Name Wallace Turnbull Role Inventor | ||
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Died November 24, 1954, Saint John, Canada | ||
History Project-Wallace Rupert Turnbull
Wallace Rupert Turnbull (October 16, 1870 - November 24, 1954) was a New Brunswick engineer and inventor, born on October 16, 1870 in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Saint John Airport was briefly named after him. He died November 24, 1954. He was inducted in the Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1977.
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His life
Wallace Turnbull graduated in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1893 and undertook postgraduate work in physics at the Universities of Berlin and Heidelberg, Germany. In 1902 he built the first wind tunnel in Canada. During the next decade he continued researching the stability of aircraft and investigated many forms of airfoils. During World War I Turnbull was employed by Frederick and Company aircraft builders in England, where he designed a number of propellers, the most successful being the variable-pitch propeller. His interests extended into many fields, such as hydroplane torpedo screen bomb sights, and tidal power, but his systematic approach to aeronautical engineering remains his greatest contribution.