The Aircraft Board was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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

Act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

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

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 s ...

on May 16, 1917. Chaired by Howard E. Coffin, 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, gave their recommendations to the

Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, Aer ...

regarding the development and procurement of aircraft during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

., pp. 27-29. 40 ''Stat.'' 296. The board consisted initially of Coffin, Brig. Gen. George O. Squier (

Chief Signal Officer The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...

), Rear Adm. David W. Taylor (Chief of the Bureau of Construction of the Navy), S.D. Waldron,

Edward A. Deeds Edward Andrew Deeds (March 12, 1874 – July 1, 1960) was an American engineer, inventor and industrialist prominent in the Greater Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, area. He was the president of the National Cash Register Company and, together with Charles ...

, and Col. Robert L. Montgomery. On June 16, 1917, it added Col. Raynal C. Bolling, and on September 14, 1917, Col. Benjamin D. Foulois and Capt. N. E. Irwin, all of the Aviation Section. After Howard Coffin had resigned under corruption allegations in March, President Wilson appointed John D. Ryan in April 1918 to replace Coffin as head of the board.Anne Cipriano Venzon, Jerold Brown in ''The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia'', Routledge, 1999, , pages 153 and 520

References

* ''The Great War Society Journal'', Volume Five, Number Three. {{US-gov-stub 1917 establishments in the United States 20th-century military history of the United States Military units and formations of the United States in World War I 20th-century history of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 1917