The war years at the Aeromedical Lab: Wright Field (1941-46)

The author narrates his experiences at the Aeromedical Laboratory (AML) from his first visit in Spring 1941, when Maj. Otis O. Benson was its Chief, to the end of 1945, when its wartime Chief, Col. William Randolph Lovelace, returned to the Mayo Foundation and when Col. Lloyd E. Griffis arrived as the interim Chief. The rapid growth of the Laboratory is described--from a small unit in Bldg. 16 in 1941 to its new Bldg. 29 in Spring 1942--to its emergence as a fully active, working laboratory. The highlights of AML major wartime projects are presented: development and production of breathing oxygen equipment, including pressure breathing for use above 50,000 ft; evaluation of insulative and electrically heated flying clothing, useful for confined cockpit space and for use at first in B-17 gun turrets; development and evaluation of anti-G suits for the new, high-performance, fighter aircraft; the role of anthropometry in design of aircraft cockpits and personal flying equipment; Laboratory tests of human tolerance to explosive decompression in new Air Force pressurized bombers (B-29) and future fighters (P-80 series), and actual flight tests in the Lockheed Constellation and Boeing C-97. Individual contributions of many distinguished physiologists, physicians, biophysicists, and engineers then on duty at Wright Field are mentioned whenever possible.