Heros of Aviation.

[Fozzer]

Some names you may know, some names you may not know, and some names you may have forgotten!

..but all of them interesting!

http://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/ ... MDY5Mjc2S0

Paul..... ...!

[C]

A very "transatlantic" list. Nice to see Frank Whittle made it behind golfer Arnold Palmer (his work on the jet engine was fairly influential after all); no place for major contributors such as Mitchell, Messerschmitt (who, in the run up to WWII were both quite ahead of the US companies and designers), Kurt Tank, Sir Henry Royce (RR), or (Sir) Stanley Hooker (Merlin, Pegasus, Olympus?).

[wifesaysno]

A very "transatlantic" list. Nice to see Frank Whittle made it behind golfer Arnold Palmer (his work on the jet engine was fairly influential after all); no place for major contributors such as Mitchell, Messerschmitt (who, in the run up to WWII were both quite ahead of the US companies and designers), Kurt Tank, Sir Henry Royce (RR), or (Sir) Stanley Hooker (Merlin, Pegasus, Olympus?).

Palmer is on there as an advocate. The others you mentioned may not be considered heroes but rather great designers/engineers. In this list they seem to look beyond just technological innovations. For example, Dick VanGrunsven is # 22, sure all he did was make a simple kitplane.....but that kit plane now numbers over 8,000 kits and is the backbone of the home-built aircraft community...then good ol Paul Poberezny is #4. A technological innovator not raelly, just a man that REALLY wanted to fly and created the 'grass roots aviation movement'. I am very happy with this list and that some great advocates made it like Harrison Ford (recently retired EAA Young Eagles chairman) and Arnold Palmer

Tailwinds,
Adam

[C]

The others you mentioned may not be considered heroes but rather great designers/engineers. In this list they seem to look beyond just technological innovations.

The 5 names I chose were chosen very carefully - in that they weren't just designers, but people with real influence that created aviation changing ideas - for example without Hooker the Merlin would have been mediocre in mass production, the Harrier may not have happened (Hawker wouldn't have had an engine), and Concorde may have been a different project. Mitchell and Messerschmitt were responsible for genesis of two types which had over 50000 examples made, and whose basic designs were operational for several decades - no biggie today, but a big deal in a time when an operational aircraft's design could be obsolete in a couple of years. I'd venture that with Rutan (Burt), Kelly Johnson, Piper/Mooney etc, they'd fit in quite well.

As for Rolls, without him (and his company), where would we be today!

[logjam]

I was disappointed to see my dad's name omitted. Then again, he only worked with Frank Whittle sweeping floors, not actually inventing anything, like he claimed to us kids.