Alex Tremulis...Responsible for the USS Enterprise?

[Tuckeroo]

I have seen the patent for this hood ornament many times before, but not the genuine article:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/07/30/it-came-from-alex-tremulis/

[Phantomrig]

That is very interesting, I wonder what car he had in mind to attach it to. was it a car already in production or a car that he had on the drawing board.

[Randy Earle]

The first time he saw Star Trek on TV he probably called his lawyer.

[streamliner]

Just a small chunk of metal, yet it has such a rich history behind it. It all started in Roswell, New Mexico on July 7, 1947 (just after the unveiling of the “Tin Goose”). The headlines made it clear that a flying disc had been recovered:



News of the incident did not go unnoticed by Tremulis. Shortly afterwards, he illustrated what is perhaps the first visual incarnation of what a flying saucer could look like in all its glory, streaking towards earth from outer space:



The rendering made it into the Chicago Tribune and it was this version that captured the imaginations of the nation and provided UFO fodder for years to come. Not satisfied with just the spacecraft, Tremulis also illustrated what the aliens may have looked like in this rendering of an alien being interrogated and the alien’s words being translated into human language through a tickertape-type computer:



This was at a time when preparing the Tucker for production was in full swing. There was not a lot of time to devote to UFO ramblings since there was plenty of Tucker work to be done. Then on March 9, 1950, it happened again:



This time more publications picked up on the story and the Tremulis renderings reached an even wider audience.





As a follow-up to his previous renderings, Tremulis put his thoughts to paper on the possibilities of space travel and did it with his usual mix of factoids, anecdotes, aerodynamic philosophies, and his out-of-this-world sense of humor:













With the UFO craze, and the nation captivated by the possibilities that other life forms may exist outside of the confines of Earth, Tremulis and Peter Pagratis teamed up to produce these hood ornaments. They filed for a design patent on January 27, 1951, and it issued on September 4, 1951, as U.S. Design Patent D164,461 (a strange coincidence that the patent number is a palindrome???). Note that Tremulis was now a resident of Ypsilanti, birthplace of the Tucker automobile, as a result of his then-current employment at Kaiser-Frazer:




Look closely at the fine details of the patent illustration and you’ll see that it mirrors Tremulis’ earlier flying saucer rendering.

As far as the hood ornament goes, contracts were written to start production with certain minimums to be met. From what I could gather, these were to be sold aftermarket for about $5.00 each.

Unfortunately, the partnership ended without selling too many of the ornaments. I don’t have an actual production figure, but it was probably just a little more than the total number of Tuckers built.

Tremulis’ infatuation with UFO’s and flying saucers carried over into much of his subsequent design work. The saucer’s simplicity of form and its inherent aerodynamic advantages was a constant reminder that significant improvements could be applied to the boxy automotive designs of the era. There's plenty more of Tremulis' infatuation with UFO's that I'll post shortly, but I hope this serves as a good introduction to Tremulis' interests in the twilight zone...

[Randy Earle]

I wonder if he ever saw one.

[TUCKER]

I do remember seeing one of this hood ormaments for sale about 10 years ago at a local flee market here in Pasadena, California for $200. I wonder how many were made and if they were in catalogues back in the 1950s like so many other cool hood ornaments were for sale back then.

[streamliner]

[TuckerCar]

It's really not that inconceivable that these would all look the same. They're all just a variation of a saucer with some sort of propulsion.

[Phantomrig]

I want one for my Dodge Ram, It will look super cool dont you think.

[Randy Earle]

Maybe he and this fellow had a lot in common.... Matt Jeffries http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/1616.html

He was an illustrator at the Library of Congress in 1949, and later took a job as an aircraft illustrator in 1953. Isn't the Library of Congress near the US Patent Office?

[streamliner]

As long as we’re looking at Alex Tremulis and his fascination with space travel, it’s worth a closer look into why he’s credited with the origins of the Dyna-Soar project and its evolution into today’s Space Shuttles.

Tremulis served his Country during World War II at Wright Field in Ohio. As a Master Sergeant, Tremulis was responsible for turning 2D technical drawings into beautiful 3D renderings so that the decision makers could make better decisions as to the viability of projects in the works. Tremulis was also given free reign to illustrate and design pie-in-the-sky projects. One such illustration was the 1944 Tremulis Vertical Interceptor:



The concept was to have a silo-based rocket-powered booster that could launch a manned jet aircraft into the upper stratosphere. The booster rocket would be dropped like the external gas tanks on P-51 Mustang bomber escorts. The jet would perform its mission and safely glide back to Earth where it could be reloaded onto another booster rocket. Since there is very little air available for directional control at high altitudes, Tremulis invented “jeterons” to provide the thrust for maintaining control of the craft:



After Googleing “Dyna-Soar”, I found a good illustration of the various incarnations that the Dyna-Soar project took over the years:



It’s clear that the Dyna-Soar project was the link between Tremulis’ WWII renderings and the Space Shuttle today.

In March 1963, Donald Ritchie, (from the Smithsonian website: Donald Jeanne Ritchie (1920- ) is a mathematician and physicist who has been active in missile guidance system design and development and in arms control and disarmament studies. He began work as a production engineer at Bell Aircraft Corp (1940-42) before joining the Design Branch of Wright Air Development Center, Wright Field, OH (1942-45), where he participated in preliminary design work on jet aircraft. Following World War II, he attended Wayne University, completing degrees in Mathematics and Physics (BS, 1949) and Applied Mathematics (MS, 1951). He spent most of the next two decades at Bendix's Research Laboratory Division (Senior Mathematician, 1949-54; Project Engineer, 1955-57; Supervisory Mathematician, 1958-65; Assistant Department Head, Surveillance, Navigation, and Guidance, 1965-67) working on missile systems. He spent several brief periods outside Bendix, at Atomic Power Development Associates (Senior Mathematician, 1954-55), Crosley Division, Avco Manufacturing Co (Supervisor, Missile Systems, 1957), and Corvy Division, Melpar Inc, Scientific Analysis Office (Branch Leader, 1957-58). He then joined the faculty of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute (now Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) as Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, Director of Research, and Chairman of the Aeronautical Engineering Division (1967-?). During this time he also worked as a consultant to the United States Air Force Foreign Technical Intelligence Division and the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum) wrote the following letter to the editors of Popular Mechanics:



It was thanks to Ritchie’s well-respected authority that Tremulis would be recognized for the origin of the Dyna-Soar project and ultimately the Space Shuttle.

[streamliner]

Apparently, at least through Fortune Manufacturing, there were in excess of 4,000 Flying Saucer Hood Ornaments made between April 15, 1950 and April 15, 1951, but less than the hoped-for 150,000:





The contract was therefore cancelled with Fortune Manufacturing. However, the relationship between Tremulis and Pagratis was not over. Following the termination of the agreement with Fortune, Tremulis went on to design and patent a set of earmuffs in December, 1954 that would have made a nice accessory to wear while driving around with the hood ornament:



I'm not sure whether or not a new agreement was made with another manufacturing company to pursue both designs, but presumably it would have been feasible that more ornaments were manufactured along with the earmuffs. I'll keep searching...

[streamliner]

No doubt Tim Burton was also a fan. Take a close look at the finer details of the Martians, their spacesuits (Earthsuits?), and their equipment.

Who knows, maybe we were being shot at...

[streamliner]

In keeping with Alex Tremulis' unique sense of humor, I think he added in the alien hieroglyphics when he went to Ford in 1952.

It appears that these aliens were friendly:



"All Space Beings Send X-mas Greetings To All Ford Design Employees. signed GORT"

I think that's the non-politically correct GORT on the left.

[streamliner]

As far as Star Trek and the Enterprise goes, Tremulis was obviously a fan. On May 16, 1970 Alex Tremulis drove a 26 foot, Olds Toronado-powered Travoy Motor Home to a new Land Speed Record. I'm sure that the Spock ears on his vintage helmet are no coincidence...