Kenneth Gene Wernicke (October 12, 1932 – September 1, 2022) was an American

aerospace 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 s ...

. He had a leading role in the development of the tilt rotor aircraft

Bell XV-3 The Bell XV-3 (Bell 200) is an American tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell Helicopter for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army in order to explore convertiplane technologies. The XV-3 featured ...

, Bell XV-15 and

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport aircraft, military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed ...

Life and career

Ken Wernicke had a BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

."Hydrofoil Presentations"
''International Hydrofoil Society'', 16 May 2011. Accessed: 17 March 2012. From 1955 to 1990 he was an engineer at Bell Helicopter, and worked as a leading engineer with Bob Lichten from 1964 on the tilt rotor technology.Maisel, Martin D., Demo J. Giulianetti and Daniel C. Dugan
NASA SP-2000-4517, "The History of the XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft: From Concept to Flight" (PDF)
''

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

'', 2000. Accessed: 17 March 2012. Along with his twin brother Rod, (who was also a Bell engineer) his son Keith and Rod's sons Tim and Kent, he was developing a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

tracked

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, cars, Duckboats, buses, truc ...

after the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

requested concepts for a scout vehicle that could travel on water at high speed and proceed with all terrain capability for

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

on land. He holds patents related to flying and tracks."List of patents by Kenneth Wernicke"
''

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

''. Accessed: 17 March 2012. Wernicke was an advisory board member of rotorcraft company Carter Aviation Technologies. Wernicke died in

Bedford, Texas Bedford is a city located in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 49,928 at the 2020 United State ...

, on September 1, 2022, at the age of 89.

Awards

Wernicke has received the Paul E. Haueter Memorial Award ( American Helicopter Society) in 1978,Paul E. Haueter Award
, '' American Helicopter Society'' and the Aircraft Design Award (

AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

) in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wernicke, Kenneth 1932 births 2022 deaths American aerospace engineers American aviation pioneers Engineers from Missouri University of Kansas alumni