north american aircraft history

8/8/2019 North American Aircraft History

1/19

The Beginning

The War Years

Post-WarDevelopments

Missiles and theMoon

Building for theFuture

Chronology

Biographies

Military AirplanesIndex

Missiles and SpaceIndex

NA-16 Basic Trainer

O-47 Observation

Monoplane

BT-9 Trainer

We started with an obvious disadvantage.... It couldnt have been

much worse.

Dutch Kindelberger, 1934

During the prosperous, whirling 1920s, aviation was in its childhood.Companies dedicated to airplane manufacturing, engines, propellers,passenger flight and support industries sprouted across the country. OnDec. 6, 1928, North American Aviation was incorporated in Delawareto become a holding company for many of these new ventures. InMarch 1930, it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

North American Aviation, Inc., had interests in a number of leadingairlines and aircraft manufacturing companies including the GeneralAviation Manufacturing Corporation, located at the Curtis-Caproniplant at Dundalk, Md.

As part of the "New Deal" legislation during the Depression, the AirMail Act of 1934 prevented an organization or its members engaged inany part of the aircraft industry from holding an airmail contract afterDec. 31, 1934. Therefore, North Americans airline interests wereseparated from its airplane-building concerns, and 39-year-old JamesHoward "Dutch" Kindelbergerbecame President and General Managerof General Aviation, leaving a career as vice president of engineeringat Douglas Aircraft.

When Kindelberger went east, he took with him two key aircraftdesigners from Douglas Aircraft: Lee Atwood and J.S. "Stan"Smithson. In 1960, Atwood would take over from Kindelberger asleader of North American Aviation.

However, in 1934 they were starting from scratch.

At the time, North American had never sold a single airplane. It haddone some modification work on the obsolete Berliner-Joyce P-16, andthe only plane on the factory floor was an unmarketable low-wing,single-engine 10-passenger commercial transport, the GA-43 Pilgrim.The companys first government contract was not for airplanes at all --but for 161 sets of pontoons for observation planes in service with theU.S. Navy. It was time for NAA designers to hit the drawing boards
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North American

Aviation logo

and come up with the companys first trainer, the NA-16, and the XO-47 three-place observation plane.

Because Southern California had excellent year-round flying weather,Kindelberger promptly moved the company, including machinery and75 people, to a 159,000 square-foot facility on 20 acres near the edgeof the Los Angeles Municipal Airport. Rent was $600 a year.

Work began in temporary manufacturing quarters while the original Inglewood factorybuilding at that location was expanded and remodeled. The new premises were occupiedJanuary 1936, with 250 people on the payroll.

Kindelberger knew that North American Aviation would have the best chance of success ifit concentrated on small, single-engined airplanes, rather than competing withmanufacturers of large, multi-engined aircraft. He also knew the Army Air Corps needed anew basic trainer. However, military funding for airplanes was declining so the companyalso pursued overseas export contracts with other countries, including France, England,Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. As a result, the trainers would become the "bread-and-butter" product for the fledgling company.

The NA-16, a fixed-gear, two-place, low-wing monoplane, won the trainer competition in1934 and, on April 1, 1935, became the first North American model-numbered airplane tobe flown. It evolved into the BT-9 (basic trainer) and predecessor of a series of trainers thatcontinued in uninterrupted production for 25 years. The BT-9 led to design of the Buckeyeand, 50 years later, the Sabreliner, and it established NAA as a viable airplane builder. In1936, the company was contracted to build 238 later versions of the original GA-15observation airplane as the O-47.

North Americans first contract for a basic combat-type airplane came in 1937 withcompletion of the BC-1, a derivative of the NA-16. In February of the same year, North

American built its one and only powerful NA-21 twin-engine "Dragon" bomber.

Under the gathering impetus of impending World War II, North American forged ahead tonew production records, building 41,000 airplanes during World War II. In fact, between1935 and 1967, North American Aviation built more military aircraft than any otherairplane maker in U.S. history.
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The Beginning

The War Years

Post-WarDevelopments



Chronology

Biographies



T-6 Texan Trainer

P-51 Mustang

B-25 Mitchell

A company called upon to furnish military planes in peacetime could

be relied on for an extraordinary effort in the event of an emergency;and the companys responsibility for National Defense is as direct and

vital as that of the established armed forces. Dutch Kindelberger, 1940

To meet the demands of war, North American opened new factories in

Kansas City, KS, and in Dallas, Texas. They kept busy. During thepeak production periods of World War II, an airplane rolled off aNorth American production line every 15 minutes. The companyproduced 9,498 B-25s, 15,498 trainers, including the T-6 Texan(descendant of the NA-16) and 15,586 P-51 Mustangs. The Mustang'sprimary mission was to escort bombers deep into Germany, and itsefficient aerodynamics allowed it to outclimb the Focke-Wulfs and theMesserschmitts.

By the time the U.S. Army Air Corps became the U.S. Army AirForces on June 20, 1941, Americans were getting ready to go to war,

and hundreds of thousands of new pilots had to be trainedimmediately. The USAAF ordered 1,847 AT-6s, but soon the need forthe trainers became so great that a sprawling new factory was built inDallas, hence the name "Texan" for airplanes built there. Becausealuminum was in short supply, North American built 2,970 Texans outof plywood.

In response to an Army Air Corps request, North American designedthe NA-40, prototype for a twin-engined, medium-attack bomber. Theresulting B-25 Mitchell was the first bomber deployed in all WorldWar II combat theaters and the first American bomber to sink Axissubmarines.

At dawn, April 18, 1942, 16 B-25s made the first surprise attack onJapan during World War II. Known as the "Doolittle Raid," because itwas commanded by Col. Jimmy Doolittle, the amazing effort made asignificant impact on enemy strategy in the Pacific Theater. Becausethey may have been spotted prematurely, the B-25s were launchedfrom the aircraft carrierHornetfrom a point several hundred milesfurther from the target than had been planned.

Without enough fuel to make it back to planned recovery fields in China, the B-25s made

their strikes nonetheless. Eleven of the crews bailed out, four crash-landed and theremaining B-25 made it to Vladivostok, Russia, where its crew was interned.

Once the embattled skies were quiet, North American grappled with the tough transitionfrom war to peace. From a modest output in 1935, the company had grown to sales of $50million in 1939. During the wartime peak year of 1944, its sales neared $700 million.However, by September 1945, the companys backlog of planes plummeted to 24 and itsnumber of employees dropped from 91,000 to 5,000. The company closed its factories in
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Dallas and Kansas City.

North American stuck with what it knew best -- military aircraft. The Mustangs developeddouble their power in 1945, when North American spliced two of the fighters together toform the P-82 Twin Mustang. Moreover, despite the glut of used military aircraft on themarket, it was successful with the B-45 bomber and a series of swept-wing jet fighters.

The Beginning Development, the bridge between conceptual thought and hardwork is the heart of North American activities. Lee Atwood
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The War Years

Post-War Developments

Missiles and the Moon

Building for the Future

Chronology

Biographies

Military Airplanes Index

Missiles and Space Index

F-86 Saber Jet

F-100 Super Saber

Navaho Missile

XB-70 Valkyrie

X-15

On VJ day, there were orders in the North American books for8,000 airplanes. A few months later there were orders for only24 airplanes. The Dallas and Kansas City plants were closed,and the company began to study conversion to civilianhardware.

North American entered the unfamiliar habitat of commercialaircraft with the Navion, which cost $10,000 to build, but sold

for $7,000. It lost $8 million before the project was sold to RyanAeronautical Company in 1947. At the same time, the companydesigned the AJ Savage bomber, a high-speed, carrier-basedatomic bomber that first flew in the summer of 1948. Built forthe U.S. Navy, the Savage was the largest airplane at the timeoperating aboard aircraft carriers.

It was clear that the piston engine was losing ground to theemerging jet technology. Kindelberger visualized the potentialof the jet engine, combined with North Americans airframe,and knew the companys future lay in the new technologies.

North Americans B-45 Tornado became the Air Forces firstmulti-jet bomber in early 1947. Although the B-45 was the lastof the "straight-wing" bombers and only 143 were built, itserved as an airborne deterrent with NATO forces into the1950s.

During the same post-war period, NAAs FJ-1 Fury, the firstcarrier-based Navy jet, made its debut flight on Nov. 27, 1946.At the same time, captured German data on the "swept-wing"technology led to the development of Americas first swept-wing fighter, the XP-86 -- first flight, Oct. 1, 1947. It exceeded

Mach 1 on April 26, 1948. The resulting family ofF-86 Sabreaircraft became the top-performing jet fighters of their time.

The increasing demand for the F-86 Sabre required moremanufacturing space. To accommodate this need, NorthAmerican leased a Naval Industrial Reserve Facility inColumbus, Ohio, which had been used as an aircraft productionfacility by Curtiss-Wright. Further expansion in 1948 led to theestablishment of a new plant in Downey, Calif., which would

eventually become headquarters of the North American AviationMissile Division, where Apollo Spacecraft were built.

By the time the Korean War began June 25, 1950, the Air Forcestill had 1,804 F-51 Mustangs in service. The Mustangs flew atotal of 62,607 missions in combat, while the Sabre jets emergedas one of the decisive weapons in that conflict. The Fifth AirForce Sabres flew 236 sorties in December 1950, averaged1,024 a month during 1951, 3,279 for 1952, and 5,045 a month
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for the first seven months of 1953. The Sabres kill ratio duringthat time was 10 to 1.

By the end of 1952, NAA sales topped $315 million, and employment at the Columbusplant had gone from 1,600 in 1950 to 18,000. The plant became one of NAAs mostimportant facilities. During the next two decades, nearly all the companys naval fighters,trainers and heavy attack bombers were built there, including the F-100 Super Sabre, T-2Buckeye, the AJ Savage, the A-5 Vigilante and the OV-10 Bronco.

Another new product was the T-39 Sabreliner, which evolved into the only successfulcommercial airplane program developed at North American Aviation. A twin-jet,multipurpose aircraft, the Sabreliner was designated as the T-39 by the U.S. Air Force andU.S. Navy and sold commercially as an executive aircraft.

Another post-war development was the formation of North American Aviation MissilesDivision, originally the Missile Development Division, created for the Project NATIVexperiments that NAA conducted in the late 1940s using captured German V-2 rockets.These experiments evolved into the X-10 program, the SM-64 Navaho and later the GAM-77 (AGM-28) Hound Dog. In 1960, the Missile Division became the Space Division,

which would lead North American to the Moon.

Four other advanced aeronautical projects had their beginnings in 1954. One was for aMach 2 Air Force fighter to extend the Sabre family. A second was for a future Navyweapon system called NAGPAW (North American General Purpose Attack Weapon). Thethird was a conceptual study of a super bomber of the future, and the fourth was theproposal to build a rocket research airplane to study hypersonic and space flight regimes.

The Mach 2 fighter became the F-107 aircraft, which exceeded Mach 2 in early test flightsin 1956. The NAGPAW concept evolved into the A-5 Vigilante, which was first flown in1958 -- within two weeks of the dates projected four years earlier. The super bomber

became the XB-70 program, and the rocket research plane became the X-15.

These new airplanes would be flying into the thermodynamic barrier where frictional heaton their surfaces would be too severe for common aircraft metals. A complete newtechnology of aircraft systems and structures was necessary for surviving the trisonic -- andbeyond -- flight environment.

Because the X-15 rocket research aircraft had a pilot-in-the-loop, "human systems" analysiswas well underway. The X-15 pointed to near-space and was intended as an early test

platform for man-in-space programs to follow.

In 1955, the Navaho program ended, but experience gained during that project engenderedseveral new divisions at North American: Autonetics, Rocketdyne, Atomics International,and Missile Development. Missile Development would, in December 1960, become theSpace Information Systems Division.

Autonetics began in 1957 when a Missiles Project Group in engineering at NAAsColumbus, Ohio, division worked on adapting the Navahos navigation unit for use on the
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Nautilus submarine; it helped the vessel make the first under-ice passage of the North Polein 1958. In 1960, the Missile Project Group was awarded its first major contract -- a $4million program to develop, fabricate and flight test the Redhead/Roadrunner, a Mach 2high- and low-level target missile.

Lee Atwood, who had served as company president since 1948, became Chief ExecutiveOfficer in 1960 and, in 1962, succeeded Dutch Kindelbergeras Chairman of the Board.

The Beginning

The War Years

Post-War Developments

Missiles and the Moon

Some things have not changed, and should not change, and I

trust will not change. We have certain principles and traditions.The company was conceived and founded on a basis of

responsibility that when we work for the government, our

responsibility is exceptional -- a responsibility of stewardship ofpublic money on one hand, and a responsibility for valuable

equipment on the other.
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Building for the Future

Chronology

Biographies

Military Airplanes Index

Missiles and Space Index

Apollo 11 atop Saturn V

rocket

Space Shuttle

Lee Atwood, 1963

On Feb. 26, 1966, NASA conducted the first unmanned flight ofan Apollo spacecraft built by North American, under a contractgranted Nov. 28, 1961. The company also built the second stageof the huge Saturn V launch vehicle, the rocket engines andcommand and service modules. During the 15 Apollo missions,nine crews went to the moon, and six landed.

The first manned Apollo flight, designated Apollo 7, waslaunched Oct. 11, 1968, and Apollo Moon landings continueduntil July 1975.

As the first flights headed into space in 1966, North Americanmerged with Rockwell Standard Corporation and became theNorth American Rockwell Corporation. The same year, thecompanys Rocketdyne division designed a new advancedrocket engine, concluded the Gemini program and completedqualification tests for manned flight of the F-1 and J-2 engines.

The division had built engines for the Air Forces Thor andAtlas ICBMs during the 1950s, as well as for Sidewinder andSparrow air-to-air missiles.

By the 1960s it was building engines for the Saturn IB andSaturn V launch vehicles that would be used throughout theApollo program. The division also built the propulsion systemfor the Redstone rocket that launched the U.S. satellite Explorer.In 1961, the Redstone rocket launched a Mercury space capsule-- aboard was Alan Shephard, the first U.S. traveler in space.

The companys Atomics International Division, which alsoevolved during the late 1950s, explored industrial application ofatomic energy. It constructed the first commercial sodiumreactor to generate electricity, as well as many other reactors inthe United States and Japan. It went on to develop smallSystems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power generators that would beused in NASAs deep space probes, such as the Viking MarsLander.

The company also modified the command and service modules that transported three crewto and from the Skylab workshop and developed the docking system and docking modulefor the Apollo-Soyuz linkup in space. The Rocketdyne division produced control rocketsystems for the Gemini manned spaceflights, as well as for unmanned space probes andsatellites.

North American, at its peak of the space program, had operating facilities in seven statesand special functions in 12 more. Practically all of North Americans corporate operationswere involved in the space work of Project Apollo, and throughout the nation, servicesfrom more than 20,000 firms and hundreds of universities and scientific laboratories were
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coordinated by North American for the program.

The research for manned spacecraft became the basis for development of several promisingprojects and further expansion of space technology. Several years before the final Apolloflight, North Americans employees at the Downey plant had already began work on theSpace Shuttle Orbiters, the worlds first reusable spacecraft, and four were built between1972 and 1985.

In 1973, the milestone launch ofPioneer IIspace vehicle established the companysRocketdyne division as the countrys foremost producer of liquid-fueled rocket engines. Ithad built 8,920 large liquid propellant engines and went on to provide engines forPeacekeeper missiles, Boeing jetfoils and Delta and Atlas launch rockets.

As the demand for rockets decreased, the company began to diversify. In 1967, Rocketdynebegan to produce afterburners for the turbofan engines of the F-111, an advanced fighter.The same year, it produced the first Rockwell MOS-LSI calculator, which led to theformation of a MOS-LSI manufacturing plant. By the end of the decade, the Rocketdynedivision was researching waste water management for the Envirotech Corporation anddeveloping technologies for small engines and new rocket propellants. Atomics

International began work on the Clinch River Plant, the countrys first large-scaledemonstrator breeder nuclear electric power plant.

Autonetics, established as part of North Americans Electronics Group March 1, 1972,comprised the Columbus, Ohio, missile systems organization and the guidance and sensorgroups located in Anaheim, Calif. Autonetics produced major electronic and pioneeredmicroelectronic systems and subsystems for U.S. defense, including inertial navigationequipment for Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBMs and the Ships Inertial NavigationSystem. Other projects included flight controls, autonavigators, displays, automaticcheckout equipment and other electromechanical devices for a variety of weapons.

In 1973, North American Rockwell became Rockwell International to reflect thecompanys widening range of businesses.

The Beginning

The War Years

Post-War

The record of the past is filled with demonstrations that pure physical

research pays for itself many times over, often in totally unforeseenways.
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10/19

Developments



Chronology

Biographies



B-1B Lancer

X-31 Enhanced

Fighter

Dutch Kindelberger

The company continued to realign itself according to its ongoingprograms, and North American was the aircraft division of RockwellInternational. During 1976, it was working on the B-1 bomberprogram contracted June 5, 1970. The first of four B-1 Lancerprototypes flew on Dec. 23, 1974. During the 1970s, Rockwell alsodeveloped and built two subscale test HiMAT aircraft for NASA.

In December 1980, Autonetics became part of Defense ElectronicsOperations, based in Anaheim and later in Duluth, Ohio. Its programsincluded the HELLFIRE anti-armor missile system, the GBU-15/AGM-130 weapon system, and spot tracker for the AH-64 Apachehelicopter.

The next version of North American's Lancer was the B-1B, a long-range strategic bomber, capable of flying intercontinental missionswithout refueling, then penetrating sophisticated enemy defenses. Itcan perform a variety of missions, including that of a conventional

weapons carrier for theater operations. The B-1B first flew on Oct. 18,1984, about five months ahead of schedule.

The companys reorganization in 1984 merged the divisions ofRocketdyne, Atomics International and the Engineering TechnologyEngineering Center into North American Space Division and theSatellite Division. The focus continued to be aircraft modifications,aerostructures and advanced aircraft, including the AC-130U Gunship,which completed 164.5 hours of test flight at Edwards Air Force Baseby the end of 1991.

North American and Deutsche Aerospace also collaborated on the designed andconstruction of the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability demonstrator. This was thefirst international experimental aircraft development program administered by a U.S.government agency. The X-31 first flew on Oct. 11, 1990.

The companys space systems, aircraft division, Rocketdyne, Autonetics, missile systems,aircraft modification and other units joined The Boeing Company in 1996. Boeing andNorth American had worked side by side for over 60 years building aircraft to defend thenation and cooperating on major space programs such as the Apollo program, the SpaceShuttle and the International Space Station.The companys employees continue to chartnew territory, committed to the visions and goals established by Dutch Kindelberger andLee Atwood and now meshed with the vision of The Boeing Company as a globalenterprise with a significant geographical spread in its operations.

For the narrative of the years from 1996 to 2002, see "Defining the Future of Flight" in theBoeing history site.
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North American History home

192

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Dec. 6: North American Aviation, Inc., is formed as a holding company inDelaware.

193

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NAA buys General Aviation Manufacturing Corp.NAA reorganizes, disposes of interests in TWA, Douglas Aircraft and Western AirExpress and becomes an aircraft manufacturing company.

193

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July 6:James H. "Dutch" Kindelbergeraccepts the post of president and generalmanager of General Aviation Manufacturing Corp.

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Jan. 1: North American changes from a holding company to an active aircraftmanufacturing corporation with J.H. Kindelberger as president and J.L. Atwood as
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vice president and chief engineer, and NAA moves from Dundalk, Md., toInglewood, Calif.April 22: The NA-16 basic traineris flown to Daytons Wright Field for ademonstration flight to the Army Air Corps.

193

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April 15: The first production NA-16, designated the BT-9, makes its first flight.Dec. 22: The NA-21 Dragon makes its first flight.

193

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January: The first XO-47 three-place observation plane enters an Army design

competition. 164 are ordered.

193

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June 9: The British Government announces its intention to buy the North American"Harvard," based on the original trainers, for aerial reconnaissance and training.Sept. 28: The NA-49 trainer first flies, but delivery of these Advanced Trainers,later known as T-6 "Texans" will not start until 1940.

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August: North American begins to deliver unassembled NA-57 trainers to theFrench base at Nantes. Later, after France falls, 50 will be used by the GermanLuftwaffe.Sept. 10: Production begins on the B-25 Mitchell, the twin-engine, medium-attackbomber.

[Top of page]

194

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May: Britain orders 320 Mustangs and production begins

194

1

June 20: The U.S. Army Air Corps becomes the U.S. Army Air Forces.July 7: The U.S. Army Air Forces orders 150 P-51 Mustangs.

194

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April 18: Sixteen B-25 Mitchells, led by Col. Jimmy Doolittle, leave for the pivotalraid on Japan.July: One of a group of USAAF Texans scored two direct hits on a Germansubmarine off the coast of Tampico.

194

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Dec. 13: P-51B Mustangs accompany 651 heavy bombers to U-boat pens at Kiel.Three days later a Mustang downs a German fighter for the first time.

194

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Jan. 5: Mustangs score 18 victories. In 1944 there were 17 P-51 fighter groups inEngland. Of these, the 357th Fighter Group had 609 aerial victories.

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June 30: By this date, a total of 14,487 Mustangs have been delivered to Allied AirForces.Aug. 15: World War II ends.

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April 29: North American is awarded the contract for the Navaho missile program.

Sept. 11: FJ-1 Fury jet fighter makes its first flight.

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Feb. 28: A P-82B Twin Mustang sets a nonstop distance record for fighters flying4,968 miles from Honolulu to New York in 14 hours, 31 minutes at an averagespeed of 341.9 mph.March 17: The XB-45 four-engine bomber makes its first test flight at Muroc,Calif.Oct. 1:XP-86 Sabre Jet makes its first flight.December: North American leases the Downey plant to build the AJ-1 Navy
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October: First launch of Polaris A-2 intermediate range ballistic missile from asubmerged submarine uses Autonetics-developed Ships Inertial Navigation System(SINS).Nov. 28: North American selected as principal contractor for the Project ApolloSpace Development Program.

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Dutch Kindelberger passes away and Lee Atwood succeeds Kindelberger aschairman of the board.

1963 Aug. 22: The X-15 rocket plane reaches its highest altitude of 354,200 feet.

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June 8: Fourteen Air Force F-100 Super Sabres are dispatched to Danang Air Basefor the Vietnam Conflict.

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July 17:XB-70 Valkyrie No. 2 makes its first flight.

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June 3:Gemini 9 is launched, using five Rocketdyne engines.

1967 Sept. 22: North American Aviation, Inc., merges with Rockwell StandardCorporation and becomes North American Rockwell Corporation.

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July 31: The first USAF OV-10A Broncos, destined for combat, arrive in Vietnam.

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July 20:Apollo 11 makes the first successful moon landing on the lunar Sea ofTranquillity.[Top of page]

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June 6: Air Force contract calls for five flight-test B-1 bombers and two non-flyingairframes.

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The company invests $35 million in Collins Radio Co. North American Rockwell isreorganized into four main market areas: aerospace, automotive, electronics andindustrial products.Autonetics wins Short Range Attack Missile computer production award.

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Maudsley Motor Co. Pressings Division and Clarke Chapman-John Thompson Co.of England join the company.August: Employment drops to 6,232, the lowest since 1961.

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Atomics International starts work on Clinch River Plant, the countrys firstdemonstration breeder nuclear electric power plant.

February: North American Rockwell becomes Rockwell International and CollinsRadio Company will be merged into Rockwell International.

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August: Space Division completes the docking module and the U.S. half of theinternational docking system for the Apollo-Soyuz test project.

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July: The first international space mission is completed successfully with theApollo/Soyuz test project, in which U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts docktheir spacecraft in Earth orbit. North American Space Division was the prime
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contractor for the Apollo spacecraft and the docking module used on the mission.

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January: Rockwell delivered, in one month, two million MOS-LSI circuitscontaining more electronic circuits than were individually produced by the totalsemiconductor industry during the first year of 1970.

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July 8: The 500th Commercial Sabrelinerwas delivered to the Procter & GambleCompany.June: By the end of the month, three B-1As have flown 118 hours, totaling 646

hours of flying time with more than 21 hours at supersonic speed.July 22: The F-100D Super Sabre used by the Thunderbirds USAF Flightdemonstration team is presented to the Air Force Museum at Dayton.

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May: NASAs Pioneer IIspacecraft originally launched by North AmericansRocketdyne engines reaches Saturn after a six-year, 20 billion-mile journey.

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July: First flight of subscale unmanned HiMAT aircraft by NASA.[Top of page]

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Feb. 21-22: Sabreliner Model 80 sets a long-range flight record for its class, flying2,653 miles from Boston to Paris at 528 mph.

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April 1:Space Shuttle Orbitermakes its test flight.

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January: Air Force directs Rockwell International to begin production of 100 B-1Bs.March 31: Rockwell International wins contract to build HELLFIRE missiles andlaunchers.

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July 1: Rockwell International sells Sabreliner Division to Wolsey and Company. Itbecomes the Sabreliner Corporation.November: The GBU-15 with television guidance completes full-scale operational

test and evaluation.

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Oct. 18: The B1-B makes its first flight.

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June 29: The first B-1B is delivered to SAC at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.

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July 2: Rockwell is awarded a contract to build 12 new AC-130U Gunships.April 14: A B-1B begins a 21-hour, 40-minute flight on a course covering 9,411miles, with a takeoff weight of 413,000 pounds.

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Jan. 20: The last B-1B rolls out of final assembly at Palmdale, Calif.

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May 4: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches Magellan to Venus.[Top of page]

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Jan. 19: The second X-31 enhanced fighter makes its first flight.Jan. 31: National contractor team sets out to develop the National Aero-SpacePlane (NASP).
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Jan 20: Both X-31s are flown to Edwards Air Force Base for testing.

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August: The X-31 demonstrates full capability in flying Basic Fighter Maneuvers.November and December: X-31 reaches supersonic speeds (Mach 1.28).

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December: Boeing and space and defense divisions of Rockwell Internationalmerge.

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March 5:Lee Atwood dies at the age of 94.

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James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger1895-1962

James Howard Dutch Kindelberger was born in Wheeling,W.V., on May 8, 1895, the son of steelworker Charles FrederickKindelberger. Kindelberger started working in the steel industrywith his father but, in 1916, when he was 21 years old, went tostudy at the Carnegie Institute of Technology.

The United States entered World War I in 1917, and DutchKindelberger joined the Army to serve in the Aviation Section of

the Signal Corps. He was a pilot instructor based at Park Field in Memphis, Tenn.

After the war, Kindelberger looked for work in aviation. In 1919, he married Thelma Knarrand, in 1920, became chief draftsman and assistant chief engineer with the Glenn L. MartinAircraft Company in Cleveland. Five years later, he joined Douglas Aircraft in California aschief engineer. Kindelberger remained with Douglas for nine years, leading development ofthe DC-1 and the DC-2.

In 1934, Kindelberger became president and general manager of General Aviation, later

renamed North American Aviation, Inc., and served as general manager until 1948, when hebecame chairman and chief executive officer. Under his guidance, North American Aviationbroke technological barriers; produced propeller- and jet-powered fighters and bombers,military trainers, rocket engines, and rocket-powered aircraft; and began its role as the primecontractor for the countrys space program.

Kindelberger retired in 1960 as chief executive officer at the age of 65 and was succeeded byLee Atwood. Kindelberger remained chairman of the board until his death two years later.

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John Leland "Lee" Atwood1904-1999

John Leland (Lee) Atwood joined North American Aviation, Inc.in 1934, one year before the firm moved from Dundalk,Maryland, to Southern California. He previously worked atDouglas Aircraft in Southern California, builder of such venerabletransports as the DC-3, so he would cross the country twice in ashort time.

He soon became a vice president, and in 1938 was namedassistant general manager of the company. In 1941, he became first vice president; in 1948he was elected president; in 1960 he became chief executive officer at the retirement ofDutch Kindelberger; and in 1962 he became chairman of the board.

Mr. Atwood was born in Walton, Kentucky on Oct. 26, 1904. He attended Hardin-SimmonsUniversity from 1924 to 1926, receiving a bachelor of arts degree, then completedpostgraduate engineering courses at the University of Texas, earning a bachelor of sciencedegree in 1928.

A number of leaders in the aerospace industry have described Mr. Atwood as "a chiefengineer's chief engineer." His technical acumen was the driving force behind the company'sevolution into an aviation and space leader which produced more military aircraft than anyother company (a record which stands to this day). Among those aircraft: the P-51 Mustang,a swift, agile WWII fighter with an especially impressive record in the aerial war in Europe;the B-25 Mitchell bomber, used by Jimmy Doolittle and his Tokyo Raiders to turn the tide ofthe war in the Pacific; the T-6 Texan, which almost every U.S. and British WWII pilottrained in; and the F-86 SabreJet fighter, which exhibited a superiority of 10-to-1 or betteragainst Russian MiGs in Korea.

As the company's aviation leadership continued after WWII, Mr. Atwood used his technical

vision and managerial skills to establish his company as an indispensable national asset innew high-technology fields such as rocket propulsion, intercontinental ballistic missiles, andthe Apollo moon-landing program.

In 1967, Mr. Atwood merged North American with Rockwell of Pittsburgh to form NorthAmerican Rockwell (later to become Rockwell International). During the consolidation, heprovided leadership in his role as president and chief executive officer of the newcorporation, setting the stage for the company's continuing aerospace leadership as producersof the Space Shuttle and the B-1 bomber.

Mr. Atwood retired in 1970, but remained on the board of directors until 1978. Even after

that, he maintained an active involvement with the company and its programs, and thecompany continued to regard him as an invaluable resource.

Under Mr. Atwood's leadership, the company and its employees captured three CollierTrophies, the aerospace industry's most prestigious awards, for their work on the F-100supersonic fighter, the X-15 spaceplane, and the B-1 bomber.

Among numerous individual honors and awards bestowed on Mr. Atwood were aPresidential Citation from Harry S Truman for his contributions during WWII; the Air Force
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Association's Hap Arnold Trophy; and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, awarded bythe National Aeronautic Association. That Association honored him again at a later date,declaring him an "Elder Statesman of Aviation" in ceremonies in 1976. Mr. Atwood was alsoan honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics - thatorganization's highest rank.

Mr. Atwood died on March 5, 1999, at the age of 94.

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