Warren J. North (28 April 1922 – 10 April 2012) was an American

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

and

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

. He trained fighter pilots during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war he studied aeronautical engineering and became a test pilot. He was Chief of the Flight Crew Support Division from 1962 to 1971, and Assistant Director for Space Shuttle, Flight Operations Directorate at the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

Manned Spacecraft Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, from 1971 to 1985.

Biography

Warren J. North was born on 28 April 1922. He entered the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

, where he studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

, and enlisted in the

Reserve Officer Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

(ROTC), in 1940. Before he could graduate, he was drafted into the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1943, given the rank of

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

, and sent to

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard W ...

, for basic training in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, and then to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for its

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Ty ...

(OCS). North was offered an opportunity to transfer to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF), and did so. He was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

in November 1944, qualifying as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

at Foster Air Force Base, Foster Field, in Victoria, Texas. He was posted to Randolph Field, Texas, as an Flight instructor, instructor, teaching trainee pilots to fly the T-6 Texan, AT-6. Fighter pilots were no longer in demand by this time, so the USAAF decided to retrain him as a bomber pilot, on the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the B-29 Superfortress. Separated from the USAAF after the war ended, North returned to his studies, but this time to Purdue University, as he now wanted to study aeronautical engineering. He graduated from Purdue with his Bachelor of Science degree in 1947, and took a job with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at its Glenn Research Center, Lewis Research Laboratory in Ohio, where he served as an aeronautical engineer and

. He flew various aircraft there, including the P-51 Mustang, P-61 Black Widow, F-82 Twin Mustang, B-24 Liberator, B-25 Mitchell and B-29 Superfortress. Warren North in Gimballing rig

North attended night school at Case Institute of Technology, from which he received a Master of Science degree in theoretical aeronautical engineering in 1955. He was then awarded an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics fellowship to study at Princeton University, earning a second Master of Science degree in applied aeronautical engineering in 1957. He was Assistant Chief of the Aerodynamics Noise Branch from 1955 to 1959. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) absorbed NACA when it was formed in 1958, and North was selected to interview and evaluate the astronauts who became the Mercury Seven. He was transferred to Robert R. Gilruth's Space Task Group at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, and moved to the

(MSC) in

, where he was Chief of the Flight Crew Support Division from 1962 to 1971. North participated in the selection of the NASA Astronaut Group 2, second, NASA Astronaut Group 3, third, NASA Astronaut Group 4, fourth and NASA Astronaut Group 5, fifth groups of astronauts, and oversaw the development of simulators for astronaut training. His division consisted of about three hundred people, who were divided into three groups: Simulation, Crew Integration, and Flight Planning. He was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1969. From 1971 to 1985, he was the Assistant Director for Space Shuttle. North retired from NASA in 1985. He built his own plane and continued to fly. His aunt, Romalda Spalding, the author of the Spalding Method, a method of teaching children to read, asked him to establish a non-profit foundation to educate teachers in her method. This would occupy him for the next 26 years. North died on 10 April 2012. He was survived by his wife Mary, and children, James, Mary, and Susan.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:North, Warren J. 1922 births 2012 deaths American test pilots Case Western Reserve University alumni NASA people Princeton University alumni Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics alumni Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II University of Illinois alumni