ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- On Oct. 27 and 28, 1949, then-President Harry S. Truman signed the Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act of 1949.
The first bill authorized a unitary plan for the construction of transonic and supersonic wind tunnel facilities to bolster national defense. The second bill authorized $100 million appropriated by Congress for the construction of the Air Engineering Development Center.
“There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain available until expended when so specific in the appropriation act concerned, (a) not to exceed $100,000,000 for the establishment and for initial construction, installation and equipment of the Air Engineering Development Center authorized in this title, including expenses for necessary surveys and acquisition of land and (b) such sums as may be necessary to carry out the other purposed of this title,” the act reads.
On March 3 of the following year, the Secretary of Defense approved the construction of the center and, less than a month later, the Air Force awarded its first construction contract – the manufacture of cranes for the Engine Test Facility.
The Army Corps of Engineers was charged with overseeing part of the design of AEDC and all its construction. The Tullahoma District of the Army Corps of Engineers was established in late 1949 to serve this purpose. The agency awarded its first contract for a perimeter fence and access road. This work began in early June 1950.
Less than a month later, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract for a project to dam the Elk River to create a reservoir to provide water for AEDC test facilities.
Access to a substantial water supply was needed, as it was determined early on that center operations would require millions of gallons of cooling water. The damming of the Elk River created what would come to be called Woods Reservoir, a repository that, since the project was completed, has not only continued to provide Arnold Air Force Base with cooling water but has served as a local for outdoor recreation.
The dam was a major focus of early construction planning. The first construction directive for AEDC was actually issued in January 1950 when the Headquarters of the Air Force tasked the Army Corps of Engineers chief of engineers with the preliminary investigation and design of the dam and preliminaries to land acquisition, as well as administrative expenses for the Tullahoma District.
Planners recognized that a reservoir could be created by damming the river.
St. Louis-based engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel Inc. was once again called upon, this time to study the matter of the Elk River Dam.
The engineering firm recommended that the reservoir design criteria be determined by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The dam project was completed in September 1952.
A Primary Pumping Plant was constructed on the north side of the reservoir upstream of the dam. This plant was needed to pump water from the Elk River reservoir to a secondary reservoir located within the AEDC test area.
It would be the job of a Secondary Pumping Station located within the main AEDC area to pull water from this secondary reservoir and transmit it to the test facilities.
Transmission of the water from the Elk River reservoir to the one located at the center was provided by a high-pressure steel pipeline.
As was recommended, much of the machinery Germany utilized to develop hardware for its war effort was transported to America for usage at AEDC and other Air Force facilities.
Fifty-eight railroad cars, two barges and a number of heavy trucks were required to move German and Japanese equipment from Alameda, California; Memphis; and the port at Mobile, Alabama, to Tennessee. Captured German equipment became the cornerstone of the Engine Test Facility. The first jet engine equipment installed at AEDC was taken from the Bavarian Motor Works jet engine facility in Munich at the close of World War II.
The U.S. also acquired components from the Otztal sonic wind tunnel, which were used in the AEDC Propulsion Wind Tunnel.
“The Air Force made a strong case for erection of the German equipment already stored in the U.S., particularly the BMW Engine Test Facility, which was immediately available and urgently needed for the testing of existing Air Force jet engine prototypes,” American scientist and Scientific Advisory Group member Frank Wattendorff said after the group’s May 1945 visit to Germany to assess captured test facilities there.
German expertise played a key role in the development of AEDC. Under Operation Paperclip, German scientists and engineers were recruited to work in the U.S. Some of these scientists and engineers helped re-erect German facilities at AEDC.
The German company Kochel provided the design used to development was would later become known as the von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility.
In late March 1950, then Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington directed that the new center would be operated by a corporation under contract to the Air Force. The reasoning behind this was to keep in place a stable, more tenured workforce that would accumulate experience and knowledge with the AEDC test facilities, thus aiding in troubleshooting due to personnel familiarity with the facilities, facilitating the passage of amassed expertise to new hires and reducing time spent on training as new staff would not have to be onboarded every few years.
“A military workforce is by design transient,” Beyond the Speed of Sound, a book detailing the history of AEDC, states. “Roughly every two to three years, new personnel transfer in or out, making it difficult to build corporate knowledge.
“The original rationale for operating AEDC with private sector personnel included limited availability of qualified technical personnel in the Air Force, either as military or civilians. It also recognized the flexibility afforded by the use of private companies who could hire and terminate employees with much more ease than could the federal government. In addition, a private company has more ability to tailor its pay scales or even individual salaries to market rates, thereby giving them the ability to recruit personnel with special skills who may not be available to the government as federal employees.”
On June 29, 1950, the Arnold Research Organization, the corporation established to manage and operate the Air Engineering Development Center, was awarded a contract from the Air Force to cover the first 15 months of operation.
The Arnold Air Force Base warehouse was the first building constructed on the installation. It would soon serve as backdrop for a significant event in the history of AEDC.
Arnold passed away in January 1950. While he didn’t live to see his vision fully realized, AEDC would become an enduring part of Arnold’s legacy.
This is the third in a series of articles highlighting the history of Arnold Engineering Development Complex during its first 75 years. Additional articles will be published throughout 2026 to commemorate the anniversary of AEDC.