Mr. Northrop's avion

Air Classics, Oct 2001 by O'Leary, Michael

NEARLY FORGOTTEN TODAY, THE LITTLE AVION HELPED TEST OUT JACK NORTHROP'S THEORIES ON THE fLYING WING

When he was 20 years old, John "Jack" Knudson Northrop was living in Santa Barbara, California. Having been born in Newark, New Jersey, Jack's father was a carpenter that had moved to the southern California seaside town. The school system was modern and progessive and the young Northrop was especially interested in chemistry, math, and physics and did quite well in his studies. He was also very interested in mechanical drawing and excelled at the drafting board. On a visit to Los Angeles, he saw a demonstration of powered flight and was captivated.

After graduation from high school, he helped his father build houses while working on automobiles part-time at a local garage. Rusk's Garage had rented out space to some individuals that wanted to build an airplane and Northrop, needing a full-time job, overcame his natural shyness and pointedly asked the builders for a job.

The aircraft was flying boat and it was being built by Allan and Malcolm Loughead - pronounced Lockeheed and soon changed to reflect the pronunciation. In 1916, they were working on a large all-wood flying boat to carry ten passengers. Financial backing came from Bernard Rodman, a local businessman, and one of the few shop employees was Anthony Stadlman who was superintendent on the project.

The partners interviewed Northrop and were impressed by his earnestness along with the fact that he had learned the basics of stress analysis. They hired the young man and his first task was to design and stress the 71-foot wings for the new aircraft, which had been designated F-1. At the time, the creation was the world's largest seaplane. The completed F-1 was actually quite successful and operated from the beach at Santa Barbara, hauling tourists and thrill-seekers aloft.

However, employment would not last overly long for Northrop was caught in the draft and spent nine months in the Signal Corps. The Loughead brothers must have pulled a few strings. They had received a contract to build two Curtiss HS2L flying boats from the US Navy and they needed the help of Northrop. Back at Santa Barbara, Northrop set to work as the brothers decided to spend $5000 of their own money in order to make the HS2L a better aircraft. Northrop received the lofty title of project engineer.

Realizing that some form of streamlining was important to these primitive aircraft with their acres of built-in drag, Northrop built a very simplistic wind tunnel that consisted of a large glass tube through which an employee would blow cigar smoke while Northrop studied the flow of smoke around his designs.

After the war, the brothers hoped to greatly increase their aircraft manufacturing business and in 1919 entered a joint agreement with Northrop and Stadlman and the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was tasked with attempting to create new and innovative aeronautical products. The first aircraft was the nifty little S-1 "poor man's airplane." The company patented a wooden monocoque fuselage process that would later bear fruit with the Vega design but the S-1 was ahead of its time in a market flooded with surplus Curtiss JN Jennies. When the S-1 project stalled, so did the company and the partners went their separate ways.

After being unemployed and on the streets, Northrop found a job with Donald Douglas in Santa Monica. His first job was in the carpentry area where he built ribs for the new World Cruisers. He quickly progressed to the engineering department where he worked on cleaning up numerous designs. During this time, Northrop started developing an idea that would eliminate as much non-essential aircraft structure as possible - an idea that would later create an important position for the young designer in aviation history.

During his three years with Douglas, Northrop also aided other projects such as redesigning the wing on the Ryan M1 monoplane - the aircraft that would later develop into the Spirit of St. Louis. In San Francisco, Vance Breese was setting up an aircraft manufacturing concern and he used Northrop's talents to create the Breese-Wild Monoplane. Years later, Northrop would use Breese as a test pilot for some of his company's new aircraft.

During his spare time, Northrop began designing a sleek multi-seat monoplane that would be powered by a large radial engine. Using data developed from the molded S-1 fuselage, Northrop felt that craft would be too radial for the staid Douglas Aircraft Corp. In 1926, Allan Loughead was back in town and Northrop visited his old employer and showed him his new design. Loughead liked what he saw and the pair got financial support and the new Lockheed Aircraft Company was established. A small warehouse in Hollywood was rented and Tony Stadlman was hired as construction superintendent and Northrop became the chief - and only - engineer.

The new craft was, of course, the Lockheed Vega and it would revolutionize aviation. Edward Antoine Bellande, a former barnstormer and crop duster, was hired as test pilot and took the Vega aloft on 4 July 1927. Showing faith in the design, Northrop accompanied the test pilot on the plane's second flight so the pilot could show him a wobble that developed at certain speeds. As a result of the flight, Northrop enlarged the tail surfaces on the aircraft that followed.