Entering Aviation
In 1916 Northrop's first job in aviation was in working as a draftsman for Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company, founded in 1912 by the Lockheed brothers Allan Haines Loughead 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 Lockheed brothers and their new (1926) Lockheed 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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Famous quotes containing the word entering:
“The American adolescent, then, is faced, as are the adolescents of all countries who have entered or are entering the machine age, with the question: freedom from what and at what price? The American feels so rich in his opportunities for free expression that he often no longer knows what it is he is free from. Neither does he know where he is not free; he does not recognize his native autocrats when he sees them.”
—Erik H. Erikson (1904–1994)