Clarence Johnson

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“Kelly Johnson” redirects here. For other uses, see Kelly Johnson (disambiguation).
Kelly Johnson participated in the design of the Lockheed L-10 Electra, testing a model of the design in the wind tunnel of the University of Michigan.
Kelly Johnson participated in the design of the Lockheed L-10 Electra, testing a model of the design in the wind tunnel of the University of Michigan.

Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 - December 21, 1990) was an aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator. Johnson worked for Lockheed for more than four decades, playing a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft, and acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers of the 20th century.

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[edit] Life

Born to immigrant Swedish parents in the remote mining town of Ishpeming, Michigan, Johnson was a mere 13 when he won a prize for his first aircraft design. He worked his way through school, first at Flint Junior College, and then at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. While attending grad school at Michigan, he was ridiculed for his name, Clarence. Some boys started calling him "Clara". One morning while waiting in line to get into a classroom, one boy started with the normal routine of calling him "Clara". Johnson tripped the boy so hard he broke his leg. The boys then decided that he wasn't a "Clara" and started calling him "Kelly". The nickname came from the popular song at the time, "Kelly With the Green Neck Tie". Henceforth he was always known as "Kelly" Johnson.

Johnson married to Althea Louise Young in 1937, who died in December 1969. In May 1971, he married Mary Ellen Elberta Meade of New York, who died on October 13, 1980, at 38 years of age. He married Nancy Powers Horrigan in November 1980.

His autobiography, titled Kelly: More Than My Share of it All, ISBN 0-87474-491-1, was published in 1985.

Johnson died at the age of 80 at St Joseph Medical Center, after an illness that lasted for several years. He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.

[edit] Lockheed career

At Michigan, he conducted a wind tunnel test of Lockheed's proposed twin-engined Lockheed L-10 Electra airliner. He found that the aircraft did not have adequate directional stability, and proposed adding a "H" tail to address the problem. Lockheed accepted his suggestion and the L-10 went on to be a success. This brought Johnson to the attention of Lockheed management. Upon completing his master's degree in 1933, Johnson joined the Lockheed Company as a tool designer at a salary of $83 a month. After assignments as flight test engineer, stress analyst, aerodynamicist, and weight engineer, he became chief research engineer in 1938. In 1952, he was appointed chief engineer of Lockheed's Burbank, California plant, which later became the Lockheed-California Company. In 1956 he became Vice President of Research and Development.

Johnson became Vice President of Advanced Development Projects (ADP) in 1958. The first ADP offices were nearly uninhabitable; the stench from a nearby plastic factory was so vile one of the engineers began answering the phone "skonk works!" (Big Barnsmell's Skonk Works – spelled with an "o" – was where Kickapoo Joy Juice was brewed in the comic strip L'il Abner by Al Capp.) Here the F-104 Starfighter, and the secret reconnaissance planes, the U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird, were developed.

He served on Lockheed's board of directors from 1964 to 1980, becoming a senior vice president in 1969. He officially retired from Lockheed in 1975 and was succeeded by Ben Rich, but continued as a consultant at the Skunk Works. In June1983, the Lockheed Rye Canyon Research facility was renamed Kelly Johnson Research and Development Center, Lockheed-California Company, in honor of Johnson's 50 years of service to the company.

[edit] Aircraft contributions

While at Lockheed, Johnson designed the P-38 Lightning fighter, made fowler flaps work on the L-14 Super Electra, and played a major role in converting the type into the Royal Air Force's Lockheed Hudson on short notice in 1938. He worked on the development of the Constellation for Howard Hughes' TWA.

Johnson contributed to the design of the following Lockheed aircraft:

Kelly Johnson with a variant of the U-2.
Kelly Johnson with a variant of the U-2.
See also: List of Lockheed aircraft

[edit] Kelly Johnson's 14 Rules of Management

Johnson's famed 'down-to-brass-tacks' management style was summed up by his motto, "Be quick, be quiet, and be on time." He ran the Skunk Works by the following 14 rules [1]:

1. The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.

2. Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.

3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).

4. A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.

5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.

6. There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program. Don't have the books 90 days late, and don't surprise the customer with sudden overruns.

7. The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.

8. The inspection system as currently used by the Skunk Works, which has been approved by both the Air Force and Navy, meets the intent of existing military requirements and should be used on new projects. Push more basic inspection responsibility back to subcontractors and vendors. Don't duplicate so much inspection.

9. The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight. He can and must test it in the initial stages. If he doesn't, he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.

10. The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.

11. Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn't have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.

12. There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor with very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.

13. Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.

14. Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.

[edit] Honors and Awards

  • 1932 (September) Sheehan Fellowship in Aeronautics, at the University of Michigan.
  • 1937 Lawrence Sperry Award, Presented by the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences for "Important improvements of aeronautical design of high speed commercial aircraft."
  • 1941 The Wright Brothers Medal, presented by the Society of Automotive Engineers for "Work on control problems of four-engine airplanes."
  • 1956 The Sylvanus Albert Reed Award, presented by the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, for "Design and rapid development of high performance subsonic and supersonic aircraft."
  • 1956 Elected Aviation Man of the Year by a group of Aviation writers and editors appointed by the Airlines Activities Committee, representing 7,000 airline employees.
  • 1958 Elected Distinguished Member of the Jet Pioneers Association of U.S.A.
  • 1959 Co-Recipient of the Collier Trophy as designer of the airframe of the F-104 Starfighter, sharing the honor with General Electric (engine) and U.S. Air Force (Flight Records). The F-104 was designated the previous year's "Greatest achievement in aviation in America."
  • 1960 The General Hap Arnold Gold Medal, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars for "Design of the U-2 high altitude research plane."
  • 1961 Chosen as one of 50 outstanding Americans of meritorious performance in the fields of endeavor, to be honored as a Guest of Honor to the first annual banquet of the Golden Plate. Honor was awarded by vote of the National Panel of Distinguished Americans of the Academy of Achievement of Monterey, California.
  • 1963 The Theodore von Karman Award, presented by the Air Force Association for "Designing and directing development of the U-2, thus providing the Free World with one of it's most valuable instruments in the defense of freedom."
  • 1963 Elected an Honorary Member of the Aerospace Medical Association, in appreciation of his sincere and effective interest and activities in behalf of their work.
  • 1964 The Medal of Freedom, presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson in ceremonies at the White House. The highest civil honor the President can bestow, this recognizes "Significant contributions to the quality of American life." Johnson was cited for his advancement of aeronautics.
  • 1964 The Award of Achievement, presented by the national Aviation club of Washington D.C., for "Outstanding achievement in airplane design and development over many years, including such models as the Constellation, P-80, F-104, JetStar, the U-2, and climaxed by the metallurgical and performance breakthroughs of the A-11 (YF-12A).
  • 1964 The Collier Trophy (his second), following his work on the YF-12 Interceptor, capable of 2000mph. His achievement for the previous year was call the greatest in American aviation.
  • 1964 The Theodore von Karman Award (his second), presented by the Air force Association for his work with the A-11 (YF-12A) Interceptor.
  • 1964 Honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering, University of Michigan.
  • 1964 Honorary degree of Doctor of Science, University of Southern California.
  • 1965 Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, University of California at Los Angeles.
  • 1965 San Fernando Valley Engineer of the Year, so designated by the San Fernando, California, Valley Engineers Council.
  • 1965 Elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
  • 1965 Elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
  • 1965 Selected as one of the first 20 men to be included in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame in San Diego, California.
  • 1966 The Sylvanus Albert Reed Award (his second) given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics "In recognition of notable contributions to the aerospace sciences resulting from experimental or theoretical investigations."
  • 1966 National Medal of Science, presented by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House.
  • 1966 The Thomas D. White National Defense Award, presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in recognition of "Your great contributions to the national defense and security of the United States. '
  • 1967 Elected Honorary Fellow of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
  • 1968 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
  • 1969 The General William Mitchell Memorial Award, presented by the Aviators Post #743 of the American Legion.
  • 1970 Awarded the Spirit of St. Louis Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
  • 1970 On behalf of Lockheed's Advanced Development Projects facility, which he directed until his retirement in 1975, accepted the first annual Engineering Materials Achievements Award of the American Society for Metals.
  • 1970 The Engineering Merit Award-Presented by the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering, Beverly Hills, California.
  • 1970 Honored by the Air Force Association, Washington D.C., for design of the P-38 Lightning.
  • 1971 Awarded the Sixth Annual Founders Medal by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) at the Statler-Hilton Hotel, Washington D.C.. in recognition of his fundamental contributions to engineering.
  • 1972 Awarded the Silver Knight Award by the Lockheed Management Club of California at the Hollywood Palladium for his contributions to Lockheed's success.
  • 1973 Awarded the first "Clarence L. Johnson Award" by The Society of Fight Test Engineers In Las Vegas, Nevada, for his contributions to aviation and flight test engineering.
  • 1973 Civilian Kitty Hawk Memorial Award by Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce for his outstanding contributions in the field of aviation.
  • 1974 Air Force Exceptional Service Award for his many outstanding contributions to the United States Air Force. Presented by the Secretary of the Air force, John McLucas.
  • 1974 Enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio for his outstanding contributions to aviation.
  • 1975 Awarded the Central Intelligence Agency's Distinguished Intelligence Medal for his work on reconnaissance systems.
  • 1975 Awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for his vital and enduring contributions over a period of 40 years to the design and development of military and commercial aircraft.
  • 1978 The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presented "A Salute to Kelly Johnson" night.
  • 1980 Awarded the Bernt Balchen Trophy, the highest award of the New York State Air Force Association. The trophy is presented annually to "An individual of national prominence whose contribution to the field of aviation has been unique, extensive or of great significance." It followed announcement of the SR-71.
  • 1981 Presented the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Presented by Harold Brown.
  • 1981 Honored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for his ability to motivate a small staff to work within a tight time frame and budget in creating revolutionary aircraft design.
  • 1981 The U.S. Air Force creates the "Kelly Johnson Blackbird Achievement Trophy" to recognize the individual or group who has made the most significant contribution to the U-2, SR-71 or the TR-1 Program since the previous annual reunion.
  • 1981 The Daniel Guggenheim Medal, "For his brilliant design of a wide range of pace-setting, commercial, combat and reconnaissance aircraft, and for his innovative management techniques which developed these aircraft in record time at minimum cost."
  • 1982 The Meritorious Service to Aviation Award from National Business Aircraft Association, recognizing design of more than 40 aircraft, including the world's first business jet, the JetStar.
  • 1983 The Aero Club of Southern California presented the Howard Hughes Memorial Award for 1982 to C.L. "Kelly" Johnson as a leader in aviation. The recipient must have devoted a major portion of his life to the pursuit of aviation as a science and as an art. Engraved on the medal was the sentence "His vision formed the concept, His courage forged the reality".
  • 1983 The National Security Medal was presented by President Ronald Reagan to Clarence L. Johnson for "Exceptional meritorious service performed in a position of high responsibility and have made an outstanding contribution to the National Security of the Nation".
  • 1984 Honorary Royal Designer for Industry (HonRDI), in recognition of achievements in aircraft design, conferred by the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce, London.

[edit] Memberships

[edit] Further reading

  • Johnson, Clarence L. "Kelly", and Maggie Smith, 1985. Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 0-87474-564-0
  • Rich, Ben, and Leo Janos, 1996. Skunk Works. Little, Brown & Company, ISBN 0-316-74300-3

[edit] External links

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