Charles H. Zimmerman

Charles Horton Zimmerman (1908 – May 5, 1996), was an aeronautical engineer, whose work on novel airfoil configurations led to several notable experimental aircraft programs.

Early work The 5 Foot Vertical Wind Tunnel was built to study spinning characteristics of aircraft. It was an open throat tunnel capable of a maximum speed of 80 mph. NACA engineer Charles H. Zimmerman designed the tunnel starting in 1928. Zimmerman worked at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in the 1930s on a variety of research topics, including loads, airfoils, and aircraft stability and design. During this time, he was also thinking about much more novel aspects of flight, especially how stability might be maintained. He theorized that the natural balancing reflexes of a person could be adequate to control very small flight vehicles, a concept he called "kinesthetic control". He was also interested in aspects that could lead to Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft.

Novel Flight Vehicles Zimmerman's research Dr. Alexander Klemin Award in 1956 from the American Helicopter Society