or the smallest of entrepreneurs of that time period. “The NACA would live out their years amidst whispers and suspicions, under the shadow of the cross-licensing agreement, an agreement they had regarded at the time as their finest achievement” (Roland). With continued advancements through the coming decades in aeronautics, the NACA played a significant role in airplane development along with licensing and