Irven Harold Culver (May 11, 1911 – August 13, 1999) was an American aeronautical engineer.[2][3]
Most notable of all his accomplishments, Culver is credited for solving a fatal flaw in the Lockheed P-38, related to high-speed compressibility problems which killed a test pilot.[4]
A humorous episode during World War II resulted in giving the very secret Lockheed Advanced Development Projects division the name "Skunk Works". A phone call from the U.S. Department of the Navy to W. A. "Dick" Pulver was misdirected to Irv Culver who answered the phone with "Skonk Works, inside man Culver" and the name stuck.[5] Another variant of the story relates that the original Skunk Works was located in a circus tent adjacent to the Lockheed plastics fabrication facility which smelled bad and reminded the engineers of the L'il Abner comic strip. Reportedly, Culver showed up for work wearing a civil defense gas mask as a gag and when he answered the phone he said "Skonk Works" referring to the cartoon. "Kelly overheard him and chewed out Irv for ridicule: "Culver, you're fired," Johnson roared. "Get your ass out of my tent." Culver showed up for work the next day and Johnson never said a word.[6] Kelly Johnson referred to Culver as "a brilliant designer" in his autobiography [7]
Culver was interested in a variety of aircraft configurations and developed guidelines for laying out the twist distribution on tailless aircraft.[8] He also helped to design an experimental helicopter, distinguished by a forward-sweeping blade, that was extremely easy to fly. In 1966, Culver, Thomas Hanson and Lance Hook were awarded a patent (US3261407) for a rigid rotor system which set world speed records for Lockheed helicopters and laid the foundation for aerobatic rotorcraft.[9] It earned Culver the Dr. Alexander Klemin Award from the American Helicopter Society.
In recent years, Culver was noted by Dan Armstrong, President of Experimental Soaring Association, for his work with Jim Maupin designing gliders intended to be built by craftsmen from plans. Culver is a well-known aerodynamicist.[10] He published a 13-page paper on the design analysis for the Windrose 15-meter glider that he designed with Maupin.[11]
^"The Birth of Irven Culver". California Birth Index. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
^"Irven Culver Obituary mentions Hanson". September 20, 1999. p. 12 – via newspapers.com.
^"Skunk Works' Irven Culver Dies". Los Angeles Times. September 17, 1999.
^Hall, Stan. "Final Glide". SSA.
^Capp, Al. "F-117A: The Skunkworks". F-117A The Black Jet. n/a. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
^Rich, Ben (February 1996). Skunk Works. pp. 111–112. ISBN 0316743003.
^Johnson, Kelly (December 17, 1989). Kelly More Than My Share of it All. p. 98. ISBN 0874744911.
^"Culver Twist Distribution".
^"Skunk Works' Irven Culver Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
^O'Neill, Kevin. "Designs that fly" (PDF). Paper: Presented to SIG-Learning Sciences. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
^Culver, Irv. "Transcription of Irv Culver's Analysis for Windrose 15m". Self. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021.
W. A. "Dick" Pulver was misdirected to IrvCulver who answered the phone with "Skonk Works, inside man Culver" and the name stuck. Another variant of...
was so vile that IrvCulver, one of the engineers, began answering the intra-Lockheed "house" phone "Skonk Works, inside man Culver speaking!" In Al Capp's...
The Culver Rigid Midget is an American mid-wing, single seat glider that was designed by IrvCulver in 1941. The prototype was constructed by Ray Parker...
in 1938. The Screaming Wiener was designed and built by Walter Burke, IrvCulver and Wallace Neugent in 1938 as an improved version of the Dingbat. The...
Martin Headquarters Calabasas, California , United States Key people IrvCulver Courtlandt S. Gross Robert E. Gross Willis Hawkins Hall Hibbard Kelly...
Journal of Greater Los Angeles commented: "In the solar system of Jewish life, Irv Rubin is Pluto", and asserted "Here in Los Angeles, for years now Rubin has...
to a hingeless rotor system with blades flexibly attached to the hub. IrvCulver of Lockheed developed one of the first rigid rotors, which was tested...
on each side of the fuselage. The wing employs a Culver SD airfoil that was designed by IrvCulver for the project and full-span flaperons of 30% chord...
5 ft (12.6 m) span or, optionally, a 49.2 ft (15.0 m) span, and uses an IrvCulver custom airfoil. The ailerons are controlled from their inboard ends and...
the group's leader Irv Rubin, to blow up the office of Arab-American congressman Darrell Issa and the King Fahd mosque in Culver City, California. He...
the late 1970s by Maupin, with assistance from IrvCulver, who designed the airfoil for the wing. Culver's airfoil is of 18% thickness at the root, thinning...
Retrieved July 24, 2022. Woo, Elaine (September 17, 1999). "Skunk Works' Irven Culver Dies". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved...
UMTerps News. July 28, 1999. Zurkowsky, Herb (July 17, 2015). "Cornerback Irv Smith makes transition to firehall quarterback". Montreal Gazette. Irvin...
mosque in Culver City, California, along with the office of California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa. In November 2001 the JDL's leader Irv Rubin and...
(age 94) Los Angeles, California, US Resting place Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California Occupation(s) Screenwriter, producer, director Years active...
and political extremism," attitudes that were replicated by his successor Irv Rubin. In 1968, while Kahane served as the associate editor for The Jewish...
NY, Kerstin Emhoff...Roster HSI: Arni & Kinski, Lenny Bass, Peter Berg, Irv Blitz, Benny Boom, Kevin Bray, Scott Burns, Gerard de Thame, F. Gary Gray...
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (currently known as the Sony Pictures Studios) lot in Culver City, California since 1990. Columbia Pictures is a member of the Motion...
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band...
exploited black artists. Jackson charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Responding to those attacks, Sony issued a statement...
Angeles. Candy was entombed in the mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. His crypt lies just above that of a fellow actor, Fred MacMurray....
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