Glidden Doman

Glidden Doman (January 28, 1921 - June 6, 2016) was an American aeronautical engineer and pioneer in helicopters and modern wind turbines. He founded one of America’s original six helicopter companies (Doman Helicopters, Inc.) after making major contributions to the use of Sikorsky helicopters during World War II. Doman Helicopters’ most prominent achievement was the Doman LZ-5/YH-31 eight-place helicopter, which received FAA certification on December 30, 1955. The unique feature of this helicopter was its hinge-less but gimbaled, tilting rotor hub that greatly reduced stress and vibration in the blades and in the whole helicopter.

Doman was one of the first to transfer knowledge of helicopter rotor dynamics technology to wind turbines. The 1973 arab oil embargo prompted NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio to lead a 7 year US wind energy program for the development of utility-scale horizontal axis wind turbines. This program featured the creation of Boeing’s MOD-2 with the Doman conceived flexible rotor design, two-bladed wind turbine with a teeter hinge. Following the NASA project, while working for Boeing, Hamilton Standard division of United Technologies, and Aeritalia (later known as Alenia) in Italy, Doman developed large two-bladed, teeter-hinged wind turbines, including the WTS-3, WTS-4, and the Gamma 60. After testing the Gamma 60 in Sardinia for 7 years, Doman and Italian nuclear mechanical engineer Silvestro Caruso founded Gamma Ventures, Inc. to further develop and market this technology. Gamma Ventures subsequently invested in, and sold a license to Seawind of the Netherlands, to commercialize the same two-bladed, teeter-hinge wind turbine concept.

Doman, along with noted German-born aerospace engineer Kurt Hohenemser (a partner and confidant of the well-known German airplane and helicopter designer Anton Flettner), maintained that a flexible two-bladed helicopter type wind turbine rotor design that is compliant with the forces of nature was more suitable for producing electricity than the rigid industry standard three-bladed airplane type wind turbine rotors that, by design, can only be constructed to resist the forces of nature.

Two of Doman’s helicopters, the converted Sikorsky R-6 (Doman LZ-1A) and a Doman LZ-5/YH-31, are on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.