Airborne Trailblazer

Acknowledgements

In researching and writing this history, I had the advantage of being able to talk directly to many of the people who organized and managed the original Terminal Configured Vehicle/ Advanced Transport Operating Systems program and the researchers and engineers who conducted its many research projects. Many active and retired NASA engineers donated generous amounts of their time to educate me about their work and the airplane's history and sent me copies of their personal notes and other printed material that was invaluable in piecing together this story. In addition, I am indebted to the numerous active and retired managers, engineers, and representatives trom the Federal Aviation Administration, the Lockheed Corporation, the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Honeywell, Inc., the Collins Commercial Avionics division of Rockwell International, and ARNAV Systems, Inc., who took the time to talk with me about research projects conducted with NASA's 737 and commercial applications the research intluenced. The managers, public relations staft, and historians at Boeing also donated critical notes and photographs pertaining to the airplane's pre-NASA history and the early years of the TCV program. Without the information and assistance provided by all these people, this book could not have been written. As the project progressed, the Langley Research Center statf also cheerfully answered the dozens of follow-up questions I had and willingly reviewed drafts to ensure the technical accuracy of the information being presented. In fact, throughout the course of this project, I received an immense amount of cooperation, assistance, and information, all of which was greatly appreciated. Once the manuscript was completed, there were also many people, too numerous to mention by name, who helped with the editing, design and layout of the book, and shepherded the project through its publication. Their efforts are evident on every page, and I am gratetul to all of them. I owe a special note of thanks, however, to Sandra Mims of the Advanced Transport Operating Systems otfice, who spent an enormous amount of time tracking down information, people, and obscure but critical documents, and even shared her office, her desk, and some delys even her lunch with me to get this project tinished.