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The U.S. heartland city of Wichita has long been known initially, of course, as a cowtown but then as a hotbed of rock solid aviation, especially - but not solely - General Aviation. But few would associate it with either far out aeronautical research or, even less, international intrigue. Yet at just about the midpoint of the first century of flight it was the focal point for researchers from two sometime military adversaries of the U.S. to join with locals to perfect a system of lift enhancement that demonstrated performance measures never achieved before or, in practice, since. The routes that those foreign-born researchers took to get to Wichita provide a story as fascinating as the research itself. (Paper clips were an accommodating feature of relocation.)