Flying Platforms and the Many Novel Aircraft Configurations Investigated by Charles Zimmerman

This paper will provide a brief biography and review of the career of Charles Zimmerman, one of the early aerospace pioneers to work at the Langley Aeronautical Research Labs for the NACA. Zimmerman's many ideas for unconventional aircraft will be surveyed, with emphasis on VTOL aircraft and aircraft which utilized technical concepts familiar to rotary wing flight. Zimmerman's indirect contributions to aeronautics in the form of the wind tunnel infrastructure which was built to aid his research will also be described. Particular attention is given to Zimmerman's work on flying platforms, beginning with the military applications envisioned as the practical rationale for their development, and concluding with the history of their construction and flight testing and an engineering analysis of the unique aeromechanical aspects of the configuration. The latter years of his career will also receive mention, notably his advisory role in the creation of the United States' strategy for space exploration.