Guide to the John W. Edwards Papers,
1965-2011
Guide prepared by Susan Edwards
NASA Ames History Office
NASA Ames Research Center
Mail Stop 207-1
Moffett Field, California 94035
©2012
NASA Ames Research Center. All rights reserved.
Guide to the John W. Edwards Papers,
1965-2011
NASA Dryden History Office
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Contact Information:
- NASA Dryden History Office
- NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
- 4800 Lilly Drive
- Edwards, CA 93523
- Phone: (661) 276-5290
- URL: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history
- Collection processed by:
- Susan Edwards
- Date Completed:
- May 2012
Descriptive Summary
Title: John W. Edwards Papers
Date (inclusive): 1965-2011
Collection Number: PP12.01
Creator:
Edwards, J.W.
Edwards, John W., 1939-2011
Extent:
Number of containers: 23
Volume: 27.35 cubic feet of physical records, and 16.6 gigabytes of digital records
Repository:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center,
History Office
4800 Lilly Drive
Edwards, California 93523
Abstract: This collection consists of physical and digital records, which include research notes and data, project documentation, presentations,
publications, administrative files, correspondence, educational materials, and visual media produced or collected by Dr. John
W. Edwards, an aerospace engineer who worked for the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) from 1965 to 2010. The bulk
of the collection documents Edwards' career at NASA as a research engineer, from his research in flight control systems at
Dryden Flight Research Center from 1965 to 1980, to his work in computational aeroelasticity and unsteady aerodynamics at
Langley Research Center from 1980 to 2010.
Language:
English
Administrative Information
Access
Access to portions of the collection is restricted.
Publication Rights
Copyright does not apply to United States government records. For non-government
material, researcher must contact the original creator.
Preferred Citation
NASA Dryden History Office, Dryden Flight Research Center. Edwards, California. PP12.01, John W. Edwards Papers, 1965-2011,
[Container number]: [Folder number]. [Identification of item]. [Date, if available].
Abbreviated Citation
NASA DFRC. PP12.01, [Container number]: [Folder number]. [Identification of item]. [Date, if available].
Removed or Separated Material
Most published materials not authored by Edwards were separated from the collection. These include sets of publications that
Edwards grouped by author or topic, as well as NASA Technical Memos and Technical Reports. Operational administrative documents,
such as human resources and administrative forms, work orders, itemized travel budgets and bills, and receipts were separated.
Personal medical documentation were also separated.
Acquisition Information
Transfered from Dr. Edwards' family in January 2012.
Biographical History
John William Edwards was born in Colfax, Iowa on July 8, 1939. In 1947, his father died of a heart attack and three years
later, in 1950, his mother moved with Edwards and his older brother to Portland, Oregon where she had obtained a position
teaching middle school. Edwards remained in Portland until he graduated from high school and was awarded a scholarship to
attend Yale University. He received a B.A. in physics from Yale in 1961 and an M.S. in physics from the University of Washington,
Seattle in 1963. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps from 1963 to 1965 teaching secondary school physics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
at Haile Selaisse I University (now Addis Ababa University). In 1967, Edwards married Adelaide Majerus. They had two daughters,
Susan Elizabeth (b. 1967) and Mary Joanna (b. 1968). Edwards worked at NASA as an aerospace engineer from 1965 until he retired
in 2007, and continued work for NASA as a contractor to 2010.
Edwards worked at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) between 1965 and 1980, where he helped pioneer digital flight
control systems. At DFRC he worked on the Lifting Body flight test program, and in 1968 was assigned to the JetStar General
Purpose Airborne Simulator project, where he developed computer programs for analysis of flight simulation experiments that
were used at Dryden and by the Northrop Corporation for the next two decades. Edwards also developed computer algorithms that
allowed DFRC to move flight simulation from analog methods to all-digital simulation in real time. In 1970 Edwards wrote an
internal memorandum advocating for a new concept: the use of digitally-controlled remotely-piloted vehicles for flight testing.
This memorandum led to the development of DFRC's Remotely Piloted Research Vehicles. Edwards was lead research engineer for
the PA-30 Remotely Augmented Vehicle demonstration flight tests, and for the 3/8 scale F-15 Spin Research Vehicle flight tests.
This technique of using remotely-piloted vehicles was used several projects at DFRC, including the Drones for Aerodynamic
and Structural Testing (DAST), Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT), High Angle-of-Attack (Alpha) Research Vehicle,
and F-8 Digital Fly-by-Wire flight programs. In recognition of his "ability to apply recently developed techniques to practical
flight research programs" (NASA Langley, 2004), Edwards received the National Space Club's Hugh L. Dryden Fellowship in 1974,
which allowed him to pursue his Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California from
1974 to 1976.
Edwards' Ph.D. thesis, "Unsteady Aerodynamic Modeling and Active Aeroelastic Control," was completed in 1977 and resolved
a longstanding theoretical dispute in Theodore Theodorsen's unsteady aerodynamic theory. With this research, Edwards helped
establish the flutter analysis methods that have since become standard in the aerospace industry.
Edwards returned to DFRC in 1976 and was principal research engineer for the DAST program. In 1978, he developed an adaptive
digital filter for the Space Shuttle in order to control pilot-induced oscillations caused by the vehicle's poor handling.
The Pilot-Induced Oscillation Suppression filter Edwards developed was added to the Shuttle's flight control computer, and
was used on all of the Shuttle's orbital missions. Edwards received a patent for the filter algorithm, as well as several
NASA awards.
In 1980, Edwards transferred to NASA's Langley Research Center (LaRC), where he remained for the rest of his career. From
1981 to 1989 he was head of the Unsteady Aerodynamics Branch. He is credited with transitioning NASA from classical aeroelastic
analysis methods to computational aeroelastics during this period. Under his management, the Unsteady Aerodynamics Branch
developed the first code capable of transonic flutter analysis of complete vehicles. Called Computational Aeroelasticity Program-Transonic
Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD), the code has been widely used throughout industry and academia.
From the 1980s through the rest of his career, Edwards organized symposia and gave lectures internationally about computational
unsteady aerodynamics. He taught several graduate-level courses on aeronautics at George Washington University in affiliation
with NASA's Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences, as well as at Old Dominion University and Christopher
Newport College. He was a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) Advisory Group for Aerospace Research
and Development, and NATO's Research and Technology Organization. He served on standing committees for the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and was associate editor of AIAA's
Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics from 1981 to 1983. He was also an active member of the Aerospace Flutter and Dynamics Council (known as the "Flutter Club")
from 1979 through 2010. In 2001 Edwards was elected as AIAA Fellow
In 1989 Edwards returned to research as a senior research engineer in the Aeroelasticity Branch at LaRC. For the rest of his
career, he concentrated on two areas of research: "shock-boundary layer interactions in transonic flutter and limit cycle
oscillations, and wind tunnel model and structural vibrations" (NASA Langley, 2004). He developed a new interactive viscous
boundary layer coupling method, which was incorporated into the CAP-TSD code. The resulting CAP-TSDV code enabled several
first-time computations throughout the 1990s, which have been used to investigate various problems, including anomalous loads
on the Space Shuttle vertical tail fin, residual pitch oscillations on the B-2 Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (Stealth Bomber),
and an unsteady hydroacoustics problems on a marine pump at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
In 1993, Edwards' calculations on Langley's National Transonic Facility (NTF) cryogenic wind tunnel led to new insights into
wind tunnel resonance processes and research into the connections between acoustics and unsteady aerodynamics. In 1997 Edwards'
measurements of model and tunnel vibrations in the NTF led to formation of the NTF Model Vibrations Project within the NTF
Revitalization Project. In the early 2000s Edwards was also project leader for the Model for Aeroelastic Validation Research
Involving Computation (MAVRIC) wind tunnel flutter model test.
From 2000 to his retirement in 2007, Edwards was involved in several accident investigations, including the Pegasus X-43 rocket
mishap investigation, the American Airlines Flight 587 Airbus crash investigation, and the Space Shuttle Columbia Return to
Flight effort. His computations on the aerodynamic stability of the Space Shuttle's External Tank Protuberance Aerodynamic
Load (PAL) Ramps shielding the tank's cable trays, led to the removal of the foam ramps from the Shuttle's external tank for
the return to flight.
After retiring in 2007, Edwards was appointed Distinguished Research Associate at NASA, and continued to work as a contract
researcher on projects for NASA, including work for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, and on the MAVRIC project. In
addition to this work, he continued to teach, give lectures, and publish papers through 2010, and continued to correspond
with his peers into 2011. Edwards died June 3, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Sources Consulted:
NASA Dryden History Office, Dryden Flight Research Center. Edwards, California. PP12.01, John W. Edwards Papers, 1965-2011,
Box 18.
An Ombudsman's Opinion. November 28, 1998.
NASA Dryden History Office, Dryden Flight Research Center. Edwards, California. PP12.01, John W. Edwards Papers, 1965-2011,
Box 13.
Research and Development Classification Process (RDCP). 2004.
Indexing Terms
The following terms may be used to index this collection.
Corporate Name
Ames Research Center
Langley Research Center
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
National Transonic Facility (U.S.)
Langley Research Center. Unsteady Aerodynamics Branch
Personal Names
J.W. Edwards
John W. Edwards, 1939-2011
William P. Rodden
Subjects
Airfoils
American Airlines Flight 587 Crash, 2001
B-2 bomber
Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD)
Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance Viscous (CAP-TSDV)
Computational fluid dynamics
DAST program
F-15 strike eagle
Flutter (Aerodynamics)
Remotely piloted vehicles
Space Shuttles--Pilot-induced oscillations
Space Shuttles--Protuberance Air Load Ramps
Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT)
Unsteady flow (Aerodynamics)
Scope and Content
This collection consists of research notes and data, project documentation, presentations, publications, administrative files,
correspondence, educational materials, and visual media created or accumulated by Edwards between 1965 and 2011, thus documenting
Edwards' entire career.
Series I contains the bulk of the physical papers. These documents are related closely to Edwards' research and professional
life at NASA. These include scientific research projects (Subseries 1) his administrative documents (Subseries 2), and awards
he received (Subseries 3). The files in Subseries 1 document NASA projects and research in which Edwards was involved. These
include Edwards' handwritten project notes, raw data, personal correspondence, as well as formal documentation, NASA memos,
and NASA technical reports. A significant portion of these documents concern the development and use of the Computational
Aeroelasticity Program-Transonic Small Disturbance (CAP-TSD) and CAP-TSDV computer codes for modeling and analysis of unsteady
aerodynamics and flutter.
Series II includes presentation documents, publications, and publication drafts authored by Edwards.
Series III contains correspondence between Edwards and his peers. A large body of correspondence between Edwards and William
Rodden form a subseries, as do a set of correspondence concerning preparations for various professional conferences, and peer
review of papers for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics'
Journal of Aircraft.
Series IV includes documents from Edwards' Ph.D. coursework as well as documents compiled and authored by Edwards for various
graduate-level courses on aerodynamics that he taught himself.
Series V is comprised of electronic records from 1995 to 2011. These include e-mail correspondence, born-digital files in
multiple file formats, and optical media. Digital files include data as well as publications, reports, images, and videos.
Series VI includes visual media, primarily photographic materials and Video Home System (VHS) tapes, many of which document
wind tunnel tests at NASA.
Arrangement of the John W. Edwards Papers
On the series-level, an arrangement was imposed by format to create six series, with physical papers in Series I-IV, digital
media in Series V, and visual media in Series VI. Additionally, Series I-IV were arranged in topical groups based on function,
which is the organization suggested in Edwards' original, incomplete organization.
Papers within each series are arranged by different methods:
- Series I: NASA Papers, 1965-2010 is arranged primarily by project.
- Series II: Works Authored by John W. Edwards is arranged according to publication status.
- Series III: Correspondence is arranged by Edwards' original order.
- Series IV: Education Papers is arranged by Edwards' role as student and teacher.
- Series V: Electronic Records, 1995-2011 is arranged by Edwards' original order.
- Series VI: Visual Media is arranged by format.
Materials within folders retain Edwards' original order where possible. A large portion of the collection was not arranged
into folders by Edwards, but were ordered loosely by subject. New folders were created for these materials.
Arrangement is as follows:
- I. NASA Papers, 1965-2010
- Project Documents
- Administrative Records
- Awards
- II. Works Authored by John W. Edwards
- Presentations
- Publications and Drafts
- III. Correspondence
- Bill Rodden
- Conference Planning
- Other
- IV. Education Papers
- PhD Coursework
- Teaching
- V. Electronic Records, 1995-2011
- E-mail
- Electronic Files
- Optical Media
- VI. Visual Media
- Photographs, Negatives, and Film Strips
- Two-inch Projection Slides
- Video Home System (VHS) Tapes
Series I
NASA Papers
1965-2010
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection is located in this series, which is composed of papers related to Edwards' scientific research
projects (Subseries 1) his administrative documents (Subseries 2), and awards he received (Subseries 3).
Most of the material is in Subseries 1, which is further organized into categories that represent significant groupings of
documents by topic or project. These are: documents related to the Computational Aeroelasticity Program-Transonic Small Disturbance
(CAP-TSD) and CAP-TSD viscous (CAP-TSDV) computer codes, raw data records, the Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing
(DAST) project, the National Transonic Facility (NTF), the National Full-scale Aerodynamics Complex Wind Tunnel Fan Blades
project, notes and reference materials, the Space Shuttle Pilot Induced Oscillation Suppression Filter, and Space Shuttle
Protuberance Air Load Ramps. Other files include research and data on various aircraft and wind tunnels over the course of
Edwards' career. The CAP-TSD and CAP-TSDV documents include the complete files for a workshop taught by Edwards and his staff
to instruct engineers at NASA and in the aerospace industry in using the code. These papers also document precursors of the
code, such as LTRAN2, XTRAN2, XTRAN2L, and XTRAN3S, among others. Various computations, computer code, and memos are also
included in the CAP-TSD and CAP-TSDV category. The DAST project is thoroughly documented in these papers. Edwards carefully
arranged these project documents chronologically, and included notes, internal memos, and planning documents, such as diagrams
of the control room setup and work orders for equipment needed for test flights. The NTF category includes papers and data
documenting wind tunnel testing, as well as records, correspondence, and memos that document a debate at NASA in 1998 about
the future of the NTF program. This includes a handwritten draft of a letter by Edwards that argues "Wind tunnel technology
and testing is/should be the 'life-blood' of Langley Research Center" (NASA Dryden History Office, 1998).
Subseries 2 includes administrative files from Edwards' career at Langley Research Center. A large portion of these records
document Edwards' period as Head of the Unsteady Aerodynamics Branch at Langley, including documentation of a national peer
review of the entire branch. Subseries 2 also includes meeting notes, travel narratives, management training documentation,
calendars, resumes, evaluations, and performance reviews.
Subseries 3 includes various NASA and AIAA awards Edwards received, and photographs documenting the awards ceremonies.
Series II
Works Authored by John W. Edwards
Scope and Content Note
This series is composed of presentation documents, publications, and publication drafts, all authored by Edwards. Presentations
are printouts of documents (possibly printed from Microsoft PowerPoint presentations) that summarize projects and findings,
and often include images and diagrams. These documents are from presentations and lectures given internally at NASA, to outside
aerospace industry representatives, and at international conferences and meetings. Publications and publication drafts include
NASA technical memoranda and reports, journal publications and drafts, and drafts of chapters from monographs--aerodynamics
textbooks for which Edwards authored chapters on unsteady aerodynamics.
Series III
Correspondence
Scope and Content Note
This series includes correspondence between Edwards and his peers in the aerospace industry and in academia throughout his
career.
Subseries 1 is comprised of correspondence with Bill Rodden, a friend and colleague with whom Edwards corresponded beginning
in the 1970s and throughout his career. Rodden worked for several aerospace companies in Southern California in the 1960s
and 1970s, including Douglas Aircraft, Northrop Corporation, and Aerospace Corporation. From the 1970s Rodden was an independent
consulting engineer for the aerospace industry, and taught courses about aeroelasticity. Rodden and Edwards were both active
members on the Aerospace Flutter and Dynamics Council, through which they corresponded regularly. In the 2000s, Rodden consulted
Edwards frequently for input on Rodden's publications and presentations, including a monograph Rodden was working on that
included a chapter on the General Aeroelastic Analysis Method, for which Edwards provided significant input and editing.
Subseries 2 is comprised of correspondence with peers about organizing international symposia and conferences with the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, with NATO's Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development, and the Research
and Technology Organization, and the International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics.
The bulk of material is in Subseries 3, Other Correspondence. Most of these documents are arranged by Edwards' original order
at the folder level. These documents include correspondence with colleagues at national aeronautics agencies of other countries,
such as the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Israel, discussing NATO-related topics, as well as sharing information
about developments specific to Edwards' areas of research. Edwards also corresponded with his peers at NASA regarding projects
they were collaborating on, including Peter Goorjian, Robert V. (Bob) Doggett Jr., and Robert M. (Bob) Bennett. He also had
relationships with various private industry and academic engineers with whom he corresponded such as Danny Liu of Zona Technology,
Inc., A.V. Balakrishnan of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Earl Dowell of Duke University.
Series IV
Education Papers
Scope and Content Note
This series includes documents from Edwards' Ph.D. coursework (Subseries 1) and documents compiled and authored by Edwards
for various graduate-level courses he taught himself (Subseries 2). Subseries 1 includes handwritten notes and calculations,
course documents, assignments, and research papers from Edwards' Ph.D. courses at Stanford University between 1974 and 1977.
Subseries 2 includes entire course plans for graduate-level courses on aerodynamics and aeroelasticity that Edwards taught
primarily at Langley Research Center through George Washington University. These include drafts and final copies of lecture
material, bibliographies, homework assignments, and examinations.
Series V
Electronic Records
1995-2011
Scope and Content Note
This series is comprised of records created between 1995 and 2011. Subseries 1 includes e-mail correspondence authored between
2007 and 2011. These records include correspondence with international aeronautics organizations: NATO's Research Technology
Organization Applied Vehicle Technology group, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and International
Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics (IFASD). E-mail related to NASA projects include NASA's Engineering and Safety
Center Review Board, and the Models for Aeroelastic Validation Research Involving Computation, as well as a folder labeled
'accidents.' E-mail records also include documents related to graduate courses Edwards taught, and correspondence, including
a folder of correspondence with Bill Rodden.
Subseries 2 includes electronic files dating from 2001 to 2011; most of these records date between 2003 and 2011. The bulk
of these documents contain data, documentation, images, and videos related to Edwards' Space Shuttle External Tank Protuberance
Air Load Ramp research. Documents regarding NASA Engineering and Safety Center are also a large portion of these files, which
include meeting minutes, data, and reports. Subseries 2 also includes materials related to the Aerodynamics Flutter Dynamics
Council, AIAA, IFASD, and NATO's Research and Technology Organization conferences and meetings, including page proofs of AIAA
articles, and documents form the RTO Applied Vehicle Technology group. This subseries also contains correspondence, images,
videos, and presentations about Professor Holt Ashley, Mach waves and acoustics research, and about the CAP-TSD code.
Subseries 3 includes optical media primarily created between 1995 and 2005. A large portion of these files include documentation
of several workshops that Edwards taught to instruct industry engineers how to use the CAP-TSD computer code. One disk, "Fun
with Aeroelasticity" is a collection of videos documenting visible flutter and aeroelastic phenomena in airplanes and other
structures, and includes digitized NACA and NASA films form the 1960s-1980s.
Series VI
Visual Media
Scope and Content Note
This series includes photographic materials and Video Home System (VHS) tapes covering the entire period of Edwards' career.
Subseries 1 contains photographic prints, negatives and film strips. The bulk of the subseries is 8 x 10 photographic prints
depicting airfoils, wind tunnels, airplanes, and NASA staff. Subseries 2 contains approximately 140 two-inch projection slides
from the 1980s and 1990s. These seem to have been used for various presentations at conferences. Subseries 3 is comprised
of 35 VHS tapes. Some of the VHS tapes were produced by NASA agencies, while others seem to have been created by Edwards.
The labels on most of these tapes indicate that they may contain documentation of wind tunnel tests, experiments, and flight
tests.