Herman Daniel Barkey (12 April 1909 - 9 December 2005) was an American engineer, who led the design team for the McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Phantom.

Early life

He was born in North Judson, Indiana to Daniel and Mary Barkey who were German immigrants. He had a sister Sophia. He attended secondary school in Kewanna, Indiana, the same school that his wife would attend. He gained a university degree in mechanical engineering from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, in Indiana, and another in aeronautical engineering.

Career

Curtiss-Wright

He joined

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is an American manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation (business), consoli ...

McDonnell Aircraft

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II ...

was founded by

James Smith McDonnell James Smith "Mac" McDonnell (April 9, 1899 – August 22, 1980) was an American aviator, engineer, and businessman. He was an aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas (which is now Boeing, af ...

in July 1939. Barkey joined the company in 1945. UK F-4 Phantom 3-view

He was head of the design team for the F-4 Phantom aircraft, and largely responsible for its entire development, being the chief engineer. The aircraft was first designed for two engine types - the

Wright J65 The Wright J65 was an axial-flow turbojet engine produced by Curtiss-Wright under license from Armstrong Siddeley. A development of the Sapphire, the J65 powered a number of US designs. Design and development Curtiss-Wright purchased a license ...

or the

General Electric J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under lice ...

. On 26 May 1955, he decided to make the Phantom a two-man aircraft. The outboard panels would have 12 degrees of dihedral. The Phantom was first flown on 27 May 1958 by Bob Little. McDonnell Aircraft named its series of aircraft after

mythical creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

s. The 1000th Phantom was produced in 1965, followed by the 2000th Phantom on 12 March 1967, the 3000th Phantom on 5 September 1968, the 4000th Phantom on 1 February 1971, and the 5000th Phantom on 24 May 1974 (inaugurated by George Graff). Peak production was in June 1967, and the last Phantom was made on 26 October 1979. In 1973 he received an award from the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

. He retired in 1974.

Personal life

He married Nettie Arline Foglesong in 1937 in Indiana, daughter of Ralph Foglesong (1887-1965) and Polly Parcel; she died in September 2004. From 1996 he had lived in

Town and Country, Missouri Town and Country is a city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States with a population of 11,640 as of the 2020 census. Town and Country has the highest median household income ($134,387 in 2009) of any city in Missouri with a population ...

. He died aged 96 in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

.Boeing obituary in March 2006
/ref> His funeral was in

Manchester, Missouri Manchester is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 18,333 at the 2020 census. History Manchester was named by an English settler after Manchester, England. It was incorporated as a village in 1950 and then r ...

on Thursday 15 December 2005.

References