This is a list of notable aerospace engineers, people who were trained in or practiced

aerospace engineering 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 ...

and design. __NOTOC__

A

* Talbert Abrams (1895–1990) – aerial photography and plexiglas pioneer, designer of the

Abrams P-1 Explorer The Abrams P-1 Explorer is an American purpose-designed aerial photography and survey aircraft that first flew in November 1937. Design and development The Explorer was designed by aerial survey pioneer Talbert Abrams, to meet his needs for a ...

* Gerd Achgelis (1908–1991) – helicopter pioneer * Jakob Ackeret (1898–1981) * Clément Ader (1841–1925) – early aviation pioneer * Bruce Aikenhead (1923–2019) – Avro Canada,

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 ...

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...

(born 1930) – astronaut, mechanical engineer and second person to walk on the Moon * Rostislav Alexeyev (1916–1980) – ground effect vehicle designer * Edmund T. Allen (1896–1943) – engineer, test pilot * Harry Julian Allen (1910–1977) – NASA, inventor of blunt body re-entry vehicles * Gwen Alston (1907–1993) – aerodynamicist * (1917–1993) – control systems designer at McDonnell and Convair, designer of the Malmö MFI-9 Junior * Oleg Antonov (1906–1984) – founder of the OKB-153 Antonov design bureau *

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

(1930–2012) – astronaut, aeronautical engineer and first person to walk on the Moon * Yuri Artsutanov (1929–2019) – space elevator pioneer * Holt Ashley (1923–2006) – researched aeroelasticity * Lee Atwood (1904–1999) –

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

engineer

B

* Brunolf Baade (1904–1969) – lead designer of the Baade 152 * Erich Bachem (1906–1960) – designer of the Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket plane * Leonard Bairstow (1880–1963) –

National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the national measurement standards laboratory of the United Kingdom. It sets and maintains physical standards for British industry. Founded in 1900, the NPL is one of the oldest metrology institutes i ...

researcher * Herman Barkey (1909–2005) – led the design team for the McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Phantom * V. P. Barmin (1909–1993) – designer of the rocket launch complex * Frank Barnwell (1880–1938) – chief engineer

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable ...

* Robert Ludvigovich Bartini (1897–1974) – designer of the

Bartini Beriev VVA-14 The Bartini Beriev VVA-14 ''Vertikaľno-Vzletayushchaya Amfibiya'' ( vertical take-off amphibious aircraft) was a wing-in-ground-effect aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the early 1970s. Designed to be able to take off from the wa ...

and other experimental projects, founder of the OKB-86 design bureau * Yaakov Bar-Shalom (born 1941) – researcher of target tracking * L. E. Baynes (1902–1989) – designer of the Baynes Bat tank glider * (1914–2005) – Aermacchi MB-326 designer * Jim Bede (1933–2015) * Hermann Behrbohm (1907–1977) – aerodynamicist at Messerschmidt and Saab * Rex Beisel (1893–1972) – lead engineer at Curtiss and

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought ...

* Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (1886–1960) – aircraft pioneer, blended wing designer * Dwight Henry Bennett (1917–2002) – developed

Fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...

technology, helped design the F2Y, F-102, F-4 Phantom, F/A-18 *

Thomas W. Benoist Thomas W. Benoist (December 29, 1874 – June 14, 1917) was an American aviator and aircraft manufacturer. In an aviation career of only ten years, he formed the world's first aircraft parts distribution company, established one of the leading e ...

(1874–1917) – early

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

entrepreneur *

Igor Bensen Igor Vasilevich Bensen (; April 1, 1917 – February 10, 2000) was a Russian-American engineer. He founded Bensen Aircraft, a US company which produced a successful line of gyrogliders (rotor kites) and autogyros. Early life and educatio ...

(1917–2000) –

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

designer * Max Bentele (1909–2006) – jet engine pioneer * Aleksandr Bereznyak (1912–1974) – designer of the BI-1 rocket plane *

Georgy Beriev Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev (Beriashvili) ( ''Georgij Michajlovič Beriev''; Georgian: გიორგი მიხეილის ძე ბერიაშვილი ''Giorgi Mikheilis Dze Beriashvili''; 13 February 1903 – 12 July 1979), wa ...

(1903–1979) – founder of the OKB-49 Beriev design bureau * J. D. Bernal (1901–1971) – invented the Bernal sphere for space habitation * Albert Betz (1885–1968) – designer and researcher *

Paul Bevilaqua Paul Michael Bevilaqua (born May 11, 1945) is an aeronautics engineer at Lockheed Martin in California, United States. In 1990, he invented the lift fan for the Joint Strike Fighter F-35B along with fellow Skunk Works engineer, Paul Shumpert. ...

(born 1945) – lift fan inventor * Ronald Eric Bishop (1903–1989) - chief designer of the

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

* Matus Bisnovat (1905–1977) – missile designer * Robert Blackburn (1885–1955) – aviation pioneer * Louis Blériot (1872–1936) – aviation pioneer * George Eugene Bockrath (1911–1998) – researched fracture mechanics * Hendrik Wade Bode (1905–1982) – NASA advisor * Jenny Body – former President of the Royal Aeronautical Society * William Boeing (1881–1956) – founder of

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

* Charles Bolden (born 1946) – NASA Administrator * Viktor Bolkhovitinov (1899–1970) – lead designer of the Bolkhovitinov DB-A bomber, founder of the OKB-293 design bureau * Ludwig Bölkow (1912–2003) – aerodynamicist for the Me 262 * Alan Bond (born 1944) – designed spaceplanes and an SST * Philip Bono (1921–1993) – space launcher developer *

Frank Borman Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) colonel (United States), colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, test pilot, and businessman. He was the commander of Apollo ...

(1928-2023) – commanded first mission to circle the Moon * Karel Bossart (1904–1975) – lead designer of the Atlas ICBM * Enea Bossi Sr. (1888–1963) – aviation pioneer * William Hawley Bowlus (1896–1967) – glider designer * John Boyd (1927–1997) – created the energy–maneuverability theory * Frances Bradfield (1895–1967) – wind tunnel researcher * Ferdinand Brandner (1903–1986) – aircraft engine designer * Erik Bratt (1916–2010) – lead designer at

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...

* Vance Breese (1904–1973) – engineer and test pilot *

Louis Charles Breguet Louis Charles Breguet (; 2 January 1880 in Paris – 4 May 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French aircraft designer and builder, one of the early List of aviation pioneers, aviation pioneers. Biography Louis Charles Breguet was the g ...

(1880–1955) – aviation pioneer, founder of Bréguet Aviation * Maurice Brennan (1913–1986) – designer of flying boats, helicopters, transports, rockets, hovercraft * Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) – electrothermal hydrazine thruster * Arthur E. Bryson (born 1925) – "father of modern optimal control theory" * (1895–1976) – founder of Bücker-Flugzeugbau GmbH * (1912–1994) – designed the Functional Cargo Block of several space missions * Isabelle Buret – engineer specializing in telecommunications and astronautics * Vincent Burnelli (1895–1964) – blended wing and

lifting body A lifting body is a fixed-wing aircraft or spacecraft configuration in which the body itself produces lift (force), lift. In contrast to a flying wing, which is a wing with minimal or no conventional fuselage, a lifting body can be thought of as ...

designer * Anne Burns (1915–2001) –

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

expert * Adolf Busemann (1901–1986) –

swept wing A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...

* Robert W. Bussard (1928–2007) – designer of

nuclear thermal rocket A nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction replaces the chemical energy of the rocket propellant, propellants in a chemical rocket. In an NTR, a working fluid, usually liquid hydrogen, is ...

engines * Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin – aviation pioneer

C

* Sydney Camm (1893–1966) –

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

designer *

Secondo Campini Secondo Campini (August 28, 1904 – February 7, 1980) was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine. Campini was born at Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. In 1931 he wrote a proposal for the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Italian Air Min ...

(1904–1980) – jet engine pioneer * Giovanni Caproni (1886–1957) – founder of Caproni * Albert Caquot (1881–1976) – aviation pioneer * (1906–1976) – chief engineer at

Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established in Toulouse by Émile Dewoitine in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters, which were largely ignored by ...

, designer at Fouga * Mario Castoldi (1888–1968) – chief designer at Aeronautica Macchi * Beatrice Mabel Cave-Browne-Cave (1874–1947) – undertook pioneering work in the mathematics of aeronautics *

George Cayley Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific ...

(1773–1857) – notable for his research in aerodynamics * Clyde Cessna (1879–1954) – early aircraft designer and founder of

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

Roy Chadwick Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an English aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief ...

(1893–1947) – design engineer for the

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

Company * Roger Chaffee (1935–1967) –

Apollo 1 Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was planned to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital ...

fire victim on January 27, 1967 * George Henry Challenger (1881–1947) – engineer with the Bristol Aeroplane Company and later with Vickers * Jim Chamberlin (1915–1981) – Avro Canada, NASA * Roy Chaplin (1899–1988) – Hawker Aircraft * George Chapline Jr. (born 1942) – proposer of a fission-fragment rocket *

Kalpana Chawla Kalpana Chawla (March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space. Chawla expressed an interest in aerospace engineering from an early age and took engi ...

(1961–2003) – died in the ''Columbia'' disaster *

Vladimir Chelomey Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey or Chelomei (, ; 30 June 1914 – 8 December 1984) was a Soviet people, Soviet engineer and designer in the missile program of the former Soviet Union. He invented the first Soviet Pulsejet, pulse jet engine and w ...

(1914–1984) – founder of the OKB-52 rocket design bureau * (born 1930) – participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1 * Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky (1896–1960) – flying wing designer * (born 1955) – aerodynamicist *

Boris Chertok Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (; – 14 December 2011) was a Russian engineer in the former Soviet space program, mainly working in control systems, and later found employment in Roscosmos. Major responsibility under his guidance was primarily bas ...

(1912–2011) – space program control systems designer * Chu Chia-Jen (1900–1985) * Thomas P. Christie (born 1934) – mathematician, co-creator of the Energy–maneuverability theory with John Boyd * Zbysław Ciołkosz (1902–1960) – introduced the use of shaft turbine power for helicopters * John Drury Clark (1907–1988) – developer of jet and rocket fuel * Val Cleaver (1917–1977) – rocket engineer * Henri Coandă (1886–1972) – inventor of the

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

* Richard Coar (1921–2013) – RJ10 rocket engine designer * Christopher Cockerell (1910–1999) –

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

inventor * Dandridge MacFarlan Cole (1921–1965) – Titan II designer *

Giuseppe Colombo Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo (2 October 1920 in Padua – 20 February 1984 in Padua) was an Italians, Italian scientist, mathematician and engineer at the University of Padua, Italy. Mercury Colombo studied the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury, and ...

(1920–1984) – developed the gravitational assist profile used in the

Mariner 10 ''Mariner 10'' was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury (planet), Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. ''Marin ...

mission to Mercury, invented the space tether *

Nicholas Comper Nicholas Comper (29 April 1897 – 17 June 1939) was an England, English aviator and aircraft designer, whose most notable success was the 1930s Comper Swift monoplane racer. Early life Nicholas Comper was born in Lambeth, London, England, the ...

(1897–1939) – designer of the Comper Swift * Philip M. Condit (born 1941) – former CEO of

* René Couzinet (1904–1956) – invented retractable landing gear * Eugene E. Covert (1926–2015) – wind tunnel designer * Ray Creasey (1921–1976) aerodynamicist, helped design the BAC Lightning * Gaetano Crocco (1877–1968) – rocketry pioneer *

Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American United States Navy, naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who fl ...

(1921–2006) – first man to fly faster than twice the speed of sound in NAA's

X-15 The North American X-15 is a Hypersonic speed, hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the List of X-planes, X-plane series of ...

* Alwyn Crow (1894–1965) – rocket designer * Irv Culver (1911–1999) – P-38 designer *

Glenn Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...

(1878–1930) – founder of the US aircraft industry * Kazimierz Czarnecki (1916–2005) – NACA and NASA engineer

D

* Werner Dahm (1917–2008) * Frederick Dallenbach – Auxiliary power unit designer * (1889–1969) – developed solid fuel rocket fuel * Corradino D'Ascanio (1891–1981) – helicopter pioneer * Marcel Dassault (1892–1986) * Serge Dassault (1925–2018) * Arthur Davenport (1891–1976) –

Westland Aircraft Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. Du ...

* Fred David (1898–1992) – designer at Heinkel, Mitsubishi, Aichi Kokuki and

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manage ...

* Stuart Davies (1906–1995) – designed the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

and Vulcan *

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

(1452–1519) *

Geoffrey de Havilland Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. De Havilland, The aircraft company he founded produced the de Havilland Mosquit ...

(1882–1965) * Louis de Monge (1890–1977) – blended wing inventor *

Juan de la Cierva Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva (; 21 September 1895 – 9 December 1936), was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and a self-taught aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of a rotorcr ...

(1895–1936) – inventor of the autogyro *

Satish Dhawan Satish Dhawan (25 September 1920 – 3 January 2002) was an Indian mathematician and aerospace engineer. He served as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1972 to 1984 and is often regarded as the father ...

(1920–2002) * Walter Stuart Diehl (1893–1976) – created US Navy test facilities, authored ''Engineering Aerodynamics'' * Bertil Dillner (1923–2015) – engineer at Saab and Boeing * Paul Bernard Dilworth (1915–2007) * (born 1947) – sailplane designer * Heini Dittmar (1911–1960) – record-breaking pilot * Jurgis Dobkevičius (1900–1926) – Lithuanian aviation constructor, military pilot * Takeo Doi (1904–1996) – designer for Kawasaki Aircraft Industries * Tom Dolan – developed the

lunar orbit rendezvous Lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) is a process for landing humans on the Moon and returning them to Earth. It was utilized for the Apollo program missions in the 1960s and 1970s. In a LOR mission, a main spacecraft and a lunar lander travel to lunar or ...

concept for the Apollo program * Roy Dommett (1933–2015) – the United Kingdom's Chief Missile Scientist * Charles J. Donlan (1916–2011) – NASA manager * Allen F. Donovan (1914–1995) WW2 aircraft, Atlas and Titan missiles, nuclear rockets * Jimmy Doolittle (1896–1993) – instrument flying developer * Étienne Dormoy (1885–1959) – airplane and autogyro designer * Claude Dornier (1884–1969) * Anatoly Dorodnitsyn (1910–1994) – researched meteorology, vortex wing theory, boundary layer theory in a compressible gas, and supersonic gas dynamics * Donald W. Douglas (1892–1981) – founder of the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell D ...

* George Dowty (1901–1975) – designer of aircraft components * Charles Stark Draper (1901–1987) – developed inertial navigation * Hugh Latimer Dryden (1898–1965) – researcher and NASA administrator * Guy du Merle (1908–1993) – engineer, test flew captured Bf 109 and He 111 in Spain * Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932) – inventor of the

dirigible An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ...

; aeronautics pioneer * J. W. Dunne (1875–1949) – invented the first delta wing * Pedro Duque (born 1963) – engineer and astronaut * William F. Durand (1859–1958) – propeller designer, NACA chair *

Ludwig Dürr Ludwig Ferdinand Dürr (4 June 1878 in Stuttgart – 1 January 1956 in Friedrichshafen) was a German airship designer. Life and career After completing training as a mechanic, Dürr continued his training at the Königliche Baugewerkschule (Ro ...

(1878–1956) – airship designer * Leonid Dushkin (1910–1990) – rocket engine designer

E

* George Edwards (1908–2003) – designer at

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

and BAC * Alfred J. Eggers (1922–2006) – NACA / NASA researcher, developed re-entry bodies and compression lift, managed

Pioneer program The Pioneer programs were two series of United States lunar and planetary space probes. The first program, which ran from 1958 to 1960, unsuccessfully attempted to send spacecraft to orbit the Moon, successfully sent one spacecraft to fly by the ...

Joe Engle Joe Henry Engle (August 26, 1932 – July 10, 2024) was an American pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut. He was the commander of two Space Shuttle missions including STS-2 in 1981, the program's second orbital flight. He also flew ...

(born 1932) * (1924–2021) – sailplane designer *

Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian K ...

(1881–1957) – aviation and rocketry pioneer, invented the center stick *

Walter Extra Walter Extra is a German award-winning aerobatics, aerobatic pilot and chief aircraft designer who founded the aerobatic aircraft manufacturer Extra Flugzeugbau (Extra Aircraft Construction). Extra was trained as a mechanical engineer. He bega ...

(born 1954) – aerobatic aircraft designer

F

* (1909–1944) - designer of the Repülőgépgyár Levente II * Maxime Faget (1921–2004) – designer of the

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

spacecraft * Ole Fahlin (1901–1992) – propeller and prototype airplane developer * Sherman Fairchild (1896–1971) – founded Fairchild Aircraft * Charles Richard Fairey (1857–1956) – founder of the Fairey Aviation Company * Farman Brothers * Robert W. Farquhar (1932–2015) – NASA engineer, inventor of the halo orbit * Roy Fedden (1885–1973) –

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

engine designer for Bristol Engine Company * Bobak Ferdowsi (born 1979) – JPL flight engineer * Antonio Ferri (1912–1975) – created the Ferri scoop used on the jet intakes of the XF-103, F-105, XF8U-3, and SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile, and the diverterless supersonic inlet used on the F-35 * Gerhard Fieseler (1896–1987) – German aircraft designer * Harold Finger (born 1924) – Project NERVA lead engineer * (born 1924) –

ducted fan In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or Propeller (aeronautics), propeller mounted within a cylindrical wiktionary:duct, duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertic ...

aircraft designer * Gary Flandro (born 1934) – NASA researcher, conceived the Planetary Grand Tour fulfilled by the

Voyager program The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two interstellar probes, ''Voyager 1'' and ''Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment to explore the two gas giants Jupiter ...

* Alexander H. Flax (1921–2014) – developer of tandem helicopters and reconnaissance satellites *

Anton Flettner Anton Flettner (1 November 1885 – 29 December 1961) was a German Aerospace engineering, aviation engineer and inventor. Born in Hattersheim am Main#Eddersheim, Eddersheim (today a district of Hattersheim am Main), Flettner made important contri ...

(1885–1961) – helicopter pioneer * Nicolas Florine (1891–1972) – helicopter pioneer * James C. Floyd (born 1914) – Avro Canada designer *

Henrich Focke Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, Fw 61, the first successful, practical, ...

(1890–1979) – helicopter pioneer *

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

(1890–1939) * Henry Folland (1889–1954) – chief designer at Nieuport, Gloster, and Folland Aircraft * Edward Forman (1912–1973) – co-founder of JPL, Aerojet * Robert L. Forward (1932–2002) – designer of solar sails and space tethers * Harlan D. Fowler (1895–1982) – Fowler flap inventor * John Fozard (1928–1996) – Hawker Siddeley Harrier designer * Anselm Franz (1900–1994) – jet engine pioneer *

Stelio Frati Stelio Frati (born in Milan Italy in 1919, died 14 May 2010) was an Italian mechanical engineer and aeroplane designer. He graduated from the Politecnico di Milano as a mechanical engineer in 1943, participating in the design of the Aeronautica Lom ...

(1919–2010) – designer of several aircraft inc the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 * (1909–1996) – first inventor of the

area rule The Whitcomb area rule, named after NACA engineer Richard Whitcomb and also called the transonic area rule, is a design procedure used to reduce an aircraft's drag at transonic speeds which occur between about Mach 0.75 and 1.2. For supersoni ...

* Leslie Frise (1895–1979) – designed the Type 156 Bristol Beaufighter * John Carver Meadows Frost (1915–1979) – chief designer of the Avro Canada CF-100 and several

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust- ...

projects * Michimasa Fujino (born 1960) – Hondajet designer

G

* Giuseppe Gabrielli (1903–1987) – aircraft designer * – designer of the STOL IMAM Ro.63 * (1902–1971) * Robert Gilruth (1913–2000) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator * Peter Glaser (1923–2014) – developed the solar power satellite *

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1 ...

(1921–2016) – first American man to orbit the Earth in 1962 * Valentin Glushko (1908–1989) * Robert Goddard (1882–1945) – scientist who developed the first liquid-fueled rocket 3-16-26 * Tadeusz Góra (1918–2010) * (1903–1945) – co-developer of the LaGG-3 * (1902–1933) – designer and factory manager * (born 1952) – liquid rocket engine designer at the

Chemical Automatics Design Bureau Chemical Automatics Design Bureau (CADB), also KB Khimavtomatika (, KBKhA), is a Russian OKB, design bureau founded by the NKAP (People's Commissariat of the Aircraft Industry) in 1941 and led by Semyon Kosberg until his death in 1965. Its origi ...

* Fritz Gosslau (1898–1965) –

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

designer * Arthur Gouge (1890–1962) – designed the "C-class" Empire and Sunderland flying boats, invented the Gouge flap * Granville Brothers – GeeBee racers * Jay Greene (1942–2017) * Alan Arnold Griffith (1893–1963) – jet engine designer *

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Force, as well as one of the original Mercury Seven selected by the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration fo ...

(1926–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967 * Gordon G. Grose (1925–1993) – integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays * Gu Songfen (born 1930) – participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the Shenyang J-8 and Shenyang J-8II * Guan De (1932–2018) – aeroelasticity engineer, participated in the design and development of the Shenyang JJ-1, the Shenyang J-8 and the Shenyang J-8II * (1904–1983) – co-developer of the LaGG-3 *

Leroy Grumman Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman (4 January 1895 – 4 October 1982) was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist. In 1929, he co-founded Grumman Aircraft Engineering Co., later renamed Grumman Aerospace Corporation, and no ...

(1895–1982) – founder of Grumman Aircraft * Tore Gullstrand (1921–2002) – chief engineer at Saab * Siegfried and Walter Günter (1899–1969)(1899–1937) – jet aircraft pioneers * Mikhail Gurevich (1893–1976) – co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau * Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685–1724) – Portuguese priest, aircraft designer * Antanas Gustaitis (1898–1941) – Lithuanian aircraft designer, Brigadier General, Commander-in-Chief of Lithuanian Air Force

H

* Wolfgang Haack (1902–1994) * B. J. Habibie (1936–2019) * Raoul Hafner (1905–1980) – helicopter pioneer * Edward N. Hall (1914–2006) – Minuteman ICBM engineer * (1924–1975) – sailplane designer * Julius Hatry (1906–2000) – built the first rocket plane * Harry Hawker (1889–1921) – test pilot, formed Hawker Aircraft * Willis Hawkins (1913–2004) – design lead of the L-133 and

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

* Clinton H. Havill (1892–1953) – researched airships and propellers * Richard E. Hayden (born 1946) – noise reduction developer * Wallace D. Hayes (1918–2001) – discoverer of the area rule and hypersonics * (born 1954) – sailplane designer * Edward H. Heinemann (1908–1991) – Chief Engineer for Douglas Aircraft, designed 20 military aircraft * Ernst Heinkel (1888–1958) – developed first jet rocket aircraft * Chris Heintz (1938–2021) – kit plane designer * Scarlin Hernandez (born 1991) – aerospace engineer for NASA’s

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...

* Hall Hibbard (1903–1996) – Lockheed engineer * Homer Hickam (born 1943) – NASA engineer, model rocketry enthusiast * Geoffrey T. R. Hill (1895–1955) – designer of the Westland-Hill Pterodactyls and co-developed the aero-isoclinic wing * Stanley Hiller (1924–2006) – founder Hiller Aircraft * Hellmuth Hirth (1886–1938) – aircraft engine designer, brother of Wolf Hirth * Wolf Hirth (1900–1959) – sailplane designer, brother of Hellmuth Hirth * Leonard S. Hobbs (1896–1977) – engine designer * John Hodge (1929–2021) – Avro Canada, NASA * Sighard F. Hoerner (1906—1971) – aerodynamicist, assisted the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch design * Nicholas J. Hoff (1906–1997) * Samuel Kurtz Hoffman (1902–1995) – rocket engine designer * Kurt Hohenemser (1906–2001) – helicopter pioneer * Walter Hohmann (1880–1945) – invented the

Hohmann transfer orbit In astronautics, the Hohmann transfer orbit () is an orbital maneuver used to transfer a spacecraft between two orbits of different altitudes around a central body. For example, a Hohmann transfer could be used to raise a satellite's orbit fro ...

* Peter K. Homer (born 1961) * Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) – British engine engineer for Rolls-Royce Aerospace * Ralph Hooper (1926–2022) –

Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British jet-powered attack aircraft designed and produced by the British aerospace company Hawker Siddeley. It was the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeo ...

developer *

Jiro Horikoshi was a Japanese aeronautical engineer. He was the chief engineer of several Empire of Japan, Japanese Fighter aircraft, fighter aircraft designs used during World War II, most notably the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter, as well as the NAMC YS-11. E ...

(1903–1982) – chief engineer for the Mitsubishi A6M * Horten brothers (1913–1998) (1915–1994) – flying wing designers * John Houbolt (1919–2014) – NASA engineer, lunar orbit rendezvous proponent * Kathleen Howell – known for her contributions to dynamical systems theory applied to spacecraft trajectory * Hsue-Chu Tsien (1914–1997) – aeronautical engineer *

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

(1905–1976) – aerospace engineer, owned RKO movie studio * Huang Zhiqian (1914–1965) – lead designer of the Shenyang J-8 * Jerome Clarke Hunsaker (1886–1984) – pioneer of heavier and lighter than air aircraft * Rick Husband (1957–2003) – died in the ''Columbia'' disaster * François Hussenot (1912–1951) – inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder * (1909–1990) – sailplane designer

I

* Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977) – founder of the OKB-39 Ilyushin design bureau * Aleksei Isaev (1908–1971) – rocket engine designer * Hideo Itokawa (1912–1999) – aircraft and rocket designer at Nakajima Aircraft Company * Sergey Izotov (1917–1983) – aircraft engine designer, founder of the OKB-117 design bureau

J

* Mary Jackson (1921–2005) – NASA engineer * Eastman Jacobs (1902–1987) – advanced wind tunnels, airfoils, turbulence, boundary layers, and Schlieren photography * Hans Jacobs (1907–1994) – sailplane pioneer * Jack James (1920–2001) –

Mariner program The Mariner program was conducted by the American space agency NASA to explore other planets. Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) designed and built 10 robotic interplanetary probes named Mariner to explore the in ...

manager * Antony Jameson (born 1934) – pioneered

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

* Robert P. Johannes (1934–2004) – developed

technology * Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990) – formed Lockheed's Skunk Works and led the design of the SR-71, U-2, F-117A, F-104, C-130, T-33, P-38, and Constellations * Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) – mathematician who worked as an aerospace technologist at

* Robert Thomas Jones (1910–1999) – aeronautical engineer at NASA * Drago Jovanovich (1916–1983) – rotorcraft designer * Charles Joy (1911–1989) – engineer at Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft Company. and Handley Page *

Hugo Junkers Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and ...

(1859–1935) – pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes

K

* Rudolf Kaiser (1922–1991) – sailplane designer * A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) – former President of India, "Missile Man of India" * Charles Kaman (1919–2011) – helicopter pioneer * Nikolai Kamov (1902–1973) – founder of the Kamov design bureau * Abraham Karem (born 1937) – founder of UAV (drone) technology * Alexander Kartveli (1896–1974) – Chief Engineer at

Republic Aviation The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, New York, on Long Island, New York, Long Island. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and produ ...

, contributor to first aerospace vehicle prototypes * Otto Kauba (1908-1962) – designer of the Škoda-Kauba SK 257, co-designer of the Škoda-Kauba P14 * Harold R. Kaufman (1926-2018) – developed first

ion thruster An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The i ...

s * David Keith-Lucas (1911–1997) – engineer at

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

* Mstislav Keldysh (1911–1978) – rocket and spacecraft designer * W. Wallace Kellett (1891–1951) – Kellett Autogiro Corporation * Thomas J. Kelly (1929–2002) – leader of the Apollo Lunar Module design team * Alexander Kemurdzhian (1921–2003) – mechanical engineer who is best known for designing

Lunokhod 1 ''Lunokhod 1'' (Russian language, Russian: Луноход-1 "Moonwalker 1"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 203 ("Device 8EL No. 203") was the first rover (space exploration), robotic rover lunar rover, on the Moon and the first to freel ...

, the first lunar rover * Sergey Khristianovich (1908–2000) – aerodynamicst * (1906–1991) – designer at Kawanishi Aircraft Company and

ShinMaywa is a Japanese industrial conglomerate descended from the Kawanishi Aircraft Company. Founded as Shin Meiwa Industries in 1949, the company was rebranded as ShinMaywa during 1992. Prior to this, the company was also known as ''Shin Meiwa Industry ...

* (1904–1986) – YS-11 designer * Dutch Kindelberger (1895–1962) – Chief Engineer at Douglas Aircraft and head of North American Aviation * Klapmeier brothers (born 1958) (born 1961) – founders of Cirrus Aircraft * Milton Klein (1924–2022) – nuclear rocket engineer * (1885–1961) – founded the Klemm Light Aircraft Company * – aircraft engine designer, founder of the OKB-45 Klimov design bureau * Ave K. Kludze, Jr. (born 1967?) – NASA engineer * Heinz-Hermann Koelle (1925–2011) – von Braun associate * Yuri Kondratyuk (1897–1942) – first developer of the lunar orbit rendezvous concept * (1922–2004) – aircraft and rocket designer at OKB-154 * Otto C. Koppen (1901–1991) – MIT professor, designer for Ford and Helio Courier * Yuri Koptev (born 1940) – engineer, former Roscosmos General Director *

Sergey Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...

(1907–1966) – Korolev rocket design bureau founder * Semyon Kosberg (1903–1965) – lead engine designer at OKB-154 * Gleb Kotelnikov (1872–1944) –

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

pioneer * Frank Kozloski (1916–2003) – rotorcraft and missile developer * Chris Kraft (1924–2019) – NASA administrator * Eugene Kranz (born 1933) – aeronautical engineer * Werner Krüger (1910–2003) – inventor of the Krueger flap * Dietrich Küchemann (1911–1976) – aerodynamicist * Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov (1911–1995) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-276 Kuznetsov design bureau

L

* Gustav Lachmann (1896–1966) – designer at Handley-Page * Barry Laight (1920–2012) – designer of the

Blackburn Buccaneer The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British aircraft carrier, carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy (RN). Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough Aerodrome, Brough, it was later officially k ...

* Aarne Lakomaa (1914–2001) – involved in the design of the

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; ''The Kite'', ambiguous with ''The Dragon'') is a Swedish interceptor aircraft, fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Saab AB, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Saab AB, SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of ...

and the Saab 37 Viggen * Frederick W. Lanchester (1868–1946) – aerodynamicist *

Geoffrey A. Landis Geoffrey Alan Landis (; born May 28, 1955) is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He h ...

(born 1955) – NASA engineer, interplanetary exploration * Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834–1906) – aircraft pioneer * Agnew E. Larsen (1897–1969) – engineer at Curtiss and Pitcairn * Conrad Lau (1921–1964) – lead designer of the XF8U-3 and A-7 Corsair * Semyon Lavochkin (1900–1960) – founder of the OKB-301 Lavochkin design bureau * Lovell Lawrence Jr. (1915–1971) – co-founder of

Reaction Motors Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) was an early American maker of liquid-fueled rocket engines, located in New Jersey. RMI engines with thrust powered the Bell X-1 rocket aircraft that first broke the sound barrier in 1947, and later aircraft such ...

* Bill Lear (1902–1978) – founder of Learjet * Jerome F. Lederer (1902–2004) – aviation-safety pioneer * René Leduc (1898–1968) – designer of the ramjet-powered Leduc 0.10 * Diane Lemaire (1923–2012) – first woman to graduate from the University of Melbourne with a degree in engineering * Léon Levavasseur (1863–1922) – aviation pioneer * David S. Lewis (1917–2003) – F-4 Phantom II program manager * George W. Lewis (1882–1948) – NACA administrator * Gordon Lewis (1924–2010) – turbine engine designer * Fuk Li – JPL Mars Exploration Directorate manager * Robert Lickley (1912–1998) – Chief Engineer at Fairey Aviation Company * Robert H. Liebeck – airfoil and blended wing body designer *

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making t ...

(1848–1896) *

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

(1902–1974) – made first solo transatlantic airplane flight from NY to Paris in 1927 on Spirit of St. Louis * Per Lindstrand (born 1948) – balloons and other aircraft * Alexander Lippisch (1894–1976) * Claude Lipscomb (1887–1974) – designer of the Short Stirling * Boris Lisunov (1898–1946) – engineered a copy of the DC-3 * William Littlewood – contributed to the design and operational requirements of transport aircraft * Olof Ljungström (1918–2013) – engineer at Saab, taught aircraft design at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

* Allan Lockheed (1889–1969) – co-founder of the

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-u ...

* Malcolm Lockheed (1886–1958) – co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation * Grover Loening (1888–1976) – awarded first ever degree in aeronautical engineering * Robert Loewy (1926–2025) – rotor-wing VTOL aircraft designer * Roy LoPresti (1929–2002) – general aviation designer * Samuel Jasper Loring (1914–1963) – researched aeroelastic flutter problems *

George Low George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw; June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made decisions as manager ...

(1926–1984) – aerodynamicist and NASA administrator * Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy (1909–2001) – General Designer of the NPO Molniya design bureau, lead designer of the Buran space shuttle * Lu Xiaopeng (1920–2000) – designer of the Nanchang Q-5 and the Nanchang J-12 * Heinrich Lübbe (1884–1940) – Anthony Fokker collaborator *

Glynn Lunney Glynn Stephen Lunney (November 27, 1936 – March 19, 2021) was an American NASA engineer. An employee of NASA since its creation in 1958, Lunney was a flight controller, flight director during the Project Gemini, Gemini and Project Apollo, Apo ...

(1936–2021) – Apollo program * Robert Lusser (1899–1969) – designer at Messerschmitt, Heinkel, and Fieseler * Jean-Marie Luton (1942–2020) – ESA Director General * (1912–1985) – chief missile designer at OKB-134, now

Vympel NPO Vympel NPO is a Russian research and production company (NPO) based near Moscow, mostly known for their air-to-air missiles. Other projects include SAM and ABM defenses. It was started in the Soviet era as an OKB (experimental design bureau) ...

* Arkhip Lyulka (1908–1984) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-165 Lyulka design bureau * Lev Lyulyev (1908–1985) – artillery, rocket, and missile designer, founder of the OKB-8 design bureau

M

* Paul MacCready (1925–2007) –

human-powered aircraft A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport. As its name suggests, HPAs have the pilot not only steer, but power the aircraft (usually propeller-driven) by means of a system ...

designer * Elsie MacGill (1905–1980) *

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( ; ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of ...

(1838–1916) * Georg Hans Madelung (1889–1972) – V-1 designer * (1880–1944) – inventor of the Junkers flap * Peyton M. Magruder (1911–1982) – lead designer of the Martin B-26 *

Viktor Makeyev Viktor Petrovich Makeyev (also Makeev; ; 25 October 1924 – 25 October 1985) was a Soviet engineer in the Soviet space program who was also a central and founding figure in development of Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) for the S ...

(1924–1985) –

SLBM A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

designer * Frank Malina (1912–1981) – rocket engineer, JPL administrator * John C. Mankins – NASA space-based solar power researcher * Frank E. Marble (1918–2014) * Frederick Marriott (1805–1884) * Glenn L. Martin (1886–1955) – founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company * (1900–1984) – co-designer of the Fouga CM.170 Magister * Hans Mauch (1906–1984) – jet engine pioneer, artificial limb developer * Mark D. Maughmer (born 1950) – aerodynamicist * Owen Maynard (1924–2000) – Avro Canada, NASA * (1931–2016) – Piaggio chief engineer * William C. McCool (1961–2003) – died in the ''Columbia'' disaster *

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 ...

(1899–1980) – founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation * Colin R. McInnes (born 1968) – solar sail researcher * Marion O. McKinney Jr. (1921–1999) – NACA and NASA engineer, researched VTOL flight * William B. McLean (1914–1976) – lead designer of the

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

air-to-air missile * George J. Mead (1891–1949) – engine designer * William C. Mentzer (1907–1971) – contributed to aircraft maintenance and economics * Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978) – designed Bf 109 and jet powered Me 262 * Artem Mikoyan (1905–1970) – co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau * Mikhail Mil (1909–1970) – founder and general designer of the OKB-329 Mil design bureau *

Alexander Mikulin Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikulin (; 14 February 1895 – 13 May 1985) was a Soviet aircraft engine designer and chief designer in the Mikulin OKB. His achievements include the first Soviet liquid-cooled aircraft piston engine, the Mikulin AM-34 ...

(1895–1985) – engine designer, founded the OKB-24 Mikulin design bureau * Frederick George Miles (1903–1976) – designer at

Miles Aircraft Miles was the name used for aircraft and associated businesses of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who, with his wife – aviator and draughtswoman Maxine Blossom Miles, Maxine "Blossom" Miles (née Forbes-Robertson) – and his brother ...

, husband of Maxine Blossom Miles * John W. Miles (1920–2008) – pioneer in theoretical fluid mechanics * Maxine Blossom Miles (1901–1984) – pilot, designer, draughtswoman, aerodynamicist and stress engineer, designer of the Miles Hawk * Clark Blanchard Millikan (1903–1966) – professor of aeronautics * Arseny Mironov (1917–2019) – Russian scientist, aerospace engineer and aircraft pilot * Don Mitchell (1915–1993) – sailplane designer * R. J. Mitchell (1895–1937) – designed the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

aircraft * Swati Mohan –

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a NASA mission that includes the rover ''Perseverance (rover), Perseverance'', the now-retired small robotic helicopter ''Ingenuity (helicopter), Ingenuity'', and associated delivery systems, as part of the Mars Exploration Progra ...

engineer * Paul Moller (born 1936) – circular aircraft designer *

Montgolfier brothers The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the Communes o ...

(1740–1810) (1745–1799) – inventors of the hot air balloon * John J. Montgomery (1858–1911) * Albert Mooney (1906–1986) – general aviation designer * Hans Moravec (born 1948) – space tether developer * Morien Morgan (1912–1978) – 'Father of the

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

' * George Mueller (1918–2015) – NASA administrator * Alan Mulally (born 1945) – Boeing executive and President of Ford * Hans Multhopp (1913–1972) *

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

(born 1971) – founder of

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

and co-founder of Tesla * Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev (1902–1978) – founder of the OKB-23 Myasishchev design bureau

N

* Aleksandr Nadiradze (1914–1987) – Soviet Georgian ballistic missile and rocket engineer * James C. Nance (1927–2019) – aircraft nuclear propulsion engineer *

Gerhard Neumann Gerhard Neumann (October 8, 1917 – November 2, 1997) was a German-American aviation engineer and executive for General Electric's aircraft engine division (which today is called GE Aerospace). Born and raised in Germany, he went to Chin ...

(1917–1997) – engineer for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, contributed to the design of the J79 * Édouard Nieuport (1875–1911) – aviation pioneer * No Kum-sok aka Kenneth H. Rowe (1932–2022) – North Korean MiG-15 pilot defector, US aeronautical engineer and professor * Umberto Nobile (1885–1978) – semi-rigid airship designer * John Dudley North (1893–1968) – chief engineer at

Boulton Paul Aircraft Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914 and lasted until 1961. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under con ...

* Robert B. C. Noorduyn (1893–1959) – Noorduyn Norseman designer * Jack Northrop (1895–1981) – founded

Northrop Corporation Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...

in 1939 and later the Flying Wing * Genrikh Novozhilov (1925–2019) – key designer of multiple Ilyushin passenger aircraft

O

* Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) – rocketry pioneer * William C. Ocker (1880–1942) – instrument flying pioneer * Wendy Okolo (born 1984?) – NASA engineer * Gerard K. O'Neill (1927–1992) – developer of the O'Neill cylinder for space colonization * – Nakajima Aircraft Company

P

* Frederick Page (1917–2005) – lead designer of the English Electric Lightning and the BAC TSR-2 * Mark Page (born 1956) – blended wing body and UAV designer * Thomas O. Paine (1921–1992) – engineer, scientist, NASA administrator * (1904–1952) * Paul C. Paris (1930–2017) – known for introducing

fracture mechanics Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics t ...

to the aviation industry * Bob Parkinson (born 1941) – HOTOL spaceplane developer * Jack Parsons (1914–1952) – rocket engineer, chemist, JPL founder * Pedro Paulet (c. 1874–1945) – rocketry pioneer * Vladimir Pavlecka (1901–1980) – invented

flush rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylinder (geometry), cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed e ...

s, designed the ZMC-2 rigid airship and pressurized transports * Nicolas Roland Payen (1914–2004) – delta wing developer * Richard Pearse (1877–1953) – early

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

aircraft builder * Jerome Pearson (1938–2021) – space elevator developer * George Edward Pendray (1901–1987) – co-founder of Reaction Motors * Harald Penrose (1904–1996) – test pilot and glider designer * Edgar Percival (1897–1984) – founder of the Percival Aircraft Company * Bruce Peterson (1933–2006) – NASA engineer and test pilot *

Anatoly Perminov Anatoly Nikolayevich Perminov (; born 16 June 1945) is a Russians, Russian aerospace engineering, rocket scientist and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer. He served as the List of heads of Roscosmos, General Director of Roscosmos, Russian ...

(born 1945) – former Roscosmos General Director *

Vladimir Petlyakov Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov (; 15 June 1891 – 12 January 1942) was a Soviet aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer. Petlyakov was born in 1891 in Sambek, Don Host Oblast, Russian Empire (now Neklinovsky District, Rostov Oblast), wher ...

(1891–1942) – founder of the Petlyakov design bureau * W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter (1908–1968) – designer at Westland, English Electric, and Folland * Frank Piasecki (1919–2008) – helicopter pioneer * William Hayward Pickering (1910–2004) – rocketry pioneer, JPL director * Kenneth D. Pinyan (1960-2005), had intercourse with a Stallion and later died * Percy Pilcher (1867–1899) * Harold Frederick Pitcairn (1897–1960) – autogyro developer * Curtis Pitts (1915–2005) *

Paul Poberezny Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting hom ...

(1921–2013) – founder of the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

Mikhail Pogosyan Mikhail Aslanovich Pogosyan (; born 18 April 1956 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer. He is the former general director of Sukhoi and the United Aircraft Corporation and the current rector of the Moscow Aviat ...

(born 1956) – general director of

Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (, ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and military aircraft. Sukhoi was founded in the Soviet Union by Pavel Sukhoi ...

and

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 ...

* Hermann Pohlmann (1894–1991) – designer of the Ju 87 Stuka * Nikolai Polikarpov (1892–1944) – founded the Polikarpov design bureau * Boris Popov – invented one of the first successful aircraft ballistic parachute systems * Henry Potez (1891–1981) *

Herman Potočnik Herman Potočnik (pseudonym Hermann Noordung; 22 December 1892 – 27 August 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian Army officer, electrical engineer and astronautics theorist. He is regarded as an early theorist of modern space flight and is remembered m ...

(1892–1929) * Ludwig Prandtl (1875–1953) * Ronald F. Probstein (1928–2021) – researched hypersonics including re-entry vehicle design * Ralph V. Pruitt (1936–1983) – integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays * Palmer Cosslett Putnam (1900–1984) – wind-power pioneer

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* Qian Xuesen (1911–2009)

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* (1909–1989) – motorglider designer * (born 1936) – liquid rocket engine designer at the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau * Arthur Emmons Raymond (1899–1999) – lead designer of the DC-3 * R. Dale Reed (1930–2005) – NASA lifting body designer * Wendell E. Reed – developed jet engine controls * Wilfrid Thomas Reid (1887–1968) *

Frederick Rentschler Frederick Brant Rentschler (November 8, 1887 – April 25, 1956) was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, industrialist, and the founder of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutiona ...

(1887–1956) – aircraft engine designer * Judith Resnik (1949–1986) *

Osborne Reynolds Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born British innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser ...

(1842–1912) * Richard V. Rhode (1904–1994) – researched aerodynamic loading * (1906–1981) – designer at Bréguet Aviation * Ben Rich (1925–1995) – director of Lockheed's Skunk Works; contributed to

SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Co ...

and

F-117 The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is an officially retired American single-seat, subsonic, Twinjet, twin-engined, stealth aircraft, stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated ...

development * G. Tilghman Richards (1884–1960) – annular wing designer * John M. Riebe (1921–2011) * Norbert Riedel (1912–1963) – developed jet engine starting motors *

Robert brothers Les Frères Robert were two French brothers. Anne-Jean Robert (1758–1820) and Nicolas-Louis Robert (1760–1828) were the engineers who built the world's first hydrogen balloon for professor Jacques Charles, which flew from central Paris on ...

(1758–1820) (1760–1820) – balloonists * Tecwyn Roberts (1925–1988) – Avro Canada, NASA * Frank D. Robinson (1930–2022) – helicopter designer * Alliott Verdon Roe (1877–1956) * Francis Rogallo (1912–2009) – NASA engineer, created the Rogallo wing which led to hang-gliding * Gertrude Rogallo (1914–2008) – wife and collaborator of Francis Rogallo * Frank E. Rom (1926–2012) – NASA nuclear propulsion engineer *

Stuart Roosa Stuart Allen Roosa (August 16, 1933 – December 12, 1994) was an American aeronautical engineer, smokejumper, United States Air Force pilot, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, who was the Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 14 mission. The mis ...

(1933–1994) – astronaut * Harold Rosen (1926–2017) – electrical engineer known as "the father of the geostationary satellite" * Milton Rosen (1915–2014) – lead designer of the

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

rocket * Jan Roskam (1930–2022) * Ludwig Roth (1909–1967) * Carlo Rubbia (born 1934) – fission-fragment rocket proposer * Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) – director of

Project Blue Book Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Fo ...

* Archibald Russell (1904–1995) – designed the Concorde, Blenheim, Britannia, and Type 188 *

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the recor ...

(born 1943) – airplane and spacecraft designer * Tubal Claude Ryan (1898–1982) – founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company * Yuri Alekseevich Ryzhov (1930–2017) – aerodynamicist

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* Friedrich Wilhelm Sander (1885–1938) – pyrotechnics and rocket technology engineer *

Eugen Sänger Eugen Sänger (22 September 1905 – 10 February 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. Early career Sänger was born in the former mining town of Preßnitz (Příse� ...

(1905–1964) –

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can flight, fly and gliding flight, glide as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and function as a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbit ...

designer * Irene Sänger-Bredt (1911–1983) – wife and collaborator of Eugen Sänger * George S. Schairer (1913–2004) – lead designer at Consolidated and Boeing * Helmut Schelp – jet engine pioneer * Alexander Schleicher (1901–1968) – sailplane designer * Paul Schmidt (1898–1976) – V-1 engine designer * Edgar Schmued (1899–1985) – lead engineer on the P-51, F-86, F-100, F-5, T-38 * Raemer Schreiber (1910–1998) – nuclear rocket engine designer * Bernard Schriever (1910–2005) – managed ICBM development * Schweizer brothers – sailplane designers * William T. Schwendler (1904-1978) – co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation * Robert Seamans (1918–2008) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator * William R. Sears (1913–2002) – flying wing designer * Ernest Edwin Sechler (1905–1979) – researched thin-shell structures * Anita Sengupta – led the JPL team that designed the Curiosity Mars rover parachute system * Lucien Servanty (1909–1973) – SO.6000 Triton and Concorde designer * Alexander P. de Seversky (1894–1974) – founder of Seversky Aircraft, later Republic Aviation * Joseph Francis Shea (1925–1999) – NASA Administrator for the Apollo Program * Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990) – perfected the carburetor on the

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine an ...

engine * Leonid Shkadov (1927–2003) – aircraft development and optimization engineer * Nevil Shute (1899–1960) – aeronautical engineer and author * Arkady Shvetsov (1892–1953) – chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau *

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construc ...

(1889–1972) – pioneered

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s * Ozires Silva (born 1931) – founder of Embraer * Abe Silverstein (1908–2001) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator * Apollo M. O. Smith (1911–1997) – Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, F3D, and F4D designer, pioneer in

* Herbert Smith (1889–1977) – designer of the Sopwith Triplane *

John Maynard Smith John Maynard Smith (6 January 1920 – 19 April 2004) was a British mathematical and theoretical biology, theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he ...

(1920–2004) – military aircraft designer, later evolutionary biologist and geneticist *

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

(1897–1956) – designer at Supermarine * Ted R. Smith (1906–1976) – designer of the Aero Commander and Aerostar * Pavel Solovyov (1917–1996) – chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau * Song Wencong (1930–2016) – lead designer of the Chengdu J-10 * Thomas Sopwith (1888–1989) – Sopwith Aviation Company * Tony Spear –

Mars Pathfinder ''Mars Pathfinder'' was an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a rover (space exploration), roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a Lander (spacecraft), lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a ligh ...

project manager * Percival H. Spencer (1897–1995) – designer of the Republic RC-3 Seabee * Dorothy Spicer (1908–1946) – aeronautical engineer * Reginald Stafford (1903–1980) – designer of the Handley Page Victor * John Stack (1906–1972) –

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by B ...

designer * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975) – founder of Stearman Aircraft * Adam Steltzner (born 1963) – JPL engineer for Mars rovers' entry, descent, and landing * Alan Stern (born 1957) – engineer and planetary scientist, principal investigator of the

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

mission to Pluto * Homer Joseph Stewart (1915–2007) – helped develop

Explorer 1 Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites, both launched by the Soviet Union duri ...

, Pioneer 4, and several rockets * Edward Stinson (1893–1932) – founder of the

Stinson Aircraft Company The Stinson Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturing company in the United States between the 1920s and the 1950s. History The Stinson Aircraft Company was founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1920 by aviator Edward Stinson, Edward “Eddie” ...

* Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) – invented the "intubed propeller" * Harrison Storms (1915–1992) – directed North American Aviation's Apollo Program * William Bushnell Stout (1880–1956) –

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...

designer * Michael Stroukoff (1883-1973) – designer of the Fairchild C-123 Provider * Ernst Stuhlinger (1913–2008) – ion engine developer * Pavel Sukhoi (1895–1975) – founded the OKB-51 Sukhoi design bureau * Martin Summerfield (1916–1996) - co-founder of Aerojet * Sun Cong (born 1961) - chief designer of the FC-31 and

Shenyang J-15 The Shenyang J-15 (wikt:歼, Chinese: 歼-15), also known as ''Flying Shark'' (; NATO reporting name: Flanker-X2, Flanker-K) is a Chinese night fighter, all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based Fourth-generation fi ...

* Joe Sutter (1921–2016) – chief engineer for the Boeing 747 * Ed Swearingen (1925–2014) – general aviation designer * (1912—1999) – aerodynamicist * Clarence Syvertson (1926–2010) – NACA / NASA researcher, developed sounding rockets, compression lift, lifting bodies * Victor Szebehely (1921–1977) – aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics

T

* Max Taitz (1904–1980) – scientist in aerodynamics and flight testing of aircraft, one of the founders of Gromov Flight Research Institute * Kurt Tank (1898–1983) – designer of aircraft in Germany, Argentina, and India * Clarence Gilbert Taylor (1898–1988) – designer of the Piper Cub * Moulton Taylor (1912–1965) – experimental aircraft pioneer * Peter Theisinger (born 1945) – JPL Mars Exploration Rover project manager * Theodore Theodorsen (1897–1978) – aerodynamicist at NACA * Richard G. Thomas (1930–2006) – aeronautical engineer and test pilot * Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974) – rocket and spacecraft pioneer * Milton Orville Thompson (1926–1993) – NASA engineer and test pilot * Grigori Tokaty (1909–2003) – rocket engineer * Alessandro Tonini (1885–1932) – designer at Gabardini, Macchi, and IMAM * (1907–1977) – chief missile designer at OKB-132, now

* Myron Tribus (1921–2016) – deicer developer, heat transfer researcher * Robert Truax (1917–2010) – Aerojet engineer, designer of the Sea Dragon (rocket), Sea Dragon heavy launch vehicle * Richard Truly (born 1937) – former astronaut and head of NASA * Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) – rocketry pioneer * Tu Jida (1927–2011) – participated in the development of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the Nanchang CJ-6, Shenyang J-5A, Chengdu JJ-5, and List of Chengdu J-7 variants, several variants of the J-7 fighter, including the Chengdu J-7M * Sergey Tumansky (1901–1973) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-300 Tumansky design bureau * Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972) – founder of the Tupolev, OKB-156 Tupolev design bureau

U

* Dana Ulery (born 1938) – JPL scientist, automated tracking of deep space probes * Ralph Hazlett Upson (1888–1968) – designed the world's only all-metal stressed-skin airship * Oskar Ursinus (1877–1952) – sailplane designer * (1877–1926) – dirigible designer

V

* Max Valier (1895–1930) – rocketry pioneer * Sitaram Rao Valluri (1924–2019) – researched metal fatigue * Kermit Van Every (1915–1998) – high-speed aircraft designer, Douglas Aircraft * Richard VanGrunsven (born 1939) – prolific kit aircraft engineer * Vandi Verma – JPL robot engineer * Vladimir Vetchinkin (1888–1950) – aerodynamicist * Walter G. Vincenti (1917–2019) – hypersonic aircraft designer * Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913) * Richard Vogt (aircraft designer), Richard Vogt (1894–1979) – designer of asymmetrical aircraft * Gabriel Voisin (1880–1973) – aviation pioneer * George Volkert (1891–1978) – designed the Handley-Page Halifax * Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) – German rocket pioneer * Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963) * Hans von Ohain (1911–1998) * Fritz von Opel (1899–1971) – rocketry pioneer * Chance M. Vought (1890–1930) – founder of Vought, Vought Aircraft * Traian Vuia (1872–1950) – first flight with no other ground devices * Vultee Aircraft, Gerald Vultee (1900-1938) – engineer, founder of Vultee Aircraft

W

* Lawrence Wackett (1896–1982) – "father of the Australian aircraft industry", lead designer of the CAC Boomerang * Gerhard Waibel (engineer), Gerhard Waibel (born 1938) – sailplane designer * Dwane Wallace (1911–1989) – early

CEO and designer * Richard Walker (engineer), Richard Walker (1900–1982) – main designer for jet aircraft of Gloster Aircraft Company * Barnes Wallis (1887–1979) * Ken Wallis (1916–2013) – autogyro * Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980) – rocket engines * Frid Wänström (1905–1988) – engineer, head of calculations at Saab * Joseph F. Ware Jr. (1916–2012) – Lockheed engineer and test pilot * Edward Pearson Warner (1894–1958) – NACA research engineer * Kyūichirō Washizu (1921–1981) * Frank Wattendorf (1906–1986) – von Karman assistant, wind tunnel designer * Johanna Weber (1910–2014) – aerodynamicist for the Handley-Page Victor and

* Fred Weick (1899–1993) – airmail pilot, NACA research engineer who designed the NACA cowl, and designer of the Ercoupe and Piper Cherokee * Daniel Weihs (born 1942) * Edward Curtis Wells (1910–1986) – Boeing executive and designer * Ted A. Wells (1907–1991) – co-founder of Beech Aircraft Corporation * Michael J. Wendl (born 1934) – developed terrain following technology, energy management theory, and integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays * Günter Wendt (1924–2010) – McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation engineer; pad leader, prepared all crewed Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft * Alexander Weygers (1901–1989) – discopter designer * Ray Wheeler (1927–2019) – Saunders-Roe designer of rockets and hovercraft * Orville A. Wheelon (1906–1966) – invented the Verson-Wheelon process for aircraft sheet-metal forming, introduced titanium fabrication * Richard T. Whitcomb, Richard Whitcomb (1921–2009) – NACA/NASA inventor of the

, supercritical airfoil, and winglet * Ed White (astronaut), Ed White (1930–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967 * Gustave Whitehead (1874–1927) – aviation pioneer * Frank Whittle (1907–1996) – pioneer of the

* Michel Wibault (1897–1963) – invented vectored thrust * Robert H. Widmer (1916–2011) – lead designer on the B-36, B-58, F-111, and F-16 * Sheila Widnall (born 1938) – fluid mechanics researcher * Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932) * Geoff Wilde (1917–2007) – Rolls-Royce engine designer * Heather Willauer (born 1974) – United States Naval Research Laboratory researcher of jet fuel manufacture from seawater * Oswald S. Williams Jr. (1921–2005) * Sam B. Williams (1921–2009) – small fanjet engine developer * Thornton Wilson (1921–1999) – B-47, B-52, and Minuteman missile designer * Steve Wittman (1904–1995) – air-racer and aircraft designer * Julian Wolkovitch (1932–1991) – promoted the closed wing * Homer J. Wood – auxiliary power unit designer * Pete Worden (born 1949) – NASA director * Wright brothers (1871–1948) (1867–1912) – made first powered airplane flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC * Theodore Paul Wright (1895–1970) – engineer and administrator * Georg Wulf (1895–1927) – aviation pioneer * James Hart Wyld (1912–1954) – co-founder of Reaction Motors, designed the rocket engines for the Bell X-1 and RTV-A-2 Hiroc

X

* Xu Shunshou (1917–1968) – oversaw the development of the Shenyang JJ-1 and participated in the design of the Nanchang CJ-6, the Nanchang Q-5, and the Xian H-6, died from mistreatment during the Cultural Revolution

Y

* Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev (1906–1989) – founder of the Yakovlev, OKB-115 Yakovlev design bureau * Mikhail Yangel (1911–1971) – founder of the KB Pivdenne, OKB-586 design bureau * Ye Zhengda (1927–2017) – participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1 * Chuck Yeager (1923–2020) – test pilot and first to break the sound barrier * Vladimir Yermolaev (1909–1944) – lead designer at OKB-240 * Ed Yost (1919–2007) – developer of the modern hot air balloon * Arthur M. Young (1905–1995) – designer of the first Bell helicopter

Z

* Albert Francis Zahm (1862–1954) – aeronautical experimenter and chief of the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Library of Congress * Stephen Joseph Zand (1898–1963) – solved many early aviation vibrations problems * Friedrich Zander (1887–1933) – rocket designer, solar sail and gavitational assist developer * Filippo Zappata (1894–1994) – worked for Gabardini, Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CANT), Blériot, Breda, and Agusta * Engelbert Zaschka (1895–1955) – one of the first German

pioneers * Helmut Zborowski (1905–1969) – rocket and VTOL designer * Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917) – airship designer * Nikolay Zhukovsky (scientist), Nikolay Zhukovsky (1847–1921) – researcher * Henri Ziegler (1906–1998) – father of the Airbus program * Charles H. Zimmerman (1908–1996) – experimental aircraft designer * Robert Zubrin (born 1952) – Mars Society founder, designer of the theoretical nuclear salt-water rocket * Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974) – astronomer, patented several jet engine features

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Aerospace Engineers Lists of engineers, Aerospace engineers Lists of space scientists, Aerospace Aerospace engineers, * Aircraft designers, *

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References