Virginius Evans Clark (February 27, 1886 – January 30, 1948) was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, a military aviation pioneer, and a

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 ...

engineer. Clark designed the 1922

Clark Y Clark Y is the name of a particular airfoil profile, widely used in general purpose aircraft designs, and much studied in aerodynamics over the years. The profile was designed in 1922 by Virginius E. Clark using thickness distribution of the Germa ...

airfoil used by many early aircraft.

Biography

He was born on February 27, 1886, to Harry Scott Clark in

Uniontown, Pennsylvania Uniontown is the largest city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 9,984 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, southeast of Pittsburgh. History southeast of ...

. Clark graduated the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1907. He participated in the 1908-1909

round-the-world Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magellan Exped ...

battleship voyage with the

Great White Fleet The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships that completed a journey around the globe from 16 December 1907, to 22 February 1909, by order of President Foreign policy of the Theodore Roosevelt ...

. Later he was part of the

Coast Artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

until 1912. In 1913 Clark joined the

Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, Appendix 2 (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronaut ...

. In 1914, Clark attended

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

for an aviation engineering course. In 1917, Clark became a

NACA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

member, and a member on the Joint Army and Navy Board on Rigid Airships. In 1917 Clark became the Commanding officer of

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named f ...

founding the current

Aeronautical Systems Center The Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) was a U.S. Air Force product center that designed, developed and delivered aviation weapon systems and capabilities. It developed systems for the U.S. Air Force, other U.S. Department of Defense customers, ...

. While at McCook, Clark and Verville designed the VCP-1, and

Engineering Division TP-1 __NOTOC__ The Engineering Division TP-1 was a two-seat biplane fighter designed by Alfred V. Verville and Virginius E. Clark at the United States Army Air Corps Engineering Division. A second aircraft was completed as an observation biplane a ...

aircraft. Clark was sent to Europe in June 1917 representing the Army on the" Bolling Mission", an aeronautical commission on aviation for the acquisition of airplanes to fight World War I. In 1922 Clark was also the Vice President of the

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...

. In 1920 he became the chief engineer of the

Dayton-Wright Company The Dayton-Wright Company was formed in 1917, on the declaration of war between the United States and Germany, by a group of Ohio investors that included Charles F. Kettering and Edward A. Deeds of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company ( DELCO ...

. In 1923, he became the vice president of Consolidated. Clark later worked for the Duramold division of

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 19 ...

in 1938. Clark designed the Fairchild 100, Fairchild 150, and the 46 Duramold (later the Fairchild 46-A). He became a consultant at

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules air ...

. Clark's

Duramold Duramold is a composite material process developed by Virginius E. Clark. Birch or poplar plies are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated together in a mold under heat (280 °F, 138 °C) and pressure for use as a lightweight ...

process would later be used on the

Spruce Goose The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use durin ...

. He died in Santa Monica on January 30, 1948.

References

1886 births 1948 deaths United States Navy engineering officers American aerospace engineers Aerodynamicists American aviators