The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1980-11-01 / 11. szám

Page 4

THE EIGHTH TRIBE

November, 1980

DR. VICTOR MOLNÁR:

HUNGARIAN VARIETIES

Presenting: DR. THEODORE KÁLMÁN

All Hungarians, and especially the Americans of Magyar descent can be justifiably proud to know that the very first “National Medal of Science" was awarded to a Budapest-horn expert in aerodynamics and astronautics. The National Medal of Science was authorized by Congress in 1962 and on Dec. 31, 1962 President John Kennedy announced that he had selected Dr. Theodore Kármán as the first recipient of this medal. Dr. Kármán, whose name had been linked in aerodynamic circles to innumerable new discoveries and was at the time, recognized as one of the world’s outstanding scholars, received this national medal at a special White House luncheon during the latter part of February 1963.

Even tho Dr. Kármán was horn in Budapest ( May 11, 1881) he always pointed out the fact that he was proud to be Hungarian. Even at the reception of the medal, Dr. Kármán said: “1 am a Hungarian import, coming to the United States in 1930 at the invitation of the California Institute of Technology. First of all, I hope you'll overlook the fact that I speak with such a strong Hungarian accent. Though I speak several languages, my friends say they all sound Hungarian. But accent or not, I'm certain all of you know mv grateful appreciation which I have this day.”

Here we had one of the most respected scientists in the world, yet in front of the American president, the American press, other scholars, military and civilian pcrsoncl, Dr. Kármán was proud to say he is Hungarian.

President Kennedy noted: "All those American scholars who will he recipients of the ensuing medals can accept them with such knowledge that their predecessor was the world-famous Dr. Kármán. His name truly embellishes the recently established National Medal of Science, and those who will receive them in the future can truly he proud that they have attained such a high scholarly circle. 1 present this gold medal to you, the Father of modern aerodynamics and an outstandingly eminent pioneer in a new and evergrowing age. The award was made “for leadership in the science and engineering basic to aerodynamics, for distinguished counsel to the armed forces, and for promoting international cooperation in science and engineering.”

Among the many Air Force Generals attending tlie reception were Curtis Lc May and Bernard Sliriever who were among the first to admit that without

D. Kármán they never would have had supersonic flights. At this gathering Dr. Kármán told of how he became involved in aviation. In 1907 he was at Sorbonne (University of Paris) as a mechanical engineer doing some research for a doctorate degree. One night when he and some friends were in a French café, a Hungarian reporter from Budapest, Margaret Vészi, with whom he was acquainted, came in and told him that the following morning she had to get a story about some Frenchmen doing some experimental flying.... “Kármán! you must come with me”. ...“But five o'clock in the morning? There’s nothing that can interest me at five in the morning!”

“But sometimes, one can not say no to a woman, and Margaret Vészi was one of these. Though we Hungarians were at the Issy-les-Moulineaux Airport at five o’clock, the experimental flying didn’t get underway till nine o’clock. All of us were quite tired and disgusted hut the incident did make an impression on me and since then I’ve always been interested in aviation.”

Dr. Kármán went hack to Budapest and studied extensively on aerodynamics and flight in general. By 1913 he was appointed as a professor of Aerodynamics at the University of Aachen, Germany. It was here that lie became acquainted with the German flight pioneer Hugo Junkers. The outbreak of World War I forced him to return to his homeland, where his research grew and became world-known.

The Guggenheim Flight Research Laboratories of Caltech brought him to Pasadena, where world attention became focused upon his work. He was director of this institution for 19 years. In 1942 he founded the Aerojet Engineering Company (known today as Aerojet-General Co.) and remained its counselor till his death on May 7, 1963. His research in 1943 led to the creation of the Bell X-l airplane, which was the first to break the sound barrier. From 1944-1955 Dr. Kármán worked for the U.S. Air Force in perfecting their planes.

Since 1951 lie was chairman of the NATO advisory group for Aeronautical Research and Development. He was one of the few American scientists who could walk into the Pentagon or any Air Force Research Center and within hours have a new research project on the way by saying “I think we should have a look at this problem from such and such a point.” This was possible because many of these places were and arc managed by his former students. He had raised a whole generation of aerodynamic professors and scientists, and his name is revered in both civilian and military circles.