The Aircraft Board was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 federal government organization created from the Aircraft Production Board on October 1, 1917, by Act of Congress

Act of Congress

An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....

 to provide statutory authority to the APB, which had been created by a resolution of the Council of National Defense

Council of National Defense

The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial support for the war, and public...

 on May 16, 1917. Chaired by Howard E. Coffin

Howard E. Coffin

Howard Earle Coffin was an American engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin...

, the Aircraft Board was also removed from the control of the Council of National Defense and placed under the Secretaries of War and the Navy. The boards, ruled advisory in nature by the Judge Advocate General

Judge Advocate General

In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate General and Judge Martial of all the Forces is a judge responsible for the court martial process within the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.-Qualifications:...

, gave their recommendations to the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps

Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps

The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the military aviation service of the United States Army from 1914 to 1918, and a direct ancestor of the United States Air Force. It replaced and absorbed the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and was succeeded briefly by the Division of Military...

 regarding the development and procurement of aircraft during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

The board consisted initially of Coffin, Brig. Gen. George O. Squier (Chief Signal Officer), Rear Adm. David W. Taylor

David W. Taylor

Rear Admiral David Watson Taylor, USN was a naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair...

 (Chief of the Bureau of Construction of the Navy), S.D. Waldron, Edward A. Deeds, and R.L. Montgomery. On June 16, 1917, it added Col. Raynal C. Bolling

Raynal Bolling

Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling was the first high-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in World War I. He laid the foundation for the United States Army Air Service in the American Expeditionary Force...

, and on September 14, 1917, Col. Benjamin D. Foulois

Benjamin Foulois

Benjamin Delahauf Foulois , was a United States Army general who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright Brothers. He became the first military aviator as an airship pilot, and achieved numerous other military aviation "firsts"...

and Capt. N. E. Irwin, all of the Aviation Section.