James Smith McDonnell

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James Smith McDonnell (born April 9, 1899 in Denver , Colorado , grew up in Little Rock , Arkansas , † August 22, 1980 in St. Louis ) was an American aircraft designer and businessman.

Career

McDonnell graduated from Princeton University with success and then earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He then worked at the Huff-Daland Aero Company and later moved to the Glenn L. Martin Company , where he stayed until 1938. The following year he opened his own company, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation , based in St. Louis. From 1939 to 1967 he was President of this company and from 1962 to 1967 CEO .

After an attempt to merge with the Douglas Aircraft Company had failed in January 1963 , it succeeded in April 1967. The new company was now called McDonnell Douglas Corporation . McDonnell also served this company as CEO from 1967 to 1972 and then held the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors until his death in 1980 .

Development of fighter aircraft

James S. McDonnell Foundation

In 1950 he established the James S. McDonnell Foundation with the general goal of improving the quality of life. The foundation, based in St. Louis , Missouri , claims to have raised over $ 347 million in grants since its inception, v. a. for scientific research. Grants are awarded on the basis of a proposal process with a peer review process, in accordance with the principles of the 21st Century Science Initiative . One focus is the promotion of medical research on brain tumors .

personal interests

McDonnell was interested in occultism and parapsychological topics all his life . This is also reflected in the aircraft names he gave such as Phantom , Demon , Goblin , Banshee and Voodoo .

1979 McDonnell left Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, 500,000 US dollars to get research funding to the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research to establish that parapsychological phenomena should, in a controlled laboratory environment. With the Alpha project (1979–1981) carried out in the vicinity of this institute , James Randi showed how easily parapsychologists can be deceived in their experiments. The McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research was then closed.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Aviation Hall of Fame. In: www.nationalaviation.org. Retrieved August 9, 2015 .
  2. ↑ christopher brownrigg: Pioneers in Aviation: The Race to the Moon. In: www.pioneersinaviation.com. Retrieved August 9, 2015 .
  3. ↑ http://www.jsmf.org/about/
  4. ↑ http://www.jsmf.org/index.php
  5. ^ Eg , Sheffield, Richard G., Air Combat Simulator Tactics and Maneuvers ( http://www.flightsimbooks.com/jfs/page1.php ).
personal data
SURNAME McDonnell, James Smith
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American aircraft designer and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Denver , Colorado
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1980
Place of death St. Louis , Missouri