did not collide. Bureau of Air Commerce The Department of Commerce created an Aeronautics Branch in 1926. The first head of this organization was William P. MacCracken, Jr. (first recipient of its pilot certification license), whose approach to regulation included consultation and cooperation with industry. A major challenge facing MacCracken was to enlarge and improve the nation's air navigation system. The Aeronautics Branch took over the Post Office's task of building airway light beacons, and in 1928 introduced a new navigation beacon system known as the low frequency radio range, or the "Four Course Radio Range". The branch also built additional airway communications stations to encourage broader use of aeronautical radio and combat adverse weather. NACA began its own aeronautics research undertaking in 1920. In 1928, having created one of the first wind tunnels years earlier, the organization's work with the latter produced a new type of engine cowling with much less drag than former designs. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Aeronautics Branch cooperated with public works agencies on projects that represented an early form of federal aid to airports. The Branch was restructured and in 1934 received a new name, the Bureau of Air Commerce. Eugene Vidal, nephew of Senator Thomas Gore became its first director. Vidal resigned on February 28, 1937, and was replaced by Fred D. Fagg, Jr. Fagg reorganized the bureau, but retired in April 1938, being replaced by Hindenburg crash investigator Denis Mulligan. The year 1934 also saw a crisis over airmail contracts that former Postmaster General W.F. Brown had used to strengthen the airline route structure. In the Air Mail scandal, Senate investigators charged that Brown's methods had been illegal, and President Roosevelt canceled the contracts. In 1935 the BAC encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers (Newark, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois) for providing air traffic control along the airways, the following year taking over the centers itself and expanding the traffic control system. Civil Aeronautics Authority In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and a three-member Civil