William F. Milliken Jr. facts for kids

William F. Milliken, Jr. (born April 18, 1911 – died July 28, 2012) was a very talented person. He was an engineer who worked with airplanes and cars, and he was also a racecar driver! He was born in Old Town, Maine.

Milliken's Life and Work

After finishing his studies at MIT in 1934, Milliken spent 20 years working with airplanes. He focused on how planes stay steady and easy to control. He helped test planes in wind tunnels and during flight tests.

Working with Airplanes

During World War II, he was a leader in flight testing at Boeing Aircraft. He was even on the first flights of important planes like the XB-29 and several B-17 models. These were big steps in airplane design.

Later, at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (CAL), he led flight research. He started new ways to measure how airplanes move in the air. He also helped invent special "variable stability aircraft" around 1948. These planes could change how they flew, which helped engineers learn how to make planes more stable and easier to fly using modern control systems.

Racing Cars

Milliken loved racing! He took part in over 100 road races after the war. He helped start the famous Watkins Glen Road Races and was in charge of the rules. He even raced in the very first Watkins Glen event in 1948, though his car rolled over! There's a turn on the old Watkins Glen track called "Milliken's Corner" because of him.

He drove many cool race cars, like Bugattis and a special Miller car. He raced at places like Watkins Glen, Pikes Peak, and Sebring. He raced for 15 years across North America. Later, he even became the main official for the Formula One US Grand Prix.

Cars and Engineering

Because of his racing, Milliken became very interested in how cars stay stable and handle well. He thought that ideas from airplane engineering could help cars. With help from General Motors, his team at CAL studied how cars move. They figured out the math behind car movements and even built the first "variable stability" cars. These cars could be controlled by computers to change how they felt to drive.

His team also created the first machine to test car tires in six different ways. This led to TIRF in 1970, a very advanced machine that tests tires at high speeds. Today, TIRF is still one of the best tire testing machines in the world.

Before he passed away, Milliken started racing again! He drove his old race cars at events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the 50th anniversary of Watkins Glen. He drove his special FWD Miller Indy car and his own MX-1 "Camber Car" at these fun events.

Books by Milliken

William F. Milliken wrote or helped write these books:

• Equations of Motion - Adventure, Risk and Innovation. An Engineering Autobiography by William F. Milliken, 2009, ISBN: 0-8376-1348-5, ISBN: 978-0-8376-1348-2, publisher's page
• Race Car Vehicle Dynamics Problems, Answers and Experiments by Douglas L. Milliken, Edward M. Kasprzak, L. Daniel Metz and William F. Milliken, 2003, ISBN: 978-0-7680-1127-2, publisher' page
• Chassis Design by William F. Milliken and Douglas L. Milliken, 2002, ISBN: 978-0-7680-0826-5, publisher's page
• Race Car Vehicle Dynamics by William F. Milliken and Douglas L. Milliken, 1995, ISBN: 978-1-56091-526-3, publisher's page

See also

• Archie Butterworth