Max B. Harlow (1903 –1967) was an American aircraft engineer, educator, and producer.

Early life

Harlow was born in South Dakota in 1903. Harlow attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, becoming an early aircraft engineering graduate. His first position was with

Thaden Metal Aircraft Company The Thaden Metal Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer based in San Francisco, California in the late 1920s. History The company was founded by Herbert von Thaden in 1928 to design and build a series of all-metal cabin monoplanes. ...

to develop an early all-metal aircraft, the

Thaden T-1 __NOTOC__ The Thaden T-1 Argonaut was a 1920s American eight-seat all-metal cabin monoplane, built by the Thaden Metal Aircraft Company of San Francisco, California. Description and history The Thaden T-1 was a high-wing strut-braced monoplane, c ...

. He assisted

Waldo Waterman image:Waldo Waterman.jpg, 200px, Waldo Waterman in 1920 Waldo Dean Waterman (June 16, 1894 – December 8, 1976) was an inventor and aviation pioneer from San Diego, California, San Diego, California. He developed a series of tailless swept-wing ai ...

in the design and construction of the prototype

Waterman Whatsit The Whatsit was a swept-wing, tail-less airplane designed by Waldo Waterman between 1911 (when he first got the idea) and 1932 (when the prototype was finally in testing phase). Waterman completed the prototype with friend and fellow engineer, Max ...

tailless aircraft. Waterman was chief test pilot for Bach Aircraft and brought Harlow in to improve the design of the

Bach Air Yacht The Bach Air Yacht was a trimotor airliner produced in the United States in the 1920s. Typical of its day, it was a high-wing braced monoplane, with fixed tailwheel undercarriage. Unusual for airliners of the late 1920s (due to legislation that f ...

trimotors. Harlow also worked for a brief period in 1930 for Lockheed Brothers Aircraft Corporation on the Olympia Duo-four wooden aircraft. In 1932, Harlow worked for

Bert Kinner Winfield Bertrum "Bert" Kinner (December 16, 1882 – July 4, 1957) was an American aircraft engine designer and designer of the first folding wing aircraft. Kinner founded Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation in Glendale, California which p ...

becoming his chief engineer in the design of the Kinner

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

, Sportwing, and Speedwing. When Kinner's company folded in 1934, he went to work for Douglas and a stress engineer for the

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 ...

wing. Harlow became a professor at

Pasadena Junior College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four-year junior college, combining the la ...

in 1935 forming the Aero-Tech laboratory. While a professor, he was able to join the local Hollywood engineering team developing the

Hughes H-1 Racer The Hughes H-1 Racer is a racing aircraft built by Hughes Aircraft in 1935. It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record across the United States. The H-1 Racer was the last aircraft built by a private individual to set the ...

which would lead to future business connections. As a student project, the college developed the

Harlow PJC-1 The Harlow PJC-2 was a 1930s American four-seat cabin monoplane, designed by Max Harlow. Development Max Harlow was an aeronautical engineer and instructor at the Pasadena Junior College. Under his tutelage, the aircraft designated PJC-1 was de ...

. Harlow formed the

Harlow Aircraft Company Harlow Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer at Alhambra Airport, Alhambra, California. History The company was founded in 1936 by professor Max B. Harlow to build the Harlow PJC-2 a production version of the PJC-1. The aircraf ...

at the

Alhambra Airport Alhambra Airport also called the Western Air College Airport was an airport in Alhambra, California from 1928 to 1946. The Airport was founded by the Western Air Express on 157-acre of land. The airport had a single 2,830-foot asphalt northeast ...

to commercially build the PJC "Pasadena Junior College" series of aircraft and military trainers. From 1936-1942 students worked on designing and producing a series of advanced all-metal retractable gear lightplanes under Harlow's supervision. Funding came from former

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

business partner J.B. Alexander. The aircraft were tested at the airstrip at

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

References

Sources

*Curriculum Problems in Vocational Education for the Aircraft Industry - Max B. Harlow 1944

External links

Image of Harlow during construction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlow, Max American aerospace engineers 1903 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American engineers Stanford University alumni