James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger (May 8, 1895 – July 27, 1962) was an American aviation pioneer. He led

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...

from 1934 until 1960. An extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness and punctuality.

Early life

Kindelberger was born on May 8, 1895, in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, to Charles Frederick Kindelberger, a steelworker and Rose Ann Kindelberger. Kindelberger dropped out of school in the 10th grade and started working in the

steel industry Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

with his father. He took correspondence courses to further his education. In 1916, when he was 21 years old, he went to study at the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

to pursue engineering. His nickname, 'Dutch' referred to his descent from German (''Deutsch'') immigrants from

Nothweiler Nothweiler is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe ...

Pfalz Pfalz, Pfälzer, or Pfälzisch are German words referring to Palatinate. They may refer to: Places *Pfalz, the Palatinate (region) of Germany **Nordpfalz, the North Palatinate **Vorderpfalz, the Anterior Palatinate **Südpfalz, the South P ...

. In 1919, he married Thelma Knarr and they had two children.

Aviation career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Kindelberger was a member of the

US Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

. He was a pilot instructor based at Park Field in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. After the war, Kindelberger looked for work in aviation. In 1920, became chief draftsman and assistant chief engineer with the Glenn L. Martin Company in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Kindelberger formed a lifelong working association with J. L. "Lee" Atwood when they met as young engineers at

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

in 1930, working on the

DC-1 The Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Although only one example of the DC-1 was produced, the design was the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3, the latter of which bei ...

and

DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which bec ...

transports. Kindelberger worked as chief engineer and remained with Douglas for nine years. The two left Douglas Aircraft in 1934, moving to

. Atwood assumed the title of Chief Engineer, and Kindelberger was named president and General Manager. When they started at NAA, the company had orders for one passenger aircraft. Kindelberger managed to get a $1 million order for a military trainer, the

North American BT-9 The North American BT-9 was the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) designation for a low-wing single engine monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served before and during World War II. It was a contemporary of the Boeing-Stearman PT-13 Kay ...

World War II

In the summer of 1941, while

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was still a non-participant in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the British

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

asked

to build

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

fighters for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, since the total output of the

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

factory was earmarked for USA military use. Kindelberger told his UK contacts that North American could create a better design, and completed the prototype of the P-51 Mustang in four months. In all, 42,000 aircraft were built by the company by the end of the war.

Post war

After World War II Atwood expected there would be a need for improved rocket engines based on those developed by the Germans for the

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

. The two decided in 1946 to invest $1 million in a rocket engine test facility in Santa Susana, California, and a supersonic wind tunnel at Los Angeles International Airport. This paid off when North American landed the contract to develop the

Navaho The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

, a rocket-boosted intercontinental cruise missile. Kindelberger was promoted to chairman and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1948, with Atwood replacing him as president. The Navaho project allowed North American to develop expertise in rocket engines, inertial navigation systems, and supersonic aerodynamics. This in turn led to securing contracts for many advanced aerospace vehicles in the late 1950s – the

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set spee ...

crewed hypersonic spaceplane, the Hound Dog missile, and the

XB-70 Valkyrie The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North Ame ...

triple-sonic bomber. The XB-70 required the company to develop new materials, welding, and manufacturing processes.

Later life

In 1960, Kindelberger retired and Atwood took over as Chief Executive. Kindelberger remained Chairman of the Board until his death on July 27, 1962, due to congestive heart failure at the age of 67. Dr. Toby Freedman was his personal doctor and Medical Director at NAA. Dr. Freedman was with Kindelberger when he died. He is buried at

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue. The cemetery was ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Upon his death, Atwood became chairman of the board.

Legacy

Under his guidance, North American Aviation broke technological barriers; produced propeller- and jet-powered fighters and bombers, military trainers, rocket engines, and rocket-powered aircraft; and began its role as the prime contractor for the country's space program. Between 1935 and 1967, North American Aviation (under Kindelberger's direction) built more military aircraft than any other airplane maker in U.S. history. In 1972, he was inducted into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

. The

International Aerospace Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

inducted Kindelberger in 1977.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. . Kindelberger was featured in a 2006 documentary by filmmaker William Winship, aired by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

: ''Pioneers in Aviation: The Race to the Moon'', which profiled five US aerospace pioneers:

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer who founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which a year later was renamed to The Boeing Company, now the largest exporter in the United S ...

, Donald Douglas, Dutch Kindelberger, Harrison Storms, and James McDonnell. The film included previously unreleased interviews, photos, and film footage of Kindelberger.

References

Notes

Bibliography

North American Aviation History

Kindelbergers of Germany
* Mike Gray (1992), Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon {{DEFAULTSORT:Kindelberger, James H. 1895 births 1962 deaths American aviation businesspeople Businesspeople in aviation Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery American people of German descent United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I American aerospace engineers National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Businesspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia