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[edit] Impressions of H. Multhopp
I was in Structures at Glenn L. Martin/The Martin Company in the 1950s when Multhopp, and a number of other German imports, worked there. [My name, Cliff O'Hearne] I remember him as a large, blonde, lion maned, type of German. When he made a presentation in a small classroom, I would take a front row seat because he would hang his head to one side and speak in a very soft voice. Among other things, he was noted for an airplane wing lift theory named the Multhopp Lifting Line theory. It was in the airplane aerodynamics texts of the time. That was before aerospace companies had mainframe digital computers. The first at Martin, an IBM 701 was installed about 1955. The lifting line theory was a tool of the slide rule and desk calculator age. I had the notion that Multhopp was the inventor of the T-Tail, but I am not sure that is entirely the case. At Martin, we designed and manufactured a number of T-Tail airplanes. I had left Middle River and Multhopp in late '59. I was aware that, before he retired, he was a principle in a COIN fighter proposal. It was a sophisticated design with a "blown tail" that allowed low airspeed [60 mph] hovering. It was, I suppose, too fancy for the AF which settled on the Fairchild A10 Warthog that still flies today, still in combat operations, I think. [COIN: counterinsurgency]. That was the last Martin airplane design. Well, now as evolved into Lockheed Martin, you might say it was not the last after all. All the above is right off the top of my head, but I think it is reasonably accurate for a taste of Multhopp's last career stage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.205.16.42 (talk • contribs) 20:14, 17 April 2007
