Donald A. Hall
| Donald A. Hall | |
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Young Donald A. Hall in 1927 when designing the Spirit of ST. Louis
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| Born | 1898 |
| Died | 1968 |
| Occupation | American aerospace engineer |
Donald Albert Hall was a pioneering aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer who is most famous for having designed the Ryan NYP (known commonly as The Spirit of St. Louis) in only sixty days.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 7, 1898. He attended the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, and graduated from the Pratt Institute with a certificate in mechanical engineering in 1917.
He worked for the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Elias & Brothers, and L.W.F. Engineering before moving to Santa Monica, California in 1924 to work for Douglas Aircraft.
He left Douglas Aircraft in 1926 to become an aviation cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps, but did not become a military pilot. He returned to Douglas Aircraft, and began working part-time for Ryan Airlines in San Diego. In 1926, Ryan Airlines changed ownership when T. Claude Ryan sold his half of the business to Benjamin Franklin Mahoney. At that time Hall accepted the position of chief engineer.
Only days later, Ryan Airlines received an inquiry from Robertson Aircraft Corp. of St. Louis asking if they could design and build an aircraft capable of flying nonstop from New York to Paris. Donald Hall signed off on the inquiry. Ryan Airlines responded in the affirmative and after all the other potential manufacturers had said no, Charles A. Lindbergh finally traveled to San Diego to inspect the Ryan Airlines facility. There he met Donald Hall for the first time. After touring the facility with the new owner Benjamin Franklin Mahoney, Lindbergh met and discussed the project with Donald A. Hall in his second story office. Lindbergh wanted to decide if the company could really deliver on the proposed aircraft.
Lindbergh later stated in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis, that the decision to go with Ryan Airlines would depend primarily on his estimate of the chief engineer, Donald Hall. He found a true partner in Donald Hall and the men at Ryan Airlines, so an agreement was finalized and the two men began working closely to design and construct the aircraft in only sixty days.
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