It is easy to underestimate the impact of the Kelly Act in all of this history.
*The Kelly Act of 1925 (Contract Airmail Act) <http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/sprg_98/bolduc/act1925.htm>* The Kelly Act of 1925 was provoked by the vision of *Juan Trippe* <http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/sprg_98/bolduc/trippe.htm>*.* He used his Yale influence to persuade a fellow Yale friend, Congressman Clyde Kelly (chairman of the House Post Office Committee), to introduce an act that would open the flying of airmail to private contractors. The Kelly Act put commercial aviation firmly in private hands, averting any prospect that this industry would grow as an arm of the state. This act authorized the U.S. Post Office Department to sign contracts with private companies for carrying the mail at rates ranging up to $3 per pound, rates that amount to government subsidies for airlines. It is this act that ultimately enables the airline industry to evolve. Likewise the impact of the Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 about which I testified before Congress in 1991 <http://web.archive.org/web/20081212071704/http://www.geocities.com/jim_bowery/testimny.htm>. It is likely that Lori Garver (then head of the National Space Society and generally favoring NASA launch technology development) would not have changed her orientation to favor commercial launch technology development, thereby enabling SpaceX <http://spacenews.com/36673exit-interview-a-brief-conversation-with-outgoing-nasa-deputy-administrator/>, were it not for the battle we fought to get the LSPA passed. On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 9:39 AM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Alain Sepeda <alain.sep...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> at time of Wright brothers, US tried to catch the bandwagon by creating >> "NACA", but probably state agency are no more adapted to modern innovation. >> we see with DoE. >> > > The NACA was formed in 1915. By that time European aviation was getting > massive amounts of war funding. The U.S. did not catch up until after the > war. After 1918, the NACA did an excellent job, and by the mid-1930s the > U.S. dominated the industry, especially civilian aviation. > > Orville Wright was a permanent member of the NACA Board. He was very shy > and seldom commented. Historians say that Wilbur made more intellectual > contributions to the invention, and he was a superb writer. Orville made > many practical contributions. He also came up with the movable vertical > tail, which was the last step in 3-axis control. They were both superb at > engineering physics. > > - Jed > >
