Virginius Evans Clark (February 27, 1886 – January 30, 1948) was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, a military aviation pioneer, and a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

engineer. Clark designed the 1922

Clark Y Clark Y is the name of a particular airfoil profile, widely used in general purpose aircraft designs, and much studied in aerodynamics over the years. The profile was designed in 1922 by Virginius E. Clark using thickness distribution of the Germa ...

airfoil used by many early aircraft.

Biography

He was born on February 27, 1886, to Harry Scott Clark in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Clark graduated the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in 1907. He participated in the 1908-1909

round-the-world Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

battleship voyage with the

Great White Fleet The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was t ...

. Later he was part of the Coast Artillery until 1912. In 1913 Clark joined the

Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, Appendix 2 (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronaut ...

. In 1914, Clark attended

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

for an aviation engineering course. In 1917, Clark became a NACA member, and a member on the Joint Army and Navy Board on Rigid Airships. In 1917 Clark became the Commanding officer of

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named fo ...

founding the current

Aeronautical Systems Center The Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) is an inactivated Air Force product center that designed, developed and delivered weapon systems and capabilities for U.S. Air Force, other U.S. military, allied and coalition-partner warfighters. ASC managed ...

. While at McCook, Clark and Verville designed the VCP-1, and Engineering Division TP-1 aircraft. Clark was sent to Europe in June 1917 representing the Army on the" Bolling Mission", an aeronautical commission on aviation for the acquisition of airplanes to fight World War I. In 1922 Clark was also the Vice President of the Society of Automotive Engineers. In 1920 he became the chief engineer of the Dayton-Wright Company. In 1923, he became the vice president of Consolidated. Clark later worked for the Duramold division of

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 1 ...

in 1938. Clark designed the

Fairchild 100 The Fairchild 100 Pilgrim is an American single-engined high-wing monoplane transport, and was one of a series of single-engine utility transports built by Fairchild Aircraft. Design and development The 100 was similar in design to the Fairchi ...

, Fairchild 150, and the 46 Duramold (later the Fairchild 46-A). He became a consultant at

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other produ ...

. Clark's

Duramold Duramold is a composite material process developed by Virginius E. Clark. Birch or Populus, poplar plies are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated together in a mold under heat (280 °F, 138 °C) and pressure for use as a lightw ...

process would later be used on the

Spruce Goose The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use duri ...

. He died in Santa Monica on January 30, 1948.

References

1886 births 1948 deaths United States Navy engineering officers American aerospace engineers Aerodynamicists American aviators