ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- AEDC Fellow Dr. James G. Mitchell will be remembered for his contributions to Arnold Engineering Development Complex following his passing June 28 at the age of 91.
Mitchell was an internationally-recognized expert in aerospace ground testing and was a former U.S. member on the Propulsion and Energetics Panel of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development, the technical arm of NATO. He is credited with campaigning to reduce the cost of testing at AEDC while improving test and evaluation quality.
Honored as an AEDC Fellow in 1989, Mitchell one of six inductees in the inaugural Fellows class. The AEDC Fellows program recognizes AEDC personnel who have made substantial and exceptionally distinguished contributions to the nation’s aerospace ground testing capability.
Mitchell’s involvement with AEDC spanned more than 30 years. During his career, his roles included chief of the Propulsion Branch, analysis manager, chief of the Advanced Plans Division, director of Facility Plans and Programs, director of Corporate Planning, AEDC technical director and AEDC chief scientist.
In 1953, while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Auburn University, Mitchell came to Arnold Air Force Base, then the sole AEDC site, to work as an engineering aide in the Engine Test Facility.
Mitchell, who grew up in Luverne, Alabama, described his first impression of Arnold for an article published in 2011 to help commemorate the 60th anniversary of AEDC.
“I loved it. Everybody loved it,” Mitchell said. “We had the world’s best test complex and resources. At Arnold Center, all of us who worked there had a chance to produce data and information that nobody else could produce. You were welcome to give papers anywhere because, when you went to international meetings, you were right on top of the list there with your information and what you could do.
“So, I was very fortunate in riding the crest of the aerospace wave in this country, starting in the early 1950s. You got on that wave, we did not have a resource problem, and it was a great place to work and a great time to work in this business.”
Both before and during Mitchell’s college career, the Korean War was underway. Mitchell graduated from Auburn in March 1954. As he was part of the school’s ROTC program, Mitchell received his lieutenant bars and bachelor’s degree on the same day. Within days, he was off to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
He returned to Arnold as an Air Force lieutenant in 1955 and served as a facilities planning engineer. Around this time, he graduated from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson, earning his master’s degree in aeronautical engineering.
Originally, Mitchell’s plan was to go into the Air Force as a career and fly planes. However, he soon realized he did not wish to pursue the Air Force career path but wished to remain at AEDC if possible.
In 1957, Mitchell took off his uniform and began to look for a job in the civilian sector. As he had hoped, he landed a job at AEDC. Mitchell began his civilian career in 1958 as a test engineer in the von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility.
Mitchell’s career at Arnold began with the Arnold Research Organization Inc., or ARO, the contractor which managed AEDC at the time, but he later moved to the Air Force civil service, where he worked until his retirement. Throughout this time, he continued his education, earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Tennessee Space Institute and a doctorate in the same area from Vanderbilt University.
Mitchell was highly regarded for his work with facilities, as he recognized the planning and acquisition of advanced test facilities were needed to keep pace with rapidly advancing aircraft, missile and space programs. In the 1960s, he led early planning for ramjet test capabilities. He also led planning and design of the nation’s first space chambers. Mitchell’s other facility-focused work includes organizing and directing a tiger team of government and contractor exports to analyze AEDC operations to reduce operating costs. This team proposed modifications that improved and modernized AEDC facilities and greatly reduced the number of mandatory Air Force regulations imposed on the operating contractors, leading to substantial savings for AEDC customers.
Mitchell once remarked that the most productive part of his career was when he headed up facility planning for AEDC. Among the facilities for which he advocated was the Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility. He prompted the joint NASA-DOD Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board to commission a study to define a new generation of aeronautical test facilities. ASTF was one of the three facilities that evolved from this study.
According to Mitchell, ASTF was not initially supported by a number of folks in Washington, D.C., as it was considered too large and too expensive.
“I ended up being the guy who was given the job to go to Washington and convince the Air Force, DOD and Congress to find the funding for this facility,” Mitchell said. “No one thought we would succeed, and I wasn’t sure myself, but with the support of some key individuals, it all came together. At that time, ASTF was the most expensive military construction program (MCP) project ever attempted. It took all of the Air Force MCP for the year and a large part of MCP from both Army and Navy.”
Under Mitchell’s guidance, AEDC developed new test techniques to meet the future requirements of ASTF. The facility was dedicated Oct. 2, 1984. Initial Operational Capability was achieved in ASTF in September 1985.
In 1983, Mitchell assumed the role of AEDC chief scientist, a job Mitchell said he always wanted. His primary responsibility in this capacity was to advise and assist the commander on scientific and technical matters relating to AEDC, ranging from testing to research programs. He also served as a liaison in technical matters with officials at all levels of government, industry, scientific and educational organizations, as well as with other countries.
“I consider the chief scientist as having a kind of leavening effect,” Mitchell said in an interview from the early 1980s. “I look at the job from the viewpoint of both the short-term and long-term technical interests of the center. A lot of technology and facility programs take a long time to mature and pay off, and it takes top-level support during these programs to make sure things keep moving.”
Mitchell would continue to hold the role of chief scientist until his retirement in 1988. After leaving AEDC, he went to work for Micro Craft Inc. from 1988 to 1998. There, he served as executive vice-president-chief operating officer and eventually came back to AEDC as president of Micro Craft Technology to operate aeronautical and space test facilities. He also served as president and CEO of Surface Treatment Technologies, a spinoff from Micro Craft.
During his career, Mitchell was credited with more than 30 major publications, technical papers and seminars relating to aeronautics ground testing. Along with his time on the AGARD Propulsion and Energetics Panel, he served on more than 20 of the nation’s most prestigious advisory boards, study groups and governmental agency committees, including the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the National Research Council Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Committee for review of aeronautical and space facilities.
Mitchell received a number of professional awards, including two exceptional civilian service decorations and the French government’s Médaille de l’Aéronautique in 1987 for his contributions to international aeronautics.