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{{short description|American aircraft engineer}}
{{Citations}}
{{Infobox person
| name =George J. Mead
| image =George Jackson Mead.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date ={{birth date|1891|12|27}}
| birth_place =[[Everett, Massachusetts]]
| death_date ={{dda|1949|1|20|1891|12|27}}
| death_place =[[Hartford, Connecticut]]
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =American
| citizenship =U.S.
| other_names =
| known_for =Aircraft engineer and executive of [[Pratt & Whitney]] and [[United Aircraft]]; president of [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics|NACA]]
| notable works =Innovator and lead developer of the [[Pratt & Whitney Wasp series]]; as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission, Mead helped the U.S. to maximize its aircraft production for [[World War II]]
| occupation =[[Engineer]], [[entrepreneur]], [[Executive (management)|executive]], [[Board of directors|director]], [[Civil service|public servant]]
| years_active =1915–1949
| spouse =Cary Hoge Mead [wrote a biography of her husband<ref name="Mead1971">{{Harvnb|Mead|1971}}.</ref>]
| children =
| parents =
| relations =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
}}


'''George Jackson Mead''' (December 27, 1891 [[Everett, Massachusetts]] – January 20, 1949 [[Hartford, Connecticut]]) was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with [[Frederick Rentschler]], of [[Pratt & Whitney|Pratt & Whitney Aircraft]]. Mead and Rentschler left [[Wright Aeronautical]] with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp28-29">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=28–29}}.</ref> Their first project was to build a new, large, [[air-cooled engine|air-cooled]], [[radial engine|radial]] [[aircraft engine]] of Mead's design,<ref name="Fernandez1983pp28-29"/> which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the [[Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp|R-1340]], and a [[Pratt & Whitney Wasp series|large series of Wasp models]] and [[Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet|Hornet models]] followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent [[United Aircraft]]. He served as the president of the U.S. [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA),<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=128–129}}.</ref> and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129"/> during [[World War II]], as a manager in the U.S. government's war [[materiel]] production effort.<ref name="Herman, Arthur p. 81">Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,'' p. 81, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref>
'''George Jackson Mead''' (December 27, 1891 [[Everett, Massachusetts]] - January 20, 1949 [[Hartford, Connecticut]])


⚫
==Early life==
George J. Mead was best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with [[Frederick B. Rentschler]], as Vice President of Engineering of [[Pratt & Whitney|Pratt & Whitney Aircraft]] in 1925, currently a division of [[United Technologies Corporation]].
⚫
Mead was born in Everett, Massachusetts on December 27, 1891, to Dr. George Nathaniel Plumer Mead and Jennie Henrietta Mathilda LeMann Mead.<ref name="Mead1971p1">{{Harvnb|Mead|1971|p=1}}.</ref>


⚫
He graduated from the [[Choate School]] in Wallingford, Connecticut in 1911 and attended [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], but left in 1915 without graduating, owing to health problems.<ref name="Mead1971p13">{{Harvnb|Mead|1971|p=13}}.</ref>
⚫
==Early Life==


⚫
==Career==
⚫
George J. Mead was born in Everett, Massachusetts on December 27, 1891 to Dr. George Nathaniel Plumer Mead and Jennie Henrietta Mathilda LeMann Mead.<ref>Mead, Cary Hoge, Wings Over the World, Swannet Press, 1971, p.1</ref>
⚫
Mead worked for well over a year at Sterling Engine Company of [[Buffalo, NY]]. His next job was with the [[Simplex Automobile Company]] of New Brunswick, NJ, builders of the [[Crane-Simplex]] automobile. Simplex later merged with the [[Wright Aeronautical|Wright-Martin Aeronautical Corporation]] where Mead was in charge of the experimental division of the engineering department.<ref name="Mead1971p15">{{Harvnb|Mead|1971|p=15}}.</ref> In 1919 he became chief engineer of what was now the [[Wright Aeronautical Corporation]] upon the resignation of Henry Crane.


⚫
In late 1924, internal disagreements at Wright resulted in the resignation of President [[Frederick Rentschler]]. In 1925, Rentschler obtained financing to start [[Pratt & Whitney|Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation]] in the existing factory of the [[Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems|Pratt & Whitney Tool Company]] in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], and Mead left [[Wright Aeronautical]] to join Rentschler as the Vice President of Engineering.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.enginehistory.org/pratt_&_whitney.htm |title= Pratt & Whitney|website=www.enginehistory.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105164803/http://www.enginehistory.org/pratt_%26_whitney.htm |archive-date=2009-01-05}}</ref>
⚫
He graduated from the [[Choate School]] in Wallingford, CT in 1911 and attended [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], but left in 1915 without graduating, owing to health problems.<ref>Mead, Cary Hoge, Wings Over the World, Swannet Press, 1971, p.13</ref>


⚫
At Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Mead led the development program for their first engine, completed on Christmas Eve, 1925. The 425&nbsp;hp (317&nbsp;kW) [[Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp|R-1340 Wasp]] easily passed its official qualification test in March 1926, and the Navy ordered 200 engines. The speed, climb, performance, and reliability that the engine offered revolutionized American aviation.<ref name="Herman, Arthur p. 81"/> Subsequently, he led the development programs of the more powerful [[Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet|R-1690 Hornet]] and several other series of air-cooled radial [[aircraft engines]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/cons.cfm?id=14570 |title=George J. Mead - Designer - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum |access-date=2011-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402202753/http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/cons.cfm?id=14570 |archive-date=2011-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
⚫
==Career==


In 1929, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft was merged with a number of other aviation-related corporations, including [[Boeing]], [[Sikorsky Aircraft|Sikorsky]], and [[Vought]], as part of the new [[United Aircraft and Transport Corporation]] (UATC). Pratt & Whitney became a subsidiary.
⚫
Mead worked for well over a year at Sterling Engine Company of [[Buffalo, NY]]. His next job was with the [[Crane-Simplex]] company of New Brunswick, NJ, builders of the Simplex automobile. [[Crane-Simplex]] later merged with the [[Wright Aeronautical|Wright-Martin Aeronautical Corporation]] where Mead was in charge of the experimental division of the engineering department. In 1919 he became chief engineer of what was now the [[Wright Aeronautical Corporation]] upon the resignation of Henry Crane.


In 1930, Rentschler made a difficult decision about which engines to use for the [[Boeing 247]]. Mead insisted on the larger, more powerful Hornets; the pilots of United Airlines insisted on the less powerful Wasps. Fernandez says,<ref name="Fernandez1983pp75-76">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=75–76}}.</ref> "When Rentschler stood by the pilots, Mead took the decision personally. […] He agreed to try to develop a Wasp [capable] of powering the smaller version of his transport plane, but he never forgot the insult. He knew he was right, and within a year so did the rest of the United States."<ref name="Fernandez1983pp75-76"/>
⚫
In late 1924, internal disagreements at Wright resulted in the resignation of President [[Fred Rentschler]]. In 1925, Rentschler obtained financing to start [[Pratt & Whitney|Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation]] in the existing factory of the [[Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems|Pratt & Whitney Tool Company]] in [[Hartford, CT]], and Mead left [[Wright Aeronautical]] to join [[Fred Rentschler]] as the Vice President of Engineering.


In 1934, the [[Air Mail scandal]] led to the breakup of UATC. Pratt & Whitney, along with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the [[Mississippi River]], became [[United Aircraft]], with Rentschler as president. Rentschler decided to turn over the presidency of Pratt & Whitney to a subordinate as he concentrated on leading the parent corporation. Mead and Donald Brown were his two choices for his successor, but Mead did not want the job, and he refused to cooperate with Brown, who became the new president.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp104-105">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=104–105}}.</ref> Brown appointed [[Leonard S. Hobbs]] as engineering manager for Pratt & Whitney, and Mead stayed on as an engineer reporting to Hobbs.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp104-105"/> It was not so much a demotion as a growing of distance and independence from United Aircraft. Mead was still a person of high authority at United Aircraft, but something like an officer who resigns his [[Officer (armed forces)#Commissioned officers|commission]]. He began to act something like a consultant or engineer emeritus, setting up a design office in his home and not coming to the headquarters as often.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp104-105"/>
⚫
At Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Mead led the development program for their first engine, completed on Christmas Eve, 1925. The 425 hp (317 kW) [[Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp|R-1340 Wasp]] easily passed its official qualification test in March 1926, and the Navy ordered 200 engines. The speed, climb, performance, and reliability that the engine offered revolutionized American aviation. Subsequently, he led the development programs of the more powerful [[Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet|R-1690 Hornet]] and several other series of air-cooled radial [[aircraft engines]].

By 1939, Mead's policy disagreements with Rentschler had become so great that he declined reelection to United Aircraft's board of directors.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129"/> In October 1939, he was appointed by President [[Franklin D Roosevelt]] to the U.S. [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]],<ref>{{cite news |title=G.J. Mead Named by Roosevelt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/367305741 |access-date=25 September 2023 |work=Hartford Daily Courant |agency=AP |issue=13 October 1939}}</ref> a federal research agency which later evolved into [[NASA]].

In 1940, even though the United States had not yet entered [[World War II]], a massive military buildup was underway. In May 1940, President Roosevelt called for development of the industrial capacity to produce 50,000 airplanes per year (almost thirty times the total US aircraft production in 1938).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fernandez |first1=Ronald |title=Excess Profits: The Rise of United Technologies |date=1983 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |location=Reading, Massachusetts |isbn=0-201-10484-9 |page=126}}</ref> The responsibility for overseeing this daunting task fell to Mead whom Roosevelt, acting on [[William S. Knudsen]]'s recommendation, appointed head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129"/><ref>Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,'' pp. 81, 94, 104, 159, 219, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref> Mead sold his United Aircraft stock to avoid [[conflict of interest]] in his new government procurement position.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129"/> He was now completely severed from his long tenure at United Aircraft and its predecessors.

Fernandez describes the war years that followed as Knudsen and Mead, now [[materiel]] production czars for the U.S. government, interacted with Rentschler and Eugene Wilson of United.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp129-146">{{Harvnb|Fernandez|1983|pp=129–146}}.</ref> United, which lacked plant capacity to satisfy the demand, licensed manufacturing of many of its designs to the automakers in Detroit.


==Awards==
==Awards==
In January 1940, Mead received the Reed award for outstanding achievement in aviation.<ref name="Fernandez1983pp128-129"/>


In 1946, Mead was presented the Medal for Merit for his efforts in the development of aircraft engines used in [[World War II]].
In 1946, Mead was presented the Medal for Merit for his efforts in the development and production of aircraft engines used in World War II.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
;Notes
{{reflist}}


;Bibliography
===Bibliography===
⚫
* {{Citation |last= Connors |first= Jack |title= The engines of Pratt & Whitney: a technical history |publisher= [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] |location= Reston, Virginia, USA |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-60086-711-8 |postscript=.}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{Fernandez1983}}
⚫
* {{cite book|last= Connors |first= Jack |coauthors= |title= The Engines of Pratt & Whitney: A Technical History |publisher= [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] |location= Reston. Virginia |date= 2010 |isbn= 978-1-60086-711-8 |url= |pages= }}
* Mead, Cary Hoge. ''Wings Over The World - The Life of George Jackson Mead.'' The Swannet Press, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, 1971. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 74-141967.
* {{Citation |last=Mead |first=Cary Hoge |year=1971 |title=Wings over the world: the life of George Jackson Mead |publisher=Swannet Press |location=Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA |lccn=74-141967 |postscript=.}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
* http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/cons.cfm?id=14570
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110402202753/http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/cons.cfm?id=14570 U.S. National Air and Space Museum, information related to George J. Mead]
{{Pratt & Whitney}}

{{Pratt & Whitney aeroengines}}
{{Pratt & Whitney aeroengines}}
{{Aviation lists}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, George Jackson}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:American aerospace engineers]]
[[Category:American aerospace engineers]]
[[Category:People from Everett, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]

Latest revision as of 02:24, 25 September 2023

George J. Mead
Born(1891-12-27)December 27, 1891
Everett, Massachusetts
DiedJanuary 20, 1949(1949-01-20) (aged 57)
Hartford, Connecticut
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipU.S.
Occupation(s)Engineer, entrepreneur, executive, director, public servant
Years active1915–1949
Known forAircraft engineer and executive of Pratt & Whitney and United Aircraft; president of NACA
Notable workInnovator and lead developer of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series; as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission, Mead helped the U.S. to maximize its aircraft production for World War II
SpouseCary Hoge Mead [wrote a biography of her husband[1]]

George Jackson Mead (December 27, 1891 Everett, Massachusetts – January 20, 1949 Hartford, Connecticut) was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with Frederick Rentschler, of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Mead and Rentschler left Wright Aeronautical with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925.[2] Their first project was to build a new, large, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine of Mead's design,[2] which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the R-1340, and a large series of Wasp models and Hornet models followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent United Aircraft. He served as the president of the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA),[3] and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission[3] during World War II, as a manager in the U.S. government's war materiel production effort.[4]

Early life[edit]

Mead was born in Everett, Massachusetts on December 27, 1891, to Dr. George Nathaniel Plumer Mead and Jennie Henrietta Mathilda LeMann Mead.[5]

He graduated from the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut in 1911 and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but left in 1915 without graduating, owing to health problems.[6]

Career[edit]

Mead worked for well over a year at Sterling Engine Company of Buffalo, NY. His next job was with the Simplex Automobile Company of New Brunswick, NJ, builders of the Crane-Simplex automobile. Simplex later merged with the Wright-Martin Aeronautical Corporation where Mead was in charge of the experimental division of the engineering department.[7] In 1919 he became chief engineer of what was now the Wright Aeronautical Corporation upon the resignation of Henry Crane.

In late 1924, internal disagreements at Wright resulted in the resignation of President Frederick Rentschler. In 1925, Rentschler obtained financing to start Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation in the existing factory of the Pratt & Whitney Tool Company in Hartford, Connecticut, and Mead left Wright Aeronautical to join Rentschler as the Vice President of Engineering.[8]

At Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Mead led the development program for their first engine, completed on Christmas Eve, 1925. The 425 hp (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp easily passed its official qualification test in March 1926, and the Navy ordered 200 engines. The speed, climb, performance, and reliability that the engine offered revolutionized American aviation.[4] Subsequently, he led the development programs of the more powerful R-1690 Hornet and several other series of air-cooled radial aircraft engines.[9]

In 1929, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft was merged with a number of other aviation-related corporations, including Boeing, Sikorsky, and Vought, as part of the new United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). Pratt & Whitney became a subsidiary.

In 1930, Rentschler made a difficult decision about which engines to use for the Boeing 247. Mead insisted on the larger, more powerful Hornets; the pilots of United Airlines insisted on the less powerful Wasps. Fernandez says,[10] "When Rentschler stood by the pilots, Mead took the decision personally. […] He agreed to try to develop a Wasp [capable] of powering the smaller version of his transport plane, but he never forgot the insult. He knew he was right, and within a year so did the rest of the United States."[10]

In 1934, the Air Mail scandal led to the breakup of UATC. Pratt & Whitney, along with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River, became United Aircraft, with Rentschler as president. Rentschler decided to turn over the presidency of Pratt & Whitney to a subordinate as he concentrated on leading the parent corporation. Mead and Donald Brown were his two choices for his successor, but Mead did not want the job, and he refused to cooperate with Brown, who became the new president.[11] Brown appointed Leonard S. Hobbs as engineering manager for Pratt & Whitney, and Mead stayed on as an engineer reporting to Hobbs.[11] It was not so much a demotion as a growing of distance and independence from United Aircraft. Mead was still a person of high authority at United Aircraft, but something like an officer who resigns his commission. He began to act something like a consultant or engineer emeritus, setting up a design office in his home and not coming to the headquarters as often.[11]

By 1939, Mead's policy disagreements with Rentschler had become so great that he declined reelection to United Aircraft's board of directors.[3] In October 1939, he was appointed by President Franklin D Roosevelt to the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,[12] a federal research agency which later evolved into NASA.

In 1940, even though the United States had not yet entered World War II, a massive military buildup was underway. In May 1940, President Roosevelt called for development of the industrial capacity to produce 50,000 airplanes per year (almost thirty times the total US aircraft production in 1938).[13] The responsibility for overseeing this daunting task fell to Mead whom Roosevelt, acting on William S. Knudsen's recommendation, appointed head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission.[3][14] Mead sold his United Aircraft stock to avoid conflict of interest in his new government procurement position.[3] He was now completely severed from his long tenure at United Aircraft and its predecessors.

Fernandez describes the war years that followed as Knudsen and Mead, now materiel production czars for the U.S. government, interacted with Rentschler and Eugene Wilson of United.[15] United, which lacked plant capacity to satisfy the demand, licensed manufacturing of many of its designs to the automakers in Detroit.

Awards[edit]

In January 1940, Mead received the Reed award for outstanding achievement in aviation.[3]

In 1946, Mead was presented the Medal for Merit for his efforts in the development and production of aircraft engines used in World War II.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mead 1971.
  2. ^ a b Fernandez 1983, pp. 28–29.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Fernandez 1983, pp. 128–129.
  4. ^ a b Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, p. 81, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  5. ^ Mead 1971, p. 1.
  6. ^ Mead 1971, p. 13.
  7. ^ Mead 1971, p. 15.
  8. ^ "Pratt & Whitney". www.enginehistory.org. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05.
  9. ^ "George J. Mead - Designer - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum". Archived from the original on 2011-04-02. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
  10. ^ a b Fernandez 1983, pp. 75–76.
  11. ^ a b c Fernandez 1983, pp. 104–105.
  12. ^ "G.J. Mead Named by Roosevelt". Hartford Daily Courant. No. 13 October 1939. AP. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  13. ^ Fernandez, Ronald (1983). Excess Profits: The Rise of United Technologies. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. p. 126. ISBN 0-201-10484-9.
  14. ^ Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, pp. 81, 94, 104, 159, 219, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  15. ^ Fernandez 1983, pp. 129–146.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

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