Sylvanus Albert Reed (8 April 1854 – 1 October 1935) was an American aerospace engineer who developed the modern metal

aircraft propeller An aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew,Beaumont, R.A.; ''Aeronautical Engineering'', Odhams, 1942, Chapter 13, "Airscrews". converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller ...

Early life and career

Reed Graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1874. He worked as an engineer specializing in electrical signals for railroad safety until retirement in 1912.

Later career

In 1915 Reed experimented with metal propellers using a 10 hp electric engine driving propellers up to 19,000 rpm. He researched propeller shapes and materials that could withstand tip speed up to Mach 1.35. In 1920 he was encouraged by the local police to move his experiments from his attic and rented a shop at the Curtiss aircraft company's Garden City factory. He invented the Reed Metal Propeller, testing it in August 1921 on a Curtiss K-6 powered Standard. It was developed for use on the PW-8 and

Curtiss D-12 The Curtiss D-12, sometimes identified with the military designation Curtiss V-1150, was an aircraft engine of 18.8 liter displacement. It was a water-cooled V12, producing 443 hp (330 kW) and weighing 693 lb (314 kg). It wa ...

powered Hawk. He won the 1925

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to ...

for his development of the Reed Aeronautic Propeller. In December 1934 Reed donated an endowment to the

Institute of Aeronautical Sciences The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of t ...

creating an annual award for the winner of "Experimental or theoretical investigations have a beneficial influence on the development of practical aeronautics". In 1881 he became a hereditary member of the Rhode Island

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. Reed died in 1935.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Sylvanus 1854 births 1935 deaths Collier Trophy recipients