CaltechOralHistories
  The Caltech Institute Archives

Interview with Arthur L. Klein

Klein, Arthur L. (1984) Interview with Arthur L. Klein. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Klein_A

[img]
Preview
PDF
See Usage Policy.

343kB

Use this Persistent URL to link to this item: https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Klein_A

Abstract

Interview in four sessions, February 1979 and April 1982, with Arthur L. ("Maj") Klein, who entered Throop College, the predecessor of the California Institute of Technology, in 1916. When R. A. Millikan arrived as the institute's head, Klein decided to change his major from mechanical engineering to physics in order to work with him, earning his bachelor's degree in 1921 and a PhD in 1925. He stayed on as a research fellow in physics and soon become involved in the activities of the new Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech (GALCIT), along with Clark B. Millikan and the aircraft designer Arthur E. Raymond. He became an assistant professor of aeronautics in 1929. Klein designed much of GALCIT's 10-foot-diameter wind tunnel, which went into operation in 1929, and he later helped design the Southern California Cooperative Wind Tunnel (1945), which was financed by five Southern California aircraft companies and operated by Caltech. Klein was also responsible for many aspects of the design and testing of important aircraft, including Douglas Aircraft's DC series. He had begun consulting for Douglas Aircraft in 1932; by 1937, he was spending half his time there and half at Caltech, and this arrangement continued until his 1968 retirement from Caltech as a full professor in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science.


Item Type:Oral History
Keywords:Engineering; aeronautics
Record Number:CaltechOH:OH_Klein_A
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Klein_A
Official Citation:Klein, Arthur L. Interview by Harriett Lyle and John Greenberg. Pasadena, California, February 1979; Palos Verdes Estates, April 1982. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved [supply date of retrieval] from the World Wide Web: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Klein_A
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
Subjects:All Records
Subjects > Engineering
ID Code:102
Collection:CaltechOralHistories
Deposited By: Oral Histories Administrator
Deposited On:10 Mar 2005
Last Modified:04 Oct 2019 15:23

Repository Staff Only: item control page