Collier Trophy

Herbert Hoover presents the Collier Trophy to NACA Chairman Joseph Ames in 1929

The Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautics Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year."

Robert J. Collier, publisher of Collier's Weekly magazine, was an air sports pioneer and president of the Aero Club of America. He commissioned the 525 pound (240 kg) trophy in 1911, originally named the Aero Club of America Trophy. Collier also was the owner of a Wright Model B biplane which he purchased in 1911. After presenting it several times, Collier died in 1918 after the end of World War I.

It was renamed in his honor in 1922 when the Aero Club dissolved, and the award was taken over by the NAA. The name became official in 1944, and the award presented once a year by the NAA president, with the trophy on permanent display at the U.S. National Air and Space Museum. As such, the trophy was in the custody of its 1969 co-recipient, Michael Collins during his directorship of the museum.

Selected Recipients

• 1911 Glenn Curtiss, for successful development of the hydro-aeroplane. The first award.
• 1912 - Glenn H. Curtiss, for the invention of the single-pontoon seaplane and development of the flying boat.
• 1913 - Orville Wright, for development of his automatic stabilizer.
• 1929 Fred Weick, for design of the NACA cowling which revolutionized civil air transport by making aircraft faster and more profitable. It also found application on the bombers and fighters of World War II.
• 1932 Glenn L. Martin for the design of the Martin B-10 (XB-907) bomber.
• 1933 Frank W. Caldwell of Hamilton Standard for the hydraulically-controllable propeller.
• 1936 Pan American Airways for establishment of a transpacific airline and the successful execution of extended overwater navigation in regular operations.
• 1937 Army Air Corps for the design and development of the Lockheed XC-35.
• 1938 Howard Hughes
• 1945 Luis W. Alvarez for the Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) which allowed radar operators to talk a pilot down.
• 1947 Chuck Yeager for piloting the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier. According to his biography, Yeager used the trophy in his garage to store nuts and bolts.
• 1954 Richard T. Whitcomb for his discovery of the area rule, a design method for supersonic aircraft.
• 1958 Clarence "Kelly" Johnson of Lockheed Skunk Works, and Gerhard Neumann and Neil Burgess of GE, for leadership in the development of the F-104 Starfighter (1958) and its J79 engine.
• 1961 Scott Crossfield
• 1963 Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, for his leadership at Lockheed's Skunk Works in the development of the SR-71 Blackbird.
• 1969 the crew of Apollo 11
• 1970 The Boeing Company As leader of the industry-airline-government team which successfully introduced the 747 into commercial service with particular recognition to Pratt and Whitney Division of United Aircraft Corporation and to Pan American World Airways.
• 1975 David S. Lewis, Jr. of General Dynamics Corporation, and the F-16 Air Force Industry Team, for significant advancements in aviation technology leading to innovative fighter aircraft effectiveness.
• 1978 Sam B. Williams for development of the small, high-efficiency turbofan.
• 1985 Russell W Meyer and Cessna Aircraft Co for the outstanding safety record of the worldwide fleet of Citation aircraft
• 1986 Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, Burt Rutan and the team of the non-stop unrefueled circumnavigation of the Rutan Voyager
• 1989 Ben Rich for leading Lockheed's Skunk Works to develop the first stealth aircraft, the F-117.
• 1992 Naval Research Laboratory, US Air Force, Aerospace Corporation, Rockwell International, and IBM Federal Systems Company for Global Positioning System (GPS).
• 1994 McDonnell Douglas for developing the C-17 Globemaster III.
• 1995 Boeing Commercial Airplanes and the Boeing 777 airliner development team, winner for producing the advanced 777 widebody twinjet.
• 1996 Cessna Aircraft Company and the Citation X Design Team for designing, testing, certifying, and placing into service the Citation X, the first commercial aircraft in U. S. Aviation history to achieve a cruising speed of Mach .92
• 2001 Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Whitney, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office; for designing, developing, and demonstrating the Integrated LiftFan Propulsion System ^[1][2]
• 2002 Sikorsky Aircraft and the S-92 Team
• 2004 Burt Rutan and his SpaceShipOne team for designing and launching the first commercial manned launch vehicle
• 2004 Gulfstream Aerospace for the development of the G550, the first civil aircraft to include an enhanced vision system as standard equipment.
• 2005 Eclipse Aviation was awarded as the result of Eclipse Aviation's "leadership, innovation, and the advancement of general aviation" in the production of very light jets, specifically, the Eclipse 500.
• 2006 The F-22 Raptor Team, because the F-22 "established the unquestionable superiority of the Raptor, a culmination of years of visionary design, rigorous testing, and innovative manufacturing," according to NAA President David Ivey. The Raptor Team consists of the United States Air Force, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Pratt and Whitney, and 1,000 other suppliers located in 42 states.
• 2007 Various public and private organizations and companies for their innovative work on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B).
• 2008 The Commercial Aviation Safety Team
• 2009 The International Space Station Team
• 2010 The Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Sikorsky X2 Technology™ Demonstrator Team

The trophy is typically presented in the year following the one for which the trophy is given. For example, the 2005 winner, Eclipse Aviation, was not formally announced until February 16, 2006, and the formal trophy presentation was not made until May 15, 2006.

References

1. ^ Propulsion System in Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter wins Collier Trophy Lockheed Martin press release, February 28th, 2003. Retrieved: January 2010
2. ^ "Propulsion system for a vertical and short takeoff and landing aircraft", United States Patent 5209428 (PDF of original)

External links

United States Air Force portal

• The Collier Trophy - contains a fairly up-to-date listing of the winners
• Collier Winners by decade - from NAA's website
• From Engineering Science to Big Science - The NACA and NASA Collier Trophy Research Project Winners, Edited by Pamela E. Mack