John M. Riebe

John Michael Riebe
Born 8 May 1921(1921-05-08)
Lansford, Pennsylvania
Died 21 February 2011(2011-02-21) (aged 89)
Newport News, Virginia
Nationality American
Fields Aeronautical engineering
Institutions Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, NACA
Alma mater Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

John Michael Riebe (8 May 1921 — 21 February 2011) was an American aeronautical engineer and inventor who contributed to the early designs of flight surfaces. Other significant contributions included being project engineer in the development of the Grumman F8F fighter, involvement with short takeoff and landing projects for airline terminals, and work on control systems for rockets, flying boats, Delta wings and powered lift systems.[1] He performed tests in the numerous wind tunnels of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Langley Field, Virginia (now NASA's Langley Research Center in Langley Air Force Base, Virginia), where he was employed.

Many of the tests he performed, as well as the resulting data and reports, were classified at the time because they were wartime reports, but have been since unclassified and available to the general public.[2]

Contents

Biography

John Michael Riebe was born on 8 May 1921, in Lansford, Pennsylvania, the United States of America. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and graduated with a Bachelor of Aeronatical Engineering. He began working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics on 3 January 1943. On 19 August 1946, he received an honorable discharge from the United States Army. He then went on to produce 60 publications and five patents. He retired from NACA (which had become NASA) in December 1974.

NACA/NASA Publications

The following is a list (not exhaustive) of the research papers published by Mr. Riebe et al., which ends at 1962:[3]

Patents

The following is a list of patents owned by Mr. Riebe et al., which have since expired:[5]

[forthcoming]

Publicity

In Popular Science, July 2006 edition, a design was featured in an article, which was invented by John M. Riebe & Vernard E. Lockwood.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Wells 2000, p. 512
  2. ^ An example of such classification can be found here.
  3. ^ Wells 2000, p. 513-8
  4. ^ a b Found only on the NASA Technical Reports Server and not in Rensselaer: Aero Engineers: SAGA of Members: Book 2: Class of 1942, which suggests that there could be other reports missing from this list, as neither source is complete.
  5. ^ Wells 2000, p. 516-7
Bibliography

External links