Glidden Doman

Glidden Doman (January 28, 1921 – June 6, 2016) was an American aeronautical engineer and pioneer in helicopters and modern wind turbines. He founded one of America's original six helicopter companies (Doman Helicopters, Inc.) after making major contributions to the use of Sikorsky helicopters during World War II. Doman Helicopters' most prominent achievement was the Doman LZ-5/YH-31 eight-place helicopter, which received FAA certification on December 30, 1955. The unique feature of this helicopter was its hinge-less but gimbaled, tilting rotor hub that greatly reduced stress and vibration in the blades and the whole helicopter.

Doman was one of the first to transfer knowledge of helicopter rotor dynamics technology to wind turbines. The 1973 arab oil embargo prompted NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio to lead a 7-year US wind energy program for the development of utility-scale horizontal axis wind turbines. This program featured the creation of Boeing's MOD-2 with the Doman conceived flexible rotor design, two-bladed wind turbine with a teeter hinge. Following the NASA project, while working for Boeing, Hamilton Standard division of United Technologies, and Aeritalia (later known as Alenia) in Italy, Doman developed large two-bladed, teeter-hinged wind turbines, including the WTS-3, WTS-4, and the Gamma 60. After testing the Gamma 60 wind turbine in Sardinia from 1992 - 1997, Doman and Italian nuclear mechanical engineer Silvestro Caruso founded Gamma Ventures, Inc. to further develop and market this technology.

Two of Doman's helicopters, the converted Sikorsky R-6 (Doman LZ-1A) and a Doman LZ-5/YH-31, are on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Early life

Glidden Sweet Doman, the son of Albert E. Doman and Ruth Sweet Doman, was born in Syracuse, New York, on January 28, 1921. Living in the small upstate New York village of Elbridge, Doman came from a family of inventors and entrepreneurs. Doman and his engineering team modified the R-6 by creating an entirely new rotor system which featured a unique gimbaled rotor hub that was subsequently used in all Doman helicopters.

In January 1978, Doman returned to Connecticut as Chief Systems Engineer of the wind energy program at Hamilton Standard division of United Technologies. Drawing on Doman's extensive knowledge of rotor dynamics for both helicopters and wind turbines, United Technologies designed and built two of the largest wind turbines ever built up to that time (i.e. WTS-3, WTS-4). Three Gamma 60 wind turbines were manufactured, and one was erected and successfully tested from 1992 - 1997 on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. After some revisions in corporate structures and plans, the Gamma rights were eventually transferred to a new company, Seawind Ocean Technology B.V., which is working on placing turbines with Gamma-type rotors on concrete offshore support structures, aiming to do so in numerous locations around the world.

The persistent innovator

Doman remained active right up to the end of his life in 2016; thoroughly engaged in business, technical strategies, and analysis toward superior wind turbine performance at less cost in the application of his novel rotor technologies.

Of the original 6 helicopter companies in the United States, Doman was the last company founder to pass away. Doman worked through to his final days to ensure that one day wind-generated electricity will be produced in great quantities, much less expensively than now, using his advanced rotor technology concepts.

Photo gallery

Patents awarded by the United States Patent Office

– Dynamic balancer for rotor blades (filed on May 24, 1945, granted on October 19, 1948) – Directional and trim control for rotary wing aircraft (filed on August 9, 1946, granted on April 24, 1951) – Rotor head (filed on June 27, 1946, granted on August 11, 1953) – Gyroscopic control of sustaining rotors (filed on July 18, 1946, granted on August 31, 1954) – Method of determining and adjusting the aerodynamic pitching moment of a full-sized aerodynamic member and apparatus therefor (filed on November 25, 1952, granted on September 6, 1955) – Rotor head and swash plate means combination (filed on November 18, 1950, granted on October 22, 1957 – Aircraft frame with large side openings (filed on April 2, 1952, granted on March 18, 1958) – Mechanical directional and trim control for helicopters (filed on August 16, 1951, granted on November 8, 1960) – Swash plate operating mechanism and combination with swash plate (filed on Mar 11, 1958, granted on April 4, 1961) – Helicopter rotor head (filed on July 29, 1958, granted on November 7, 1961) – Rotor and blade for rotorcraft (filed on December 27, 1956, granted on November 7, 1961) – Rotor head with collective pitch control (filed on July 2, 1958, granted on March 26, 1963) – Rotor with two joints in drive shaft (filed on January 30, 1961, granted on April 30, 1963) – Oscillation damper for the hub of a rotorcraft rotor and its combination with a rotorcraft (filed on October 16, 1975, granted on January 25, 1977) – Damping mechanism for the rotor hub of a helicopter for ground resonance and waddle and its combination with the rotor (filed on June 14, 1976, granted on February 14, 1978) – Wind turbine with drive train disturbance isolation (filed on April 22, 1980, granted on May 11, 1982) – Wind turbine with yaw trimming (filed on May 19, 1980, granted on October 12, 1982) – Minimization of the effects of yaw oscillations in wind turbines (filed on November 8, 1982, granted on May 7, 1985) – Variable speed wind turbine (filed on November 18, 1985, granted on September 22, 1987)