Deconstructing the Rogallo MythAfter NASA
In 1970, Rogallo said that he decided to retire because NASA was stopping its work on the flexible wing. He said he would “try other ways to continue (his) Rogallo wing research and development”. There is no evidence that he did it.
A Story of Failure
Rogallo’s career at both NACA and NASA is a story of failures. Rogallo’s work had no lasting influence on the engineers at NASA, the Department of Defense, and their contractors. They hardly referred to him. His patents and publications had no impact. The Paraglider Development Program achieved nothing of value despite the millions spent. Who would want to be responsible for that?
Dismissing Dickenson
Two years after retiring, Rogallo presented his final lecture for NASA: Flexible Wings for Transportation. It included explanations on the modern hang glider “used for gliding and soaring”, and six pictures of the Dickenson Glider. He did not name Dickenson, but credited his American friends Palmer, Kilbourne and Faust.
The Elusive Curtain Kites
Before 1962, there was no mention of a flexible kite model other than the one patented in 1948. In 1962, a few months after NASA started testing parasails, Rogallo claimed that his flexible kite research began with a “gliding parachute”. In 1974, he showed a model gliding parachute, which was a triangular bi-conical kite made from a curtain. He claimed that, with a toy attached under it, it had glided perfectly and consistently, and “from the flying model, the first patents were granted”. In 1976, the curtain kite was described as a “standard Rogallo design” that is “so darned successful (that) it was worth patenting”.
In 1990, Rogallo is shown with a new pentagonal-shaped kite made with the same curtain material. In 1997, Rogallo is shown in a photo with a triangular curtain kite. He claimed then that it had been flown on the same day the patented bi-cylindrical kite was reduced to practice: August 15, 1948.
The tale is too convenient and ambiguous to be accepted without hard evidence. Presenting this curtain kite as a Standard Rogallo hang glider? The Rogallos decided to change their story, and claimed that the curtain models were the central design for their “inventions”, and that their “inventions” led directly to parawings, parasails, and modern hang gliders. None of these aircraft resemble the Rogallos patented kites. None of these claims are true.
Doctor or Professor?
As early as 1961, Rogallo was called a Doctor. He will also be called a Professor. Although honorary Doctorates are sometimes awarded, generally these titles are bestowed by a university or college on faculty members who have earned a PhD. We found no PhD. When given such a title without having earned it, an honest person would immediately set the record straight, and ask to be named properly. Rogallo never did that.