Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Morgan, Ray.
A project manager recounts his decisions before and during the aftermath of the crash of a full-size flying model of Quetzalcoatlus northropi. The unstable pterodactyl crashed without harming anyone, although it caused a local power outage. The manager summarizes lessons learned about flight testing prototypes, including the effects of impatience.
The first solar plane we developed at AeroVironment was named the Gossamer Penguin. The word "gossamer" was an apt description of the appearance of this strange-looking aircraft that had a structural weight of only 54 pounds, with a wing span of 71 feet. Much was sacrificed to save weight and maximize span, and this presented serious problems when handling the aircraft on the ground. The Penguin was barely strong enough to stay together in the light winds and low turbulence of the early and low turbulence of the early morning. Moving the Penguin back to the hangar at the end of a morning flight was much like walking a 71-foot span kite home from the park.
One of the great perks I looked forward to when I turned sixteen was being able to give up my paper route and get a regular job. Paper routes are okay, but for a young, timid kid who was afraid to ask for money, it often proved to be a non-profit operation. At age sixteen, I could get a social security number, which meant that I could go get myself a real job. In my early days of running a division and having my own employees, I m sad to say that I emulated that behavior more than once. At the time, I rationalized it. Now, I know how wrong I was, and how I may have ruined the morale of employees who only wanted to do good work. I recognize that almost every time I didn't get what I wanted from an employee, it was because they didn't understand what I really expected from them, they didn't understand how to provide it, or there were constraints placed on them that stopped them from doing a good job. I'am sure OJ. is long dead and gone. He wasn't young when I worked for him. I think he would have been amazed to learn what a long-lasting effect his behavior that week in 1963 had on me.