Lewis A. Rodert

Lewis August Rodert (1906–1973) of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was awarded the 1946 Collier Trophy for the design, development, and practical application of a thermal aircraft anti-icing system. NACA icing research leader from 1936 to 1945. Lew built his own de-icing systems on a Lockheed 12A and a Curtiss C-46 creating a flying de-ice laboratory.

Biography

Born February 26, 1906, to Emil Carl Rodert and Etta Rachel Lewis in Kansas City, Missouri, Rodert attended the Kansas City Junior College, then graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1930. His grandfather August Rodert invented a wind wagon for traveling on the plains. and they had four children together: Linda; Charles; Merideth; Robert. In 1956 Rodert joined Lockheed in Burbank, California, as a special assistant on research management. Then battling mental illness, he faded from the aviation industry. Pressurized cabins allowed aircraft to fly above icing levels, and improved ground de-icing fluids helped diminish the ice hazards. Satisfied with his de-icing work, Rodert turn to his new crusade: reducing the hazard of aircraft post-crash fires.