Preston Bassett

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Preston R. Bassett, from a photo that depicted the final meeting of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) on August 21, 1958. T. Keith Glennan (to the left of Bassett in the original) was sworn in as the first Administrator of NASA, and was seen here speaking to Preston R. Bassett (center—cropped to show him only), member of the NACA Committee on Aerodynamics, and Charles J. McCarthy (who was on Bassett's right), Chairman of the Board of Chance Vought Aircraft, Inc. Original photo can be seen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa_appel/4525536545/

Preston Rogers Bassett (March 20, 1892 – April 30, 1992) was an inventor, engineer, and pioneer in instruments for aviation.

Biography

Preston Rogers Bassett was born in

Rockville Centre, NY
.

Career at Sperry

Bassett worked for the

movie projectors. He helped Albert A. Michelson use arc light and gyroscope technology to measure the speed of light at Mount Wilson in June, 1924. He also developed the first soundproofing systems for airplanes and worked closely with Sperry founder Elmer Ambrose Sperry on several flight instruments based on gyroscopes, especially the gyrocompass, crucial to flying safely at night and in bad weather. The first blind landing (now called an instrument landing) was made by aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle
in 1929 using Sperry instruments.

Later life and work

Bassett's many interests in addition to aviation included

Mead Art Museum, Old Bethpage Village, Farmers' Museum, Keeler Tavern, and others, always encouraging the museums to put his antiques into historical context. He died on April 30, 1992, at the age of 100.[1]

References

  1. ^ "History of the Bassett Planetarium". Amherst College. Retrieved 2008-05-09.

Further reading

  • Jessup, Peter. Interview with Preston R. Bassett on Motion Pictures and Blind Flying (24 pp, Columbia University: Oral History Project, July 1980)
  • Jaffe, Bernard Michelson and the Speed of Light, Biography of a Scientist (197 pp, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1960)
  • Bassett, Preston R with Margaret F. Bartlett; illustrated by Jim Arnosky. Raindrop stories. (40 pp., New York: Four Winds Press, 1981)
  • Bassett, Preston R; Arthur L. Hodges. The History of Rockville Centre. (244 pp, Uniondale, New York: Salisbury Printers, 1969)
  • Bassett, Preston R. Shadow Bands and Searchlights. Popular Astronomy, Vol. XXXIII, No 4, pp1–5, April, 1925.
  • Bassett, Preston R. Passenger Comfort in Air Transportation. Journal Aeronautical Science, Vol. 2, pp 48–50, March, 1935.
  • Bassett, Preston R. Long Island, Cradle of Aviation. Long Island Forum, Amityville, NY, pp 1–42, November, 1950.
  • Bassett, Preston R. Sperry's Forty Years in the Progress of Science. Sperry Scope Corporate Newsletter, 1950.
  • Bassett, Preston R. The Local Potters of Long Island. The Long Island Courant, Vol. 1, No 1, pp 1–14, March, 1965.
  • Bassett, Preston R. Towns in the Ridges. The Bulletin of the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society of Connecticut, Vol. XVII, No 1, pp 6–10, July, 1965.
  • Bassett, Preston R. The Silver Betty Lamp. The Rushlight, Vol. XXXVI, No 1, pp 9–10, February, 1970.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Preston_Bassett&oldid=1152654524"