MIT

Koppen was the professor emeritus of aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

. In 1929 Koppen returned to teach stability and control at MIT, where he remained until his retirement in 1965 As part of the course, Koppen took students up in a Fairchild 24 to demonstrate stability principles.

In 1936, Koppen published a paper called "SMART AIRPLANES FOR DUMB PILOTS".

In 1939, a student brought a model of the new Curtiss XSB2C-1 to the MIT wind tunnel. Koppen was quoted as saying, "if they build more than one of these, they are crazy". He was referencing controlability issues with the small vertical tail. The eventual production aircraft did have issues, and needed over 880 modifications before entering combat in WWII.

Project Whirlind

In 1944 America recognized a need for a universal flight trainer more advanced than the analog Link Trainer

Link Trainer

The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Ed Link, based on technology he pioneered in 1929 at his family's business in Binghamton, New York...

. What started as the development of the Aircraft Stability and Control Analyzer (ASCA) for the Navy became "Project Whirlwind"

Whirlwind (computer)

The Whirlwind computer was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the first computer that operated in real time, used video displays for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems...

. Headed by Captain Luis deFlorez

Luis de Florez

Luis de Florez was a naval aviator and a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy that was actively involved in experimental aerospace development projects for the United States Government. As both an active duty and a retired U.S...

, Otto Koppen, John R. Markham, and Joseph Bicknell put together the requirements for a simulator that factored in winds and aerodynamic forces. The byproduct that was developed to compute the data was one of America's first high-speed, prototypical, digital computer.

Koppen took a two year break from teaching after the loss of his daughter in a flight accident involving loss of control in low visibility conditions. Koppen promised his wife never to fly again afterward, but restarted after her passing. Koppen flew a Grumman Yankee and experimented with wing-leveling and other controls. Koppen acquired his FAA instrument rating at the age of eighty. At one point Koppen was the oldest instrument rated pilot in America.

Koppen is regarded as providing the basis for most stability and control research since the 1930s.

Designer

After a fire at the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and produced the Ford Trimotor. In the height of the Depression, Ford closed the aircraft design and production...

, that destroyed the Ford 3-AT Trimotor prototype, Tom Towle hired MIT graduate Otto Koppen, John Lee, and James Smith McDonnell

James Smith McDonnell

James Smith "Mac" McDonnell was an American aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas.-Early life:...

 (co-founder of what is now McDonnell Douglas

McDonnell Douglas

McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...

)

Koppen, along with Harold Hicks and Tom Towle are credited with refining the Stout

William Bushnell Stout

William Bushnell Stout was an inventor, designer whose work in automotive and aviation fields was notable. Stout designed an aircraft that eventually became the Ford Trimotor and was an executive at the Ford Motor Company.-Early years:William Bushnell Stout was born March 16, 1880 in Quincy,...

 designed Ford 3-AT into the well known Ford Trimotor

Ford Trimotor

The Ford Trimotor was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced...

.

In 1926, Otto designed the Ford Flivver

Ford Flivver

The Ford Flivver was a single-seat aircraft introduced by Henry Ford as the "Model T of the Air". After a fatal crash in the prototype, production plans were halted.-Development:...

. The first criteria for the design was it had it fit in an office, his first task was measuring the dimensions of Ford’s

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

 office.

Koppen designed the Fairchild FT-1 in 1929. The aircraft was the model for the Fairchild Model 21

Fairchild 21

The Fairchild 21 was a 1920s American two-seat monoplane designed and built by Fairchild Aircraft.-Design and development:The Fairchild 21 was a low-wing braced monoplane with an two open cockpits and powered by a 80hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet radial piston engine...

, a two seat low-wing aircraft that bore a similarity to the Ford Flivver

Ford Flivver

The Ford Flivver was a single-seat aircraft introduced by Henry Ford as the "Model T of the Air". After a fatal crash in the prototype, production plans were halted.-Development:...

. Production was halted during the depression.

In 1943 Koppen was brought on as a engineer to help design larger cargo aircraft for the Franklin Institute for 20,000 dollars a year.

He was a designer for General Aircraft Corporation

General Aircraft Corporation

The General Aircraft Company was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company formed in the 1940s and ceased involvement with aircraft in 1976.-History:...

.
Koppen designed an early two-control aircraft, the General Skyfarer

General Skyfarer

|-References:* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing-External links:* early article on Skyfarer* one of the only known Skyfarers today* Dan Shumaker Collection...

. Using just ailerons and elevators for directional control. 17 were built The aircraft was later licensed as the Mars M1-80 Skycoupe, but did not go into production.

In 1949, Koppen, and Lynn Bollinger formed the Helio Corporation of Massachusetts. They developed a "helioplane" prototype for a cost of 6000 dollars that was built based on a modified Piper Vagabond with a short wing, with leading edge slats, with high lift and STOL

STOL

STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...

 capabilities. Greater Boston Metropolitan Airport fixed base operator, E.W. Wiggins Airways converted the Piper PA-17 Vagabond with volunteer assistance to make the 2-place Helio No.1. Koppen also served as test pilot. This aircraft was the basis for the Helio Courier

Helio Courier

The Helio Courier is a light C/STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949.Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraft Company. During the early 1980s, new owners made an attempt to build new aircraft with direct-drive Lycoming engines,...

 series of aircraft. The Helio Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1950 after merging with Midwest Aircraft Corporation, the company produced a variety of types for the Navy. The prototype aircraft "Helio-1" has been donated the National Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...

 in 1963.

Koppen developed a simplified autopilot that could be affordable enough to be used by general aviation aircraft. The bang-bang, or discontinuous, control device featured an innovative use of a tilted gyroscope that sensed roll and yaw, to provide input to the autopilot. After his formal NACA

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...

 report was published, his ability to file for a patent was nullified.

In 1991 EAA

Experimental Aircraft Association

The Experimental Aircraft Association is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception it has grown internationally with over 160,000 members and about 1,000 chapters worldwide....

 Chapter 159 from Midland, Michigan

Midland, Michigan

Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of the state. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area....

 donated a replica Ford Flivver

Ford Flivver

The Ford Flivver was a single-seat aircraft introduced by Henry Ford as the "Model T of the Air". After a fatal crash in the prototype, production plans were halted.-Development:...

 to the EAA Airventure Museum

EAA AirVenture Museum

The EAA AirVenture Museum is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historical and experimental aircraft located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin adjacent to the Wittman Regional Airport. Paul Poberezny proposed the idea of the EAA Air Museum-Air Education center in August 1958. The current...

. The replica was built from careful inspection of the original prototype and advice from Otto C. Koppen.

He lived in Osterville, Massachusetts

Osterville, Massachusetts

Osterville is one of the seven villages within the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. The village of Osterville is located on the south side of Barnstable on Nantucket Sound...

.
He won the 1957 Godfrey L. Cabot Award.
Otto Koppen passed away at the age of 90

See also

Other pioneers of aircraft stability and control

• G.H. Bryan - Great Britain
• Leonard Bairstow
• Ernest E Relf
• William J Duncan
• Kyuichiro Washizu - Japan
• Frederic Charels Haus - Belgium
• Otto H Gerlac - Germany
• Karl H Doetsch - Germany

External links