AEDC Fellow Milt Davis Sr.’s contributions remembered

  • Published
  • By Bradley Hicks
  • AEDC/PA
Milt Davis Sr. will be remembered as a pioneer of AEDC. His knowledge not only helped facilitate the development of wind tunnels in the early days of the center, but his expertise will be relied upon for years to come.

Davis passed away on June 27 at the age of 93. During his more-than-30-year career at AEDC, Davis was involved in wind tunnel testing, design and development. He was honored as an AEDC Fellow in 2006.

At one point, Davis, his son Dr. Milt Davis Jr., also an AEDC Fellow, and his grandson Chris Davis, were all simultaneously employed at Arnold Air Force Base.

Well before he left what some have referred to as a “legacy of technical excellence” at AEDC, the Colorado-born Davis started on the path that would eventually lead him to Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee. Not long after graduating high school in 1942 at the age of 16, Davis began work at his first real job - an under-aircraft model maker at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor to NASA.

The job at NACA lasted only six months, but it further bolstered Davis’ desire to become an aeronautical engineer and work in wind tunnels.

After his stint at NACA, Davis looked to attend college. World War II had begun less than two years prior and, shortly after turning 18, he joined the Navy. He served in the V5 and V12 College Training Programs, Navy ROTC and graduated from Georgia Tech as an ensign in 1946. He started out training to become a pilot, but the Navy later transferred him to a curriculum geared for officers who would serve in the surface Navy.

Davis earned two degrees from Georgia Tech – one in basic engineering and the other in aeronautical engineering.

At Georgia Tech, Davis was a student of renowned aerodynamicist Alan Pope. He would later join Pope at Sandia Labs prior to making his way to Arnold.

“It is my opinion that Alan Pope had a lot to do with shaping Milt Davis’ creativity, critical thinking ability and engineering attention to the details,” said Ron Lutz, AEDC Deputy Branch Chief for the Test Operations Division Analysis and Technology Branch, who worked in Davis’ group from 1971 to 1979.

In 1957, Davis came to AEDC. He initially worked for Heinrich Ramm, one of a core group of scientists originally from Peenemunde, Germany’s premiere scientific wind tunnel complex during World War II that conducted testing on the V2 rocket.

Davis went to work at the 16-foot supersonic wind tunnel, also known as 16S, which was in the process of being built. He worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct the tunnel and, along with other AEDC personnel, helped bring it into calibration.

To prove he was up to the challenge of working at 16S, Davis was charged with conducting an aerodynamic test on the T-38 Talon jet trainer in the AEDC 16-foot transonic wind tunnel, otherwise known as 16T.

16S made its first run in 1960. Davis said bringing the facility into operation was a highlight of his career.

“Davis and his team developed major modifications to the original design of the wind tunnel to allow it to substantially reach its intended performance,” Lutz said. “He developed the operational techniques needed for the very complex 16S and then trained a team of facility engineers to lead operations during its use.”

Davis is also considered the “father of 4T,” the 4-foot transonic wind tunnel at Arnold AFB. He and his team worked on the design of the wind tunnel, which would be used to study aircraft store compatibility and conduct store separation testing. 4T was initially operated in 1968.

Lutz said during his time working in Davis’ group, he learned more about wind tunnel design from Davis’ instruction than any other time in his career.

“Davis was bold and inventive in his work with an incredible attention to the details,” Lutz said. “He treated us with loyalty and expected that in return. He had kindness and compassion but did not suffer complacency in our work. He expected excellence and led the Propulsion Wind Tunnel Facility Engineering Branch in that way.”

Wind Tunnel Subject Matter Expert and AEDC Fellow Mike Mills met Davis in 1983. There were plans to perform a repeat calibration of 16S, and Mills was the project’s assigned lead. A meeting was arranged between Davis and the young engineer so that Mills could learn more about the design of 16S and about the instruments used in its calibration.

“I viewed him as a mentor and a person who helped me understand how to be a better engineer here at AEDC,” Mills said.

Davis retired from AEDC in 1988, but his involvement with the facility was far from over. Following retirement, Davis established his own company, Davis Engineering. AEDC entered into a consulting contract with this company in 1998, and Davis was brought to AEDC to complete a report on increasing the Mach number in 16S.

“We knew he had a lot of valuable knowledge about 16S, and we wanted to capture as much of that for the young guys like me since he wasn’t out here anymore and so we would not have to relearn the same things that they learned back in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Mills said.

Davis Engineering was again hired by AEDC in 2003 to complete a report on the high-temperature operation of 16S. A high-temperature run of 16S had not occurred since the 1970s.

In addition to his knowledge and memory, Davis also brought a wealth of contacts to the table. Mills said Davis contacted his colleagues from the early days of AEDC to help him recall and document some of the issues they experienced when trying to bring 16S online.

“He was the only one who could have done that because no one else knew a lot of the people who worked on these projects,” Mills said.

The reports Davis provided were detailed, something he was known for throughout his AEDC career. Mills said he maintains access to Davis’ documents from the 1960s and 1970s, referring to them as “impeccable” and referring to Davis as “highly-organized.”

Although he cannot substantiate it and is unsure where he first heard it, Mills said he has been told those who worked in Davis’ section once shared a saying – “A memo a day keeps Uncle Miltie away.” This was because Davis was insistent that everyone document their work to prevent it from being lost to posterity.

“I always thought that was kind of clever,” Mills said. “If you didn’t want Milt to sort of come down on you for not documenting your work, you wrote your memos. Otherwise, he would be a little difficult.”

A team is currently working to return 16S to operations. Mills said Davis’ memos from decades ago, along with his more recent reports, will be used by personnel working on the return-to-service project to obtain a better understanding of the facility and implement recommended improvements.

“We’re making use of the information Milt left with us to make the upgrades,” Mills said.

In April 2018, Davis was part of a group of AEDC retirees that returned to 16S to tour their old stomping grounds, to hear about the return to service project and to share their insight.

Along with his penchant for documentation, Davis was known for being a whiz on the TI-59 calculator in the pre-desktop computer days, rapidly cranking out equations. He was also regarded for possessing a high standard of engineering and always seeking the right answers based on good engineering analysis.

“When a person like that is a mentor, he influences your view of engineering in the same way and it helps raise the bar for all of us,” Mills said.