[Mokrzycki Picture]

Prof. Dr. Gustaw Andrzej Mokrzycki
1894 - 1992

Specialist in aircraft flight stability and automatic flight controls

by Stanley Stankiewicz

The contribution of Professor Dr. Gustaw Andrzej Mokrzycki (aka Dr. Gustav M. Andrew) to the field of Aviation is phenomenal.

Just one citation, the Sylvanus Albert Reed award. ["Sylvanus Albert Reed" established in 1933 is the highest award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) to honor the most noble achievements in the fieid of aviation.] bestowed on Dr. Mokrzycki suggests his past greatness as an Aeronautical Engineer-Scientist.

FOR THE NUMEROUS AND DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE AERONAUTICAL SCIENCES ESPECIALLY FOR THE METHOD OF AUTOMATIC CONTROLLING AND SUPPRESSION OF THE AEROELASTIC MODES RESULTING IN DIMINISHING OF FATIGUE OF THE STRUCTURE THUS PROLONGING THE LIFE OF LARGE AIRPLANES BY 5 TO 7 YEARS.

Andrzej Mokrzycki was probably the first in the USA to solve the problem of aerodynamic stability by use of the modified Laplace transform equation.

Dr. Mokrzycki specialized in the subjects of aircraft flight stability and automatic flight controls. Stability is defined as the tendency, or lack of it, of an airplane to fly a prescribed flight condition. Control is defined as the ability of a pilot to change the airplane's flight pattern. Mokrzycki was one of the first to recognize the possibility of stabilizing unstable aircraft (or missiles), as well as manipulating their damping (decrease in amplitude of oscillations) by use of an autopilot. He presented the results of his research to the IX International Congress of Applied Mechanics in Brussels in 1956 in a paper titled "Frequency of Autopilot Needed for Stabilization of Statically Unstable Airplanes."

In its application to missiles he advocated against the use of typical stabilizing surfaces, but to use only the autopilot to operate the control jets. This flight stability automatic control method was first used on the supersonic bomber B-70 and also on the B-52. This pioneer design was considered a great leap forward in the field of automatic pilot technology development as his greatest personal achievement.

Prior to coming to the United States in 1944, Dr. Mokrzycki was a full Professor of Mechanics of Flight and Airplanes Design at the Institute of Technology in Warsaw, Poland. Professor Mokrzycki published over 100 technical-scientific papers in Polish, French, German and English (37 in English).

Mokrzycki from an early age demonstrated an easy grasp of mathematics and also displayed interest in philosopic studies. In 1911 he entered the Lwow Polytechnic where he became interested in the subject of the creation of the universe and its existence. The war in 1914 interrupted his studies when he was conscripted into the Austrian Army. In 1915 he was transferred into aviation. From 1916 he took part in the Polish aviation consipiracy by joining the secret association of Polish aviators in then occupied Poland. In 1920 Mokrzycki attended the Ecole Superieure d'Aeronautique in Paris. In 1927 Mokrzycki was confronted with the dilemma of choosing a directorship of the National Aircraft Manufacturing Company, or to become a professor at the Warsaw Polytechnic. Mokrzycki chose the latter. He once said to a friend: "At the Polytechnic l put my 'whole soul' into the minds of my students, l treated them like my younger friends-colleagues, which was a rarity among the established faculty at that time. l had the privilege to have such students like Rogalski, Wigura, Drzewiecki and Wedrychowski." (Rogalski, Wigura, Drzewiecki and Wedrychowski formed an aeroplane factory known as RWD. It was known for its excellence in construction, good performance and its solid design).

World War II interrupted his creative activities and his work, and also forced him to depart to France, then to Great Britain, finally to Canada, and the United States where he was able to demonstrate his talents and his knowledge to the American aviation industry. He worked at Convair, San Diego; Ryan Aeronautical Co., San Diego, Boeing Co., Seattle; USAF Flight Test Center, Edwards, California. He was a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in New York and numerous Polish technical and scientific associations.

After the war Dr. Mokrzycki also was an active member ot the Polish Air Force Association (PAFA) and Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantow (SPK).

In 1978 on the occasion of his 60 years of work in the fieid of science and technology, The Polish Government in Exile decorated Dr. Mokrzycki with the Cross "POLONIA RESTITUTA". The decoration was designated by the President of The Republic of Poland in Exile, and the presentation of the Order was by the Chief of the Polish Air Forces abroad, General Stanislaw Karpinski.

Dr. Mokrzycki died at age 98 on 22 January 1992 in Fullerton, California.

From: Polish Americans in California, vol. II. National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs & Polish American Historical Association. California 1995.