- Leonard Greene
Dr. Leonard Michael Greene (b. circa 1918 - d.
November 30 2006 ) was aninventor andengineer who holds more than 100 patents, 60 of which are inaviation technology.He was born in
New York City , and after receiving his B.S. and M.S. incivil engineering atCity University of New York went to work for Grumman Aircraft as anaerodynamics specialist and engineeringtest pilot .While working at Grumman he witnessed a plane crash caused by a stalled engine. Around that time, about half off all aircraft accidents were caused due to stalled engines. Greene determined that one of the primary causes of a stalled engine was that a pilot could not easily determine when he was reaching a critical point of an excessive angle of airflow over a wing. As a result he invented the Stall Warning Indicator. This invention received the first Air Safety Award from the Flight Safety Foundation, and a 1947
Saturday Evening Post article opined "It may be the greatest life saver since invention of the parachute". The device is integrated into every current aircraft and is manufactured by theSafe Flight Instrument Corporation , established by Greene in 1946 and located inWhite Plains, New York .Greene also held patents in fields such as
yachting and technology for the hearing impaired. He was also a noted social activist and co-founded theCorporate Angel Network , a charity that provides otherwise empty seats on corporate jet flights to cancer patients.In 1977 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from
Pace University .He died from
lung cancer , aged 88.External links
[http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/greene.html Inventor of the Week profile at mit.edu] [http://www.safeflight.com/ Safe Flight Instrument Corporation home page]
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