August Raspet

August Raspet (24 August 1913 – 27 April 1960) was an American aerodynamicist and researcher.

He was one of the most influential contributors to the science of aeronautics, dealing primarily with efficiency in flight, aerodynamics and wing design structures.

His contributions to the field of flight science are many, having published over forty scholarly articles on subjects ranging from human muscle-powered flight to sailplane performance analysis as it relates to airplanes.

An avid bird watcher, Raspet developed his dedication to the idea of flight from a young age and would use ideas generated from observing avian flight in his experiments and research throughout his career.

Raspet was born in Irwin, Pennsylvania on 24 August 1913.

He received a BS degree in Physics in 1935 and began working in the Civil Service as a junior physicist.

In 1938 he began graduate studies at the University of Maryland while still working in the Civil Service.

He received an MS degree in Physics in 1940 and PhD in 1942.

His PhD dissertation covered instruments for measuring Earth's magnetic fields.

In 1942 he began as a research physicist for the Gould Aeronautical Division of Pratt Read and Co. in Deep River, Connecticut.

In 1943 he became a research physicist at Specialties, Inc. in Syosset, New York.

In 1947 Raspet became President and Director of Research at the Aerophysic Institute, Inc. for their study of airflow over an extended ridge, funded by the US Office of Naval Research.

In 1949 Raspet became the Sailplane Projects Leader for the Engineering Station at Mississippi State College.

From 1953 until his untimely death in 1960, he served as Head of the Aerophysics Department at Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University).

The Flight Research Laboratory at MSU is named for him.

While at Specialties, Inc. he became the Director of Research of the Soaring Society of America (The August 1960 edition of its monthly magazine is entirely dedicated to Raspet) for the glider phase of Project Thunderstorm.

On 27 April 1960, Raspet was involved in a plane crash during a demonstration of a Piper Cub with boundary layer modifications at Starkville, Mississippi's George M. Bryan Airport.

He died at the scene and was survived by his wife and three children.

Raspet's most extensive work in aeronautics was in boundary layer control.

Through several experiments involving laminar friction curve and high-lift boundaries, he made several breakthroughs regarding sailplanes that would later be incorporated in light aircraft.

Because of Raspet's contribution to aeronautical science, a prestigious award has been named in his memory.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), beginning in 1960, has awarded yearly the Dr. August Raspet Memorial Award to a person or group who has made significant advancements in the field of light aircraft design.

"The first recipient of the award was John Thorp, Lockheed engineer on the Little Dipper and Big Dipper, and designer of the Thorp Aviation Sky Skooter. Since then the list of people honored reads like a Who's Who of aircraft design."