Last month, after I worte a col- umn on flying wings, there percolated up into my consciousness a name that I had not thought of in many years: Witold Kasper. I met the late Kasper, born Kasprzyk in 1907 in Poland, around 25 years ago, during the heyday of interest in his so-called Kasper Wing. As I recall, he reacted with a mixture of bafflement and irritation to my suggestion that he undertake, and publish the results of, systematic model or full-scale tests of his revolutionary wing. In that way he could submit his claims to peer review and so make a more convincing case for their truth. My sense at the time was that he expected me to perceive him as the proverbial prophet without honor in his own country, and to react with sympathetic awe rather than polite skepticism.
展开▼
