Born: United States of America
Primarily active in: United States of America

1944-2023

Tom Wood, Bell Chief Technologist

Tom Wood was a VFS member for 54 years, an Honorary Fellow, an Emeritus Member, and a member of the Gold Circle Club.

Wood was born on Sept. 3, 1944, in Marshall, Texas. He had a love for all things math and science growing up and enjoyed doing different experiments with his older brother. That began a passion that would lead to a remarkable career in the world of aerospace engineering. He began this journey when he joined Bell Helicopter as a college intern in 1965, joining VFS as a student member in 1967. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in 1969. He later completed his Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering, also from UTA, in 1972.

Wood worked diligently in his career and showed an exceptional gift in his field. During his tenure, he contributed numerous and significant innovations to the field and mentored at least two generations of rotary-wing engineers.

Wood's roles at the company spanned a great depth, from Chief of Aerodynamics and Handling Qualities to Director of Flight Technology, where he was responsible for all activity in the groups of aeromechanics, aerodynamics, loads, acoustics, simulation and handling qualities. Wood also served as Director of Preliminary Design, where he was involved in all aspects of defining rotary-wing air vehicle characteristics. In technical roles, he was a major contributor to the development of the simulation math model for the V-22 Osprey, flight-testing of V-22, and configuration definition of both the Quad TiltRotor (QTR) concept and what is now the Leonardo AW609 civil tiltrotor, as well as serving as the Chief Engineer/Technical Director for the Bell Boeing Joint Heavy Lift (JHL) Concept Design and Analysis program.

In the 1980s, Wood was responsible for the aerodynamic testing and technical reporting behind Bell's entry in the Army's Light Helicopter (LHX) program — where testing included a pressure sensor-instrumented rotor. His contributions to understanding tiltrotor hover performance are numerous and evolved from his experience in download model tests of both conventional and quad tiltrotor configurations. These evaluations led to significant improvements in tiltrotor payload.

During his career, Wood managed or participated in the design and flight development of numerous Bell designs, including the Model 400, OH-58C, OH-58D and YAH-63, as well as the four-bladed AH-1W, proving its composite main rotor blade design. His expertise made him a key contributor to the civil certification of Bell Helicopter Models 427, 430, 407, 214ST, 412, 222B, 230, 206L-4 and 214B, as well as the military qualification of the V-22 Full-Scale Development (FSD) aircraft.

Wood's seminal work in rotor aerodynamics is seen in numerous technical publications that include his award-winning study on the loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE). His assessment of autorotation, the demonstration of low-speed maneuverability in tiltrotors and a more complete understanding of vortex ring state (VRS) are all to his credit.

Towards the end of his career, he was appointed as Bell’s Chief Technologist. He continued to be deeply involved in the early development effort of Bell's newest programs — including as Technical Director of the V-280 Valor for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstration program, and the commercial 525 Relentless and 505 Jet Ranger X — guiding team members and training the next generation of subject matter experts.

Due to his extensive external relationships, Wood was well known to leaders across the aerospace and rotorcraft industry, NASA, the US Department of Defense and academia, and served on several important high-level panels and review committees. He retired from Bell Helicopter in 2018 after 53 years.

Throughout his career, Wood earned many recognitions and awards for his accomplishments, especially in the field of vertical flight. He was the Society’s Forum 45 Chair (1989). He received the VFS Howard Hughes Award (1984), Paul E. Hauter Award (2005), Technical Fellow Award (2010), Dr. Alexander Klemin Award (2011) and Honorary Fellow Award (2015). He was the 36th Annual Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lecturer, with his 2016 lecture entitled, “Fifty Years of Industry Perspective” (see www.vtol.org/nikolsky). A past member of the VFS Board of Directors and Technical Council, Wood also authored/co-authored numerous technical papers and had several patents to his name.

In 2015, Wood’s fellow Bell employees utilized the Textron Matching Gift Program to raise some $30,000 for a VFS scholarship in his name. The Tom Wood Honorary Scholarship recognized his 50 years of service to the industry. For the past decade, this Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) scholarship has been given annually in his name, inspiring the next generation of vertical flight engineers and scientists.

One US Army senior scientist recalled: “He certainly touched a lot of folks across the community. I remember when he was here delivering his Nikolsky Lecture for the [local VFS] chapter, he didn’t want to hear any briefs from us. Instead, he spent most of the day just talking with many early- and mid-career folks here at both the Army and NASA [Aeromechanics Branch].”

Wood was a devoted husband and loving father. He and his wife Janice celebrated 56 years of marriage last August. Wood spent the last few years of his life teaching upper-level classes at St. Paul’s Preparatory Academy. He enjoyed passing on his years of wisdom to his students. It brought him joy to be on the faculty with three of his adult children. He was an active member of Faith Christian Center, serving as an elder and on the board of the church.

Tommie Lynn Wood, an icon of Bell Helicopter Textron for more than a half century, passed away peacefully on Dec. 12, 2023 in Pantego, Texas, at the of age 79.

From Society Update: In Memoriam pages of Vertiflite May/June 2024

 

 

VFS Bio on Awarding Tom with the prestigious 2016 Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship:

Mr. Tom L. Wood, Chief Technologist at Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., has been awarded the prestigious 2016 Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship. The Lectureship is awarded to "an individual who has a highly distinguished career in vertical flight aircraft research and development and is skilled at communicating technical knowledge and experience."

Wood was chosen in recognition of his half-century of contributions to advancing the state of the art of helicopter and tiltrotor technology. His presentation — the 36th Annual Nikolsky Honorary Lecture, entitled "50 Years of Industry Perspective" —delivered at the 72nd Annual AHS International Forum and Technology Display in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. The lecture provided Mr. Wood's perspectives on past technical challenges and accomplishments by the rotorcraft industry, as well as what technologies will pave the way to realizing the next generation of rotorcraft.

Wood began his career at Bell Helicopter in 1965 as a college intern, and joined AHS as a student member in 1967. He earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1969, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering (also from UTA) in 1972.  

As Bell Helicopter's Chief Technologist, Mr. Wood advises the company's executive leadership team on technical issues and oversees the company's Senior Technical Fellow organization and Research & Innovation group; his efforts are closely linked to Bell's military and commercial product lines.

Wood's past roles at the company span a great depth, from Chief of Aerodynamics & Handling Qualities to Director of Flight Technology, where he was responsible for all activity in the groups of aeromechanics, aerodynamics, loads, acoustics, simulation and handling qualities. Wood also served as Director of Preliminary Design, where he was involved in all aspects of defining rotary-wing air vehicle characteristics. In technical roles, he was a major contributor to the development of the simulation math model for the V-22 Osprey, flight-testing of V-22, and configuration definition of both the Quad TiltRotor (QTR) concept and what is now the AW609 civil tiltrotor. Wood was responsible for the aerodynamic testing and technical reporting behind Bell Helicopter's entry in the Army's Light Helicopter (LHX) program — where testing included a pressure sensor-instrumented rotor. His contributions to understanding tiltrotor hover performance are numerous, and evolved from his experience in download model tests of both conventional and quad tiltrotor configurations. These evaluations led to significant improvements in tiltrotor payload.

During his career, Wood also managed or participated in the design and flight development of numerous Bell designs, including the Model 400, OH-58C, OH-58D and YAH-63, as well as the four-bladed AH-1W, proving its composite main rotor blade design. His expertise made him a key contributor to the civil certification of Bell Helicopter Models 427, 430, 407, 214ST, 412, 222B, 230, 206L-4 and 214B, as well as the military qualification of the V-22 Full-Scale Development (FSD) aircraft.

Wood's seminal work in rotor aerodynamics is seen in numerous technical publications that include his award-winning study on the loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE). His assessment of autorotation, the demonstration of low-speed maneuverability in tiltrotors and a more complete understanding of vortex ring state (VRS) are all to his credit.

Mr. Wood continues to be deeply involved in the test and certification effort of Bell Helicopter's newest development programs — including the V-280 Valor for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstration program, and the commercial 525 Relentless and 505 Jet Ranger X — guiding team members and training the next generation of subject matter experts.

Due to his extensive external relationships, Wood is well known to leading figures across the aerospace and rotorcraft industry, NASA/DoD, and academia. Since 2012, he has served as an appointed member of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory Council.

Wood has been the recipient of AHS International's Howard Hughes Award (1984), Paul E. Haueter Award (2005), AHS Technical Fellow Award (2010), Dr. Alexander Klemin Award (2011) and AHS Honorary Fellow Award (2015). Earlier this year, AHS established a Vertical Flight Foundation scholarship in his name, the Tom Wood Honorary Scholarship, to encourage more engineering students to pursue careers in vertical flight.