Reply to Attn of: RR

Mr. Chalmers H. Goodlin
Chairman and President
The Burnelli Company, Inc.
7372 NW 12th Street
Miami, FL 33126

Dear Mr. Goodlin:

Your letter of March 29, 1995, to the NASA Administrator has been forwarded to me for response. You asked for an explanation as to why NASA discriminated against the Burnelli Company when we awarded the McDonnell-Douglas Company a contract to investigate blended wing-body aircraft configurations. We do not believe that NASA has discriminated against the Burnelli Company. Proposals for innovative research efforts were widely solicited through a NASA Research Announcement 94-OA-02 dated February 28, 1994, and we did receive a number of impressive plans. However, The Burnelli Company did not submit a proposal and consequently was not a candidate for funding in this research program. The McDonnell-Douglas proposal was competitively selected for funding.

One way for your company to obtain an evaluation of your lifting body aircraft design is to submit an unsolicited proposal to NASA seeking a contract for further development of this concept. The enclosed brochure describes the procedure for submission of a formal unsolicited proposal.

Please be advised that NASA does occasionally take a license in a patented invention. Of course an issued U.S. patent must exist before a license can be considered. If you have an unexpired U.S. patent, you may offer NASA a license in the patented invention by contacting Mr. Allen Kennedy at 202-358-2065, or by writing to NASA of your intent to license your invention. Please include a copy of the patent with your letter and send the request to the Office of the Associate General Counsel (Intellectual Property), Mail Code GP, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546.

Thank you for your interest in NASA.

Sincerely yours,

[signed]

Robert E. Whitehead
Acting Associate Administrator for
Aeronautics
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