Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower

Flight Journal, Aug 2002 by DeGroat, Robert S

Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower

by Dik Alan Daso.

Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box 960, Herndon, VA 20172-0960; www.sipress.si.edu. 314 pages; 81 b&w photographs; $29.95.

Only one man was capable of leading the American military into the modem world of aviation during WW II. He was well versed in the ever-changing state of the art, and he knew who in the military and civilian sectors would be able to bridge gaps in knowledge and be able to bring them together in a cohesive unit. That man was Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold.

Author Dik Alan Daso's authoritative biography, "Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower," is telling in its scope. It is the story of a man who literally grew up with aviation. Arnold was a career milltary man (West Point, Class of 1907), who met and worked with other aviation luminaries who were instrumental in fulfilling his desire to build American air forces into a power second to none. Military minds such as those of Jimmy Doolittle, Ira Eaker and Carl "Tooey" Spaatz; manufacturers such as Larry Bell and Donald Douglas; and world-class scientists such as Dr. Theodore von Karman and Dr. Robert A. Millikan all figure prominently.

The book makes it evident that

Arnold was the fight man in the right place at the right time. His years of experience in procurement, his ability to get results and his absolute belief in the power of good research and development carried the day during WW II and beyond. Though he died in 1950, his impact on the industry is still evident. That is quite a legacy.