A humorous episode during World War II resulted in giving the very secret Lockheed Advanced Development Projects division the name "Skunk Works". A phone call from the U.S. Department of the Navy to W. A. "Dick" Pulver was misdirected to Irv Culver who answered the phone with "Skonk Works, inside man Culver" and the name stuck.[5] Another variant of the story relates that the original Skunk Works was located in a circus tent adjacent to the Lockheed plastics fabrication facility which smelled bad and reminded the engineers of the L'il Abner comic strip. Reportedly, Culver showed up for work wearing a civil defense gas mask as a gag and when he answered the phone he said "Skonk Works" referring to the cartoon. "Kelly overheard him and chewed out Irv for ridicule: "Culver, you're fired," Johnson roared. "Get your ass out of my tent." Culver showed up for work the next day and Johnson never said a word.[6]Kelly Johnson referred to Culver as "a brilliant designer" in his autobiography [7]
Culver was interested in a variety of aircraft configurations and developed guidelines for laying out the twist distribution on tailless aircraft.[8] He also helped to design an experimental helicopter, distinguished by a forward-sweeping blade, that was extremely easy to fly. In 1966, Culver, Thomas Hanson and Lance Hook were awarded a patent (US3261407) for a rigid rotor system which set world speed records for Lockheed helicopters and laid the foundation for aerobatic rotorcraft.[9] It earned Culver the Dr. Alexander Klemin Award from the American Helicopter Society.
In recent years, Culver was noted by Dan Armstrong, President of Experimental Soaring Association, for his work with Jim Maupin designing gliders intended to be built by craftsmen from plans. Culver is a well-known aerodynamicist.[10] He published a 13-page paper on the design analysis for the Windrose 15-meter glider that he designed with Maupin.[11]
^"Skunk Works' Irven Culver Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
^O'Neill, Kevin. "Designs that fly" (PDF). Paper: Presented to SIG-Learning Sciences. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
^Culver, Irv. . Self. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021.
^Whal, Paul (May 1974). How they are engineering a whole new breed of HANG GLIDERS. Popular Science. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
January 01, 1970
culver, irven, harold, culver, 1911, august, 1999, american, aeronautical, engineer, born, 1911, 1911, saugus, californiadiedaugust, 1999, 1999, aged, bakersfield, californianationalityamericanengineering, careerdisciplineaeronauticsemployer, lockheed, most, n. Irven Harold Culver May 11 1911 August 13 1999 was an American aeronautical engineer 2 3 Irv CulverBorn 1911 05 11 May 11 1911 1 Saugus CaliforniaDiedAugust 13 1999 1999 08 13 aged 88 Bakersfield CaliforniaNationalityAmericanEngineering careerDisciplineAeronauticsEmployer s Lockheed Most notable of all his accomplishments Culver is credited for solving a fatal flaw in the Lockheed P 38 related to high speed compressibility problems which killed a test pilot 4 A humorous episode during World War II resulted in giving the very secret Lockheed Advanced Development Projects division the name Skunk Works A phone call from the U S Department of the Navy to W A Dick Pulver was misdirected to Irv Culver who answered the phone with Skonk Works inside man Culver and the name stuck 5 Another variant of the story relates that the original Skunk Works was located in a circus tent adjacent to the Lockheed plastics fabrication facility which smelled bad and reminded the engineers of the L il Abner comic strip Reportedly Culver showed up for work wearing a civil defense gas mask as a gag and when he answered the phone he said Skonk Works referring to the cartoon Kelly overheard him and chewed out Irv for ridicule Culver you re fired Johnson roared Get your ass out of my tent Culver showed up for work the next day and Johnson never said a word 6 Kelly Johnson referred to Culver as a brilliant designer in his autobiography 7 Culver was interested in a variety of aircraft configurations and developed guidelines for laying out the twist distribution on tailless aircraft 8 He also helped to design an experimental helicopter distinguished by a forward sweeping blade that was extremely easy to fly In 1966 Culver Thomas Hanson and Lance Hook were awarded a patent US3261407 for a rigid rotor system which set world speed records for Lockheed helicopters and laid the foundation for aerobatic rotorcraft 9 It earned Culver the Dr Alexander Klemin Award from the American Helicopter Society In recent years Culver was noted by Dan Armstrong President of Experimental Soaring Association for his work with Jim Maupin designing gliders intended to be built by craftsmen from plans Culver is a well known aerodynamicist 10 He published a 13 page paper on the design analysis for the Windrose 15 meter glider that he designed with Maupin 11 Aircraft designs collaborated on editCrown City Glider Club Screaming Wiener Lockheed P 38 Lightning Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird Maupin Carbon Dragon Maupin Windrose Maupin Woodstock One Volmer VJ 24W SunFun 12 Bowlus BA 100 Baby Albatross Corrected horizontal stabilizer position friction and control stiffness issues References edit The Birth of Irven Culver California Birth Index Retrieved September 23 2021 Irven Culver Obituary mentions Hanson September 20 1999 p 12 via newspapers com Skunk Works Irven Culver Dies Los Angeles Times September 17 1999 Hall Stan Final Glide SSA Capp Al F 117A The Skunkworks F 117A The Black Jet n a Retrieved April 10 2012 Rich Ben February 1996 Skunk Works pp 111 112 ISBN 0316743003 Johnson Kelly December 17 1989 Kelly More Than My Share of it All p 98 ISBN 0874744911 Culver Twist Distribution Skunk Works Irven Culver Dies Los Angeles Times Retrieved March 4 2015 O Neill Kevin Designs that fly PDF Paper Presented to SIG Learning Sciences Retrieved April 11 2012 Culver Irv Transcription of Irv Culver s Analysis for Windrose 15m Self Archived from the original on May 11 2021 Whal Paul May 1974 How they are engineering a whole new breed of HANG GLIDERS Popular Science Retrieved April 11 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Irv Culver amp oldid 1223726274, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
