Orville Albert Wheelon (June 12, 1906 – February 9, 1966) was an aeronautical engineer who invented the
Verson-Wheelon process for
aircraft sheet-metal forming[Lascoe, O.D. (1988) Handbook of fabrication processes, ASM International.] and who was one of the first to use
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
in modern aircraft construction.
[Taubman, P. (2003) Secret empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the hidden story of America's space espionage, Simon and Schuster.] The latter work earned him the
Wright Brothers Medal
The Wright Brothers Medal was conceived of in 1924 by the Dayton Section of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the SAE established it in 1927 to recognize individuals who have made notable contributions in the engineering, design, developmen ...
in 1951.
References
American aerospace engineers
1966 deaths
1906 births
20th-century American engineers
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