Clarence Johnson

Clarence Leonard Kelly Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the United States first operational jet fighter, as well as the first U.S. fighter to exceed 400 mph, and many other contributions to a large number of aircraft. As a member and first team leader of the Lockheed Skunk Works, Johnson worked for more than four decades and is said to have been an organizing genius. He played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft, including several honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy, acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight, Aviation Week & Space Technology ranked Johnson 8th on its list of the top 100 most important, most interesting, and most influential people in the first century of aerospace. Hall Hibbard, Johnsons Lockheed boss, referring to Johnsons Swedish ancestry once remarked to Ben Rich: That damned Swede can actually see air.Johnson also helped to design the Lockheed AQM-60 Kingfisher a decade before the famous SR-71. The Kingfisher was a highly successful single engine Mach 4.3 capable Ramjet composed mainly of steel, which was used to test American air defenses against nuclear missiles. The information and experience Johnson gained was later used to produce the A-12 spy plane for the Central Intelligence Agency. Johnson then used the combined knowledge of the Kingfisher and A-12 to produce the SR-71 Blackbird.

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