Donald A. Hall

Donald Albert Hall (December 7, 1898 – May 2, 1968) was an American pioneering aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer who is most famous for having designed the Spirit of St. Louis.

Hall was also part of the three-person team that discovered that the crack of a bullwhip is a sonic boom.

Early years

Hall was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on December 7, 1898. He attended the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, and graduated from the Pratt Institute with a certificate in Industrial Mechanical Engineering in 1917.

Aviation career

From 1919 to 1921, Donald Hall worked for the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company as a junior draftsman, checker, and then designer. From 1921 to 1922, he was the aerodynamic design and acting chief engineer at Elias & Brothers. He moved to Santa Monica, California in 1924 to work for Douglas Aircraft.

The Spirit of St. Louis Spirit of St. Louis hanging in the National Air and Space Museum Only days later, Ryan Airlines received an inquiry from Robertson Aircraft Corp. of St. Louis asking if they could design and build an aircraft capable of flying nonstop from New York to Paris. Ryan Airlines responded in the affirmative and after all the other potential manufacturers had said no, Charles Lindbergh finally traveled to San Diego on 21 February 1927 to inspect the Ryan Airlines facility. There he met Donald Hall for the first time. After touring the facility with the new owner Benjamin Franklin Mahoney, Lindbergh met and discussed the project with Donald A. Hall in his second story office. Lindbergh wanted to decide if the company could really deliver on the proposed aircraft.

Lindbergh later stated in his Pulitzer Prize winning 1953 book, The Spirit of St. Louis, that he chose Ryan Airlines in part because he believed in Hall's ability. The two men began working closely to design and construct the aircraft in only sixty days, from 28 February 1927 to 28 April 1927 when the first flight tests started.

Death Donald Hall died of a heart attack on 2 May 1968 and was survived by his wife and only son. The New York Times and other major newspapers wrote extended obituaries for him once his death was publicly announced.

Years later, his grandson Nova Hall found a trunk in his garage that belonged to his grandfather Donald Hall, and which contained all the documents that were used to design the Spirit of St. Louis.

Other tenures

1937-1968: Associate Fellow at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)

In popular culture Arthur Space played Hall in the 1957 film The Spirit of St. Louis.

Publications

Technical Preparation of the Spirit of St. Louis - Technical Note #257, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), 1927