Leonard S. (Luke) Hobbs (1896–1977) was an American

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 s ...

who started in 1920 with the

Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named f ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

and later worked for Stromberg Motor Devices Corporation. He was born in

Carbon County, Wyoming Carbon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 14,537. Its county seat is Rawlins. Its south border abuts the north line of Colorado. History Carbon County was organized i ...

. He developed the first float-type

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...

for aircraft engines that was capable of providing normal operation during inverted flight. In 1927 he became a research engineer at the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company and by 1944 was vice president of engineering for parent company

United Aircraft Corporation The PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) () is a Russian Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense corporation. With a majority stake belonging to the Russian government, it consolidates Russian private and state-owned Russ ...

.''The Wright Brothers' Engines and Their Design'' by Leonard S. Hobbs, introduction by Frank A. Taylor
/ref> He won the prestigious 1952

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...

for "designing and producing the P&W J57 turbojet engine". In 1956 was elected vice chairman of United Aircraft, retiring in 1958 but remaining on the company's board of directors until 1968. He was the author of ''The Wright Brothers' Engines and Their Design'', published in 1971 by the

Smithsonian Institution Press The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

as part of it
Smithsonian Annals of Flight
series. The 1972 Elmer A. Sperry Award was won by "Hobbs and Perry W. Pratt and the dedicated engineers of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation for the design and development of the JT3 turbo jet engine".List of Sperry Award recipients
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Leonard S. American aerospace engineers 1896 births 1977 deaths People from Carbon County, Wyoming Place of death missing Collier Trophy recipients 20th-century American engineers