Sanford Alexander Moss (August 23, 1872 – November 10, 1946) was an American aviation engineer, who was the first to use a

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

on an aircraft engine.

Life and career

Sanford Moss was born 1872 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to Ernest Goodman Moss and Josephine Sanford. He received his B.S. and

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in engineering from the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It ...

. On August 23, 1899, he married Jennie Edith Somerville Donnely in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Moss received his Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

where he built his first

gas turbine engine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the direct ...

. In 1903 after graduation, Moss became an engineer for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

's Steam Turbine Department in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

.Leyes, p.231-232. At GE he worked with

Elihu Thomson Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an English-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Early life He was bor ...

, Edwin W. Rice, and Charles Steinmetz. While there, he applied some of his concepts in the development of the

turbosupercharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

. His design used a small turbine wheel, driven by exhaust gases, to turn a supercharger. In autumn of 1917

William F. Durand William Frederick Durand (March 5, 1859 – August 9, 1958) was a United States naval officer and pioneer mechanical engineer. He contributed significantly to the development of aircraft propellers. He was the first civilian chair of the National ...

, Director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, received incomplete reports that a French engineer named Auguste Rateau was attempting to develop engines for high altitudes using a turbo-driven air compressor. Durand remembered Moss as a graduate student who worked on gas driven turbo engines twenty years earlier at Cornell before starting a career at the gas turbine division of General Electric. Durand wrote to the president of GE, Edwin W. Rice, requesting Moss' services: ::''"Dear Mr. Rice:'' ::''At the present time in connection with the development of the airplane and the Liberty engine for driving same, there is no problem which is perhaps more seriously before the Government officials than that of maintaining at high altitudes the power of the engine. In this connection we are especially desirous of developing the possibilities of a pre-compression of the air before going to the engine

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

, thus maintaining, as nearly as may be, constant conditions regarding pressure at all altitudes.'' ::''In this connection we believe that your Dr. Sanford A. Moss could be of very great service in advising with us regarding the possibilities of pre-compression as applied to this problem, and I have written informally to Dr. Moss inviting his attention to the problem as outlined.'' ::''I desire, therefore, to ask your approval of the request, and that, if possible, you will authorize Dr. Moss to give such attention to this problem as may be necessary in order to give us the results of his experience in the study of such matters.'' ::''Thanking you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter, I remain, -"'' After this turbochargers became Moss' life work. Moss built a high-RPM supercharger, driven by engine exhaust flow, and tested it in 1918 at

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Lo ...

in Dayton, Ohio. As a result of this test, the government awarded its first supercharger contract to GE. Later in 1918 Moss attached his turbo-supercharger to a Liberty V-12 aero engine and tested it near Pikes Peak. The test engine was able to maintain far higher air intake-charge densities at high altitude than an unassisted Liberty Engine. Moss installed s 356 hp turbocharged engine on a LePere LUSAC biplane, which set international performance records, including in 1921 an altitude mark in excess of 40,000 feet; more than double LePere's operational ceiling. After his retirement from GE in 1938, Moss was awarded the

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to ...

, presented by the National Aeronautic Association in 1940 for his work on the turbocharger. Moss was an aviation consultant to the Army and, in 1942, worked with Washington and GE as the company secretly created the 1-A, the first workable US jet aircraft engine, using the turbine principles that Moss had first researched. He died on November 10, 1946, in

at 74 years of age.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Sanford Alexander 1872 births 1946 deaths National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Howard N. Potts Medal recipients Collier Trophy recipients Cornell University alumni American aviation record holders