Donald Beatty: Difference between revisions
(New page: '''Donald Croom Beatty''' (born April 11, 1900 in Birmingham; died July 12, 1980 in Birmingham) was an aviator, explorer, and inventor. Beatty was the son of [[Isaac B...) |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
Beatty joined the [[Alabama National Guard]] as a flying officer in [[1922]] and was later employed by Pan-American Grace Airways (Panagra) to develop commercial air routes in South America. For his expeditions into unexplored areas of Ecuador and Peru in [[1931]]–[[1932|32]], he was accompanied by his wife [[Mary Alice Beatty|Mary Alice]] and Matthew Stirling, Chief of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. They used the opportunity to collect artifacts and to document native tribes for the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. For his service to the institution, Beatty was awarded a medal. He was also extended membership into the Explorer's Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. | Beatty joined the [[Alabama National Guard]] as a flying officer in [[1922]] and was later employed by Pan-American Grace Airways (Panagra) to develop commercial air routes in South America. For his expeditions into unexplored areas of Ecuador and Peru in [[1931]]–[[1932|32]], he was accompanied by his wife [[Mary Alice Beatty|Mary Alice]] and Matthew Stirling, Chief of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. They used the opportunity to collect artifacts and to document native tribes for the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. For his service to the institution, Beatty was awarded a medal. He was also extended membership into the Explorer's Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. | ||
During this engagement, Beatty constructed the first-ever system for air-to-ground voice communications. His suggestion for flight crews to report grid coordinates at 5-minute intervals was widely adopted as a means of locating downed planes. He also pioneered the concept of varying routine routes by season. During [[World War II]], Beatty organized and directed the " | During this engagement, Beatty constructed the first-ever system for air-to-ground voice communications. His suggestion for flight crews to report grid coordinates at 5-minute intervals was widely adopted as a means of locating downed planes. He also pioneered the concept of varying routine routes by season. During [[World War II]], Beatty organized and directed the "Consairways" ferrying system to bring pilots home after they delivered aircraft into combat zones. The system was expanded into an aerial supply chain which carried materiel to isolated locations in the Pacific theater, most notably along a route over the Himalayas into China. Beatty continued to refine his recommendations for route selection, adding the use of barometric readings taken in flight. At the end of the war, Beatty was involved with the U. S. Army in the development of their first successful helicopter. | ||
Beatty was awarded numerous patents for communication equipment, including the first patent for a circuit to allow telephone callers to leave messages when calls were unanswered. Beatty's other innovations included the automated dialer, a hands-free telephone, and the Gain-Adjusting Audio Level Terminator (GAALT) which is used to improve the signal to noise ratio in communications and found wide use in satellite communications where other types of equipment were impractical. | Beatty was awarded numerous patents for communication equipment, including the first patent for a circuit to allow telephone callers to leave messages when calls were unanswered. Beatty's other innovations included the automated dialer, a hands-free telephone, and the Gain-Adjusting Audio Level Terminator (GAALT) which is used to improve the signal to noise ratio in communications and found wide use in satellite communications where other types of equipment were impractical. | ||
Revision as of 00:29, 18 March 2010
Donald Croom Beatty (born April 11, 1900 in Birmingham; died July 12, 1980 in Birmingham) was an aviator, explorer, and inventor.
Beatty was the son of Isaac Beatty, Jr and Hughie Duffee Beatty. He began his flying career at age 16 by soloing a small plane he constructed himself at his grandfather's farm in Tarrant.
Beatty joined the Alabama National Guard as a flying officer in 1922 and was later employed by Pan-American Grace Airways (Panagra) to develop commercial air routes in South America. For his expeditions into unexplored areas of Ecuador and Peru in 1931–32, he was accompanied by his wife Mary Alice and Matthew Stirling, Chief of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. They used the opportunity to collect artifacts and to document native tribes for the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. For his service to the institution, Beatty was awarded a medal. He was also extended membership into the Explorer's Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London.
During this engagement, Beatty constructed the first-ever system for air-to-ground voice communications. His suggestion for flight crews to report grid coordinates at 5-minute intervals was widely adopted as a means of locating downed planes. He also pioneered the concept of varying routine routes by season. During World War II, Beatty organized and directed the "Consairways" ferrying system to bring pilots home after they delivered aircraft into combat zones. The system was expanded into an aerial supply chain which carried materiel to isolated locations in the Pacific theater, most notably along a route over the Himalayas into China. Beatty continued to refine his recommendations for route selection, adding the use of barometric readings taken in flight. At the end of the war, Beatty was involved with the U. S. Army in the development of their first successful helicopter.
Beatty was awarded numerous patents for communication equipment, including the first patent for a circuit to allow telephone callers to leave messages when calls were unanswered. Beatty's other innovations included the automated dialer, a hands-free telephone, and the Gain-Adjusting Audio Level Terminator (GAALT) which is used to improve the signal to noise ratio in communications and found wide use in satellite communications where other types of equipment were impractical.
Beatty died in Birmingham in 1980. He was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Alabama Men's Hall of Fame in 1992. His daughter, Mary Alice Carmichael, wrote a biography of him in 1998.
Patents
- Beatty, Donald C. (July 23, 1948) "Apparatus for delivering and receiving telephone messages." Patent No. 2,525,763 granted October 17, 1950
- Beatty, Donald C. (March 4, 1949) "Apparatus for delivering and receiving telephone messages." Patent No. 2,539,565 granted January 30, 1951
- Beatty, Donald C. (February 9, 1954) "Sound amplifying apparatus for telephone circuits." Patent No. 2,786,099 granted March 19, 1957
- Beatty, Donald C. (January 27, 1956) "Sound amplifying apparatus for telephone and like circuits." Patent No. 2,826,636 granted March 11, 1958
- Beatty, Donald C. (June 10, 1958) "Automatic, circuit-condition-change-responsive, on-off control for loudspeaking telephone and the like." Patent No. 3,041,411 granted June 26, 1962
- Beatty, Donald C. (August 2, 1961) "Gain-adjusting audio level terminator." Patent No. 3,182,137 granted May 4, 1965
- Beatty, Donald C. (November 6, 1963) "Self-regulating compression amplifier." Patent No. 3,275,946 granted September 27, 1966
References
- Carmichael, Mary Alice Beatty (1998) Donald Croom Beatty: Alabama's Aviator, Explorer, and Inventor' self-published