Nathan C. Price

Nathan C. "Nate" Price was an American engineer and inventor. He made substantial contributions to several US aircraft projects during the first half of the twentieth century.

Before World War II, US airplane manufacturer Boeing had responded to a government solicitation for a large strategic bomber. Its proposal, the B-17, was considered "too big" by some members of Congress when additional financing was requested for the project. Fearing the project would be canceled and hoping to salvage something from the design effort, Boeing President Claire Egtvedt, who was aware that fledgling airline companies TWA and Pan Am were seeking the ability to operate their airliners above most of the frequent low-level turbulence on their routes, proposed that those airlines underwrite the cost of creating a pressurized airliner from components of the B-17. The Model 307 airliner would utilize the B-17’s wings and tail.

The airliner's four Curtiss Wright R-1820 radial engines used crankshaft-driven two-speed superchargers both for added power and for greater performance at altitude. To provide pressurized air for the proposed cabin, the two inboard engines also drove (via a shaft) an additional supercharger mounted on each engine's firewall.

Dr. W. Randy Lovelace of the Mayo Clinic, was consulted; he advised that cabin pressurization begin at 8,000 feet MSL. Then pressurized air would be added as required to maintain an 8,000-foot cabin pressure. Above 16,000 feet MSL, cabin pressure would again decrease, due to the limited rating of the superchargers. The plane was expected to have a maximum cruise altitude of twenty- to twenty-two-thousand feet MSL.

Price's cabin pressure regulator was the heart of the pressurization system. Its inlet valve regulated the flow of ventilating air to the cabin; its discharge valve opened as directed to maintain the required pressure. The valves' operations were controlled by a "black box", a maze of valves, venturis, and pleated metal bellows. Incoming air was drawn thru slits on the wing leading edge; discharged air exited below the empennage.

Price received a US patent for his work. After the prototype was working correctly, a contract was given to Garrett AiResearch in California to manufacture the components.

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