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CHAPTER 1 Wings of Eagles, 1915–1940<br />
7<br />
FIGUR E 1-7.<br />
The words identifying<br />
the FC-2W2 as a NACA<br />
aircraft are legible in this<br />
photograph taken during<br />
an entry in the Langley<br />
Propeller Research Tunnel<br />
in 1929. (NASA L-03778)<br />
the emblem was applied to the DH-9 by NACA personnel<br />
after it arrived at Langley. The general arrangement<br />
of the emblem appears similar in some respects<br />
to what would become the NACA wings insignia a<br />
decade later.<br />
The results of attempts to decipher the words of<br />
the emblem carried by the NACA DH-9 were very<br />
disappointing. The low-resolution photographs defied<br />
attempts at enhancement using current computer software<br />
and image enhancement methods. In addition,<br />
exhaustive searches within the archival NACA collections<br />
of NASA and NARA did not provide additional<br />
clarification beyond the operational usage of the airplane.<br />
Finally, since the aircraft was used solely for<br />
transporting passengers, no research reports on its use<br />
were written. Fortunately, further research on another<br />
NACA transport aircraft of the period provided a<br />
breakthrough in the mystery.<br />
After three years of flying the DH-9 for transportation<br />
of personnel, the NACA replaced it by purchasing<br />
its first airplane, a more comfortable 4–6 place<br />
Fairchild FC-2W2 transport, in 1928. The transport<br />
initially appeared with what looks to be the same logo<br />
as that carried earlier by the DH-9—but once again
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