-please reply as soon as possible, if attending.


AIAA Distinguished Lecture Program:

The Race for the First Flight: Langley and the Wright Brothers
Dr. John Anderson

NEW ENGLAND SECTION ANNUAL MEETING
Wednesday, June 12, 2002


Almost everyone knows something about the Wright Brothers and their successful
flight
on December 17, 1903. However, it is less known that they were in a race with
Samuel P. Langley, Third Secretary of the Smithsonian, to achieve the first
successful
piloted, powered, heavier-than-air flight. Prof. Anderson's talk tells the story
of this
race, detailing side-by-side, the work and progress of both Langley and the
Wrights.
In the process, the presentation gives the history of the invention of the
airplane,
going back to the 15th Century, and leading up to Wright's spectacular success
on the
sand dunes of Kill Devil Hills on that fateful December day.

John Anderson graduated from the University of Florida in 1959 with high honors
and a
Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering degree. After an Air Force stint at the
Aerospace
Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, he attended Ohio State University
and
earned a Ph.D., in 1966. He then joined the U.S. Naval Ordinance Laboratory and
in
1973 became chair of the Aero Dept. at the University of Maryland. In 1982 the
university designated him a distinguished scholar/teacher. On sabbatical in
1986-87,
Dr. Anderson occupied the Charles Lindbergh Chair at the National Air and Space
Museum
(NASM). In 1996, he was named an affiliate member of the History Department of
the
University of Maryland and appointed Professor Emeritus. He is currently the
curator
for Aerodynamics at the NASM.

Dr. Anderson has published eight books and more than 120 papers. He is a Fellow
of the
AIAA and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has taught at major aerospace
companies,
the Air Force Academy, and the von Karman Institute in Belgium. In 1987,
McGraw-Hill
chose Dr. Anderson to be the senior consulting editor on the McGraw-Hill Series
in
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.


PLACE:
Best Western TLC Hotel, 477 Totten Pond Road. Waltham, MA 02451
TIME:
6:00 PM Social hour
7:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Program
COST:
$25.00 Members/$28.00 Non-members/$10.00 Students
FREE if you are not an AIAA member and sign up for membership this evening

RSVP: Please make reservations by as soon as possible,
preferably by Thursday, June 6, 2002. Contact
Peter W. Young, pwyoung@... phone: (617) 253-5340, fax (617)
253-4002
If leaving a message, please include your dinner preference: choice of
vegetarian, salmon fillet, or chicken cordon bleu
also leave a contact phone number or e-mail address.

Directions:
The Best Western TLC Hotel is located near 128/I95 in Waltham. From North or
South,
take 128/I95 to exit 27A (Totten Pond/Winter St. Exit). Bear right from either
exit
onto Totten Pond Road. The hotel is east of the highway, on the left after you
pass
Wyman Street.