Max B. Harlow (1903 –1967) was an American aircraft engineer, educator, and producer.

Early life

Harlow was born in South Dakota in 1903. Harlow attended

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 ...

, becoming an early aircraft engineering graduate. His first position was with Thaden Metal Aircraft Company to develop an early all-metal aircraft, the Thaden T-1. He assisted

Waldo Waterman 200px, Waldo Waterman in 1920 Waldo Dean Waterman (June 16, 1894 – December 8, 1976) was an inventor and aviation pioneer from San Diego, California. He developed a series of tailless swept-wing aircraft incorporating tricycle landing gear, cul ...

in the design and construction of the prototype

Waterman Whatsit The Whatsit is a swept-wing, tail-less airplane designed by Waldo Waterman between 1911 (when he first got the idea) and 1932 (when the prototype was finally in testing phase). Waterman completed the prototype with friend and fellow engineer, Ma ...

tailless aircraft. Waterman was chief test pilot for Bach Aircraft and brought Harlow in to improve the design of the Bach Air Yacht trimotors. Harlow also worked for a brief period in 1930 for Lockheed Brothers Aircraft Corporation on the Olympia Duo-four wooden aircraft. In 1932, Harlow worked for

Bert Kinner Winfield Bertrum "Bert" Kinner (December 16, 1882 – July 4, 1957) was an American aircraft engine designer and designer of the first folding wing aircraft. Kinner founded Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation in Glendale, California, which p ...

becoming his chief engineer in the design of the Kinner

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, Sportwing, and Speedwing. When Kinner's company folded in 1934, he went to work for Douglas and a stress engineer for the

DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a retired 14-passenger, Aircraft engine, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version ca ...

wing. Harlow became a professor at

Pasadena Junior College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. It originally operated on Pasa ...

in 1935 forming the Aero-Tech laboratory. While a professor, he was able to join the local Hollywood engineering team developing the

Hughes H-1 Racer The Hughes H-1 Racer is a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935. Using different wings, it set both a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by a p ...

which would lead to future business connections. As a student project, the college developed the

Harlow PJC-1 The Harlow PJC-2 is a 1930s American four-seat cabin monoplane, designed by Max Harlow. Development Max Harlow was an aeronautical engineer and instructor at the Pasadena Junior College. Under his tutelage, the aircraft designated PJC-1 was desi ...

. Harlow formed the Harlow Aircraft Company at the

Alhambra Airport Alhambra Airport also called the Western Air College Airport was an airport in Alhambra, California from 1928 to 1946. The Airport was founded by the Western Air Express on 157-acre of land. The airport had a single 2,830-foot asphalt northeas ...

to commercially build the PJC "Pasadena Junior College" series of aircraft and military trainers. From 1936-1942 students worked on designing and producing a series of advanced all-metal retractable gear lightplanes under Harlow's supervision. Funding came from former

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 ...

business partner J.B. Alexander. The aircraft were tested at the airstrip at

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately east from the downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11, 190 ...

References

Sources

*Curriculum Problems in Vocational Education for the Aircraft Industry - Max B. Harlow 1944

External links

Image of Harlow during construction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlow, Max American aerospace engineers 1903 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American engineers Stanford University alumni