Jack Northrop
| Jack Northrop | |
|---|---|
| Born |
John Knudsen Northrop November 10, 1895 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | February 18, 1981 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Aeronautics Engineer Industrial Designer Businessman |
John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop (November 10, 1895 – February 18, 1981) was an American aircraft industrialist and designer, who founded the Northrop Corporation in 1939.
His career began in 1916 as a draftsman for Lockheed Aircraft Manufacturing Company (founded 1912). He joined the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1923, where in time he became a project engineer. In 1927 he rejoined Lockheed, where he was a chief engineer on the Lockheed Vega transport. He left in 1929 to found Avion Corporation, which he sold in 1930. Two years later he founded the Northrop Corporation. This firm became a subsidiary of Douglas Aircraft in 1939, so he co-founded a second company named Northrop.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Northrop grew up in Santa Barbara, California. In 1916 Northrop's first job in aviation was in working as a draftsman for Lockheed Aircraft Manufacturing Company, founded in 1912 by the Loughead brothers (Allan and Malcolm Loughead). In 1923, Northrop joined Douglas Aircraft Company, participating in the design of the Douglas Round-the-World-Cruiser and working up to project engineer. In early 1927, Northrop assisted Jack Ryan of Ryan Aircraft in the larger wing design used on Lindbergh's plane "The Spirit of St Louis" that would later make the New York to Paris flight in May 1927.
In 1927 he rejoined the Loughead brothers and their newly renamed (in 1926) Loughead Aircraft Corporation, working as chief engineer on the Lockheed Vega, the civilian transport monoplane with a cantilever wing that produced unusually high performance for that period, and was widely used by such top pilots as Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, and Hubert Wilkins. In 1929 he produced an all-metal monoplane with pilot and engine within the wing structure. Although this aircraft had booms to attach the tail group, it was in fact the first step toward the flying wing.
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