George Spangenberg
George Spangenberg | |
|---|---|
| File:GeoSpangenberg closeup.jpg | |
| Born | George Albert Spangenberg June 22, 1912 Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | November 13, 2000 (aged 88) McLean, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Spouse | Lillie King Snow |
| Relatives | Craig Spangenberg (brother); Nancy Ann Spangenberg (daughter); Judith Bea Spangenberg (daughter) |
George Spangenberg (June 22, 1912 – November 13, 2000[1]) was head of aircraft design in the United States Navy's Naval Air Systems Command.
He participated in the design and development of the original VFX/F-14 Tomcat, and selection of the YF-17 and design of the F/A-18 Hornet for the US Navy.
He has posted memoirs of this experiences on the web of how the F-14 Tomcat was designed to rectify the lack of maneuverability and performance of the F-111B. Jim Foster, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who commanded a group specifically charged with developing Navy aircraft, states that Spangenberg believes that the Hornet can or should not have been scaled up to replace the Tomcat, and that the Navy could have done better than being forced to choose one of the Lightweight Fighter entries.[2] Both Foster and Spangenberg believe the further development of the Hornet and Super Hornet over the Grumman Tomcat was made as primarily a political decision at the cost of combat capability.
He died on November 13, 2000, in an automobile accident.[3]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ "GEORGE SPANGENBERG (1912-2000)", Social Security Death Index
- ^ F-14 vs. F/A-18 controversy rages Flight Journal, June 2002
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
