Charles Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, supported a fact-finding tour abroad.
The resulting report, published in 1914, "emphasized the galling disparity between European progress and American inertia."

The outbreak of war in Europe that same year further served as a catalyst for the creation of an American agency, as the technology employed in combat there emphasized the shortcomings of the American aviation program.
In 1915, utilizing reports by American attachés and other observers, Brigadier General Scriven published a report on the new status of aviation in Europe.
He noted that airplanes were not only used for information-gathering activities but also now conducted attacks on enemy personnel and material.

Walcott, Scriven, and other like-minded men pushed for legislative action to provide for an advisory committee for aeronautics that would concentrate on research.
Finally, on March 3, 1915, Congress passed a Smithsonian-backed proposal to create such a committee.
Thanks to a friendly House Committee on Naval Affairs, the enabling legislation for the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) was attached as a rider to a naval appropriation bill, and was easily approved as part of the larger legislation.
The legislation gave the committee a $5,000 annual budget and authorized the U.S. President to appoint twelve members to the NACA's main committee.
The committee was to include two members from the War Department, two from the Navy, one member each from the Smithsonian Institution, the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Standards, and then five additional members "who shall be acquainted with the needs of aeronautical science, either civil or military, or skilled in aeronautical engineering or its applied sciences."
The committee members were directed with the purpose "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solutions."
On April 23, 1915, the main committee of the NACA met in the Office of the Secretary of War.
The Committee chose Brigadier General Scriven to serve as the NACA's first Chairman.
Aeronautical historian Michael Gorn states that the committee "chose well" as Scriven "brought a wealth of experience and know-how to the job.
He applied his knowledge deftly, enabling the Army and the NACA to serve their mutual interests."

Scriven accomplished this by striking a bargain with the NACA committee, promising that if its members supported the Aviation Division's spending requests to Congress for training, aircraft purchases and a research center, that he would do his part to support an expanded NACA budget.
He stated his belief that "nothing will better advance the cause of aeronautics in the United States than for this Advisory Committee to recommend and urge with all its authority the appropriations for the Army ..." The Committee's most significant work during Scriven's period as chairman was the promotion of an aeronautical research laboratory, which had been a primary goal of aviation experts for years.
Scriven's proposal for a research laboratory was endorsed by the executive committee of the NACA at a meeting on October 14, 1915, and by the main committee the following day.

In 1916, he proposed for the following year's budget an $85,000 appropriation for the "equipment of a flying field together with aeroplanes and suitable testing gear" as well as a "well-equipped laboratory specially suited to the solving of those problems [in aeronautics] which are sure to develop ..."
On August 29, 1916, Congress appropriated $87,000, of which $53,580 was earmarked for the construction of a research laboratory.
Scriven "shrewdly linked the NACA's need for land to the Army's need to find a home for its own aeronautical research center, a measure also approved by Congress."

He appointed a board of officers, including four members of the Signal Corps' Aviation Division, to review fifteen possible locations.
The board ultimately chose a 1, 650-acre parcel of land in Elizabeth City County (now Hampton), Virginia, which the Army and the NA
Charles Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, supported a fact-finding tour abroad. The resulting report, published in 1914, "emphasized the galling disparity between European progress and American inertia."
The outbreak of war in Europe that same year further served as a catalyst for the creation of an American agency, as the technology employed in combat there emphasized the shortcomings of the American aviation program. In 1915, utilizing reports by American attachés and other observers, Brigadier General Scriven published a report on the new status of aviation in Europe. He noted that airplanes were not only used for information-gathering activities but also now conducted attacks on enemy personnel and material.
Walcott, Scriven, and other like-minded men pushed for legislative action to provide for an advisory committee for aeronautics that would concentrate on research. Finally, on March 3, 1915, Congress passed a Smithsonian-backed proposal to create such a committee. Thanks to a friendly House Committee on Naval Affairs, the enabling legislation for the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) was attached as a rider to a naval appropriation bill, and was easily approved as part of the larger legislation. The legislation gave the committee a $5,000 annual budget and authorized the U.S. President to appoint twelve members to the NACA's main committee. The committee was to include two members from the War Department, two from the Navy, one member each from the Smithsonian Institution, the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Standards, and then five additional members "who shall be acquainted with the needs of aeronautical science, either civil or military, or skilled in aeronautical engineering or its applied sciences." The committee members were directed with the purpose "to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solutions." On April 23, 1915, the main committee of the NACA met in the Office of the Secretary of War. The Committee chose Brigadier General Scriven to serve as the NACA's first Chairman. Aeronautical historian Michael Gorn states that the committee "chose well" as Scriven "brought a wealth of experience and know-how to the job. He applied his knowledge deftly, enabling the Army and the NACA to serve their mutual interests."
Scriven accomplished this by striking a bargain with the NACA committee, promising that if its members supported the Aviation Division's spending requests to Congress for training, aircraft purchases and a research center, that he would do his part to support an expanded NACA budget. He stated his belief that "nothing will better advance the cause of aeronautics in the United States than for this Advisory Committee to recommend and urge with all its authority the appropriations for the Army ..." The Committee's most significant work during Scriven's period as chairman was the promotion of an aeronautical research laboratory, which had been a primary goal of aviation experts for years. Scriven's proposal for a research laboratory was endorsed by the executive committee of the NACA at a meeting on October 14, 1915, and by the main committee the following day.
In 1916, he proposed for the following year's budget an $85,000 appropriation for the "equipment of a flying field together with aeroplanes and suitable testing gear" as well as a "well-equipped laboratory specially suited to the solving of those problems [in aeronautics] which are sure to develop ..."
On August 29, 1916, Congress appropriated $87,000, of which $53,580 was earmarked for the construction of a research laboratory. Scriven "shrewdly linked the NACA's need for land to the Army's need to find a home for its own aeronautical research center, a measure also approved by Congress."
He appointed a board of officers, including four members of the Signal Corps' Aviation Division, to review fifteen possible locations. The board ultimately chose a 1, 650-acre parcel of land in Elizabeth City County (now Hampton), Virginia, which the Army and the NA
George P. Scriven