Sanford Alexander Moss

Sanford Alexander Moss (1872 – November 10, 1946) was a pioneering aviation engineer, best known for his work on turbochargers at General Electric.

Biography

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Engineering from the University of California. Later, at Cornell University, his doctorate studies resulted in his building a gas turbine engine, similar to a modern jet. After he joined the General Electric Company in 1903, his research on centrifugal air compressors enabled the company to become a world leader in jet engines.

During World War I, he developed an exhaust gas-driven turbo-supercharger and tested it on the ground at McCook Field. Later, he tested at the top of Pike's Peak, proving his invention enabled an engine to produce the same horsepower at 14,000 feet as at sea level. The war ended before the turbo-supercharger was used in flight. Later, McCook's test pilots used turbo-supercharged biplanes to set altitude records.

In 1937 the Army Air Corps equipped a Northrop Gamma with the turbocharger which enabled it to make a cross-country flight, at 37,000 feet.

Moss retired in 1938. But when World War II started, Moss again took up his work and installed a turbo-supercharger in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which enabled it to fly at 311 miles per hour at 25,000 feet. Later, another Flying Fortress set a transcontinental airspeed record of nine hours and 14 minutes. Moss and the Army Air Corps received the Collier Trophy in 1941. Sanford Moss died on November 10, 1946.