George Henry Prudden, Jr. (February 18, 1893 – January 20, 1964) was an American aircraft engineer. He was instrumental in designing the first all metal aircraft in America. He was president of the

Early Birds of Aviation Gallery The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928 and accepted a membership of 598 pioneering aviators. Membership was limited to ...

in 1961.

Early life

Born on 18 February 1893, George, and his brother Earl, were interested in aviation from an early age, being featured in the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...

'' with an airplane model of his design in 1909. By 24 June 1910, Prudden had soloed a plane of his own design based on the Wright Flyer. Despite his flying experience, George Prudden served in the 74th Field Artillery during World War I. After military service Prudden returned to education graduating in the Class of 1920 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. George was then recruited by

William Bushnell Stout William Bushnell Stout (March 16, 1880 – March 20, 1956) was a pioneering American inventor, engineer, developer and designer whose works in the automotive and aviation fields were groundbreaking. Known by the nickname "Bill", Stout designed an ...

, to help develop the Stout ST-1 all metal torpedo bomber for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. George later designed the Stout 2-AT Pullman, the first aircraft to make regularly scheduled airline flights, cargo flights, and commercial air mail flights. Henry Ford fully purchased the Stout company in 1925, making it the

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced th ...

. One of Prudden's first tasks was to investigate the breakup of the

USS Shenandoah Four United States Navy ships, including one rigid airship, and one ship of the Confederate States of America, have been named ''Shenandoah'', after the Shenandoah River of western Virginia and West Virginia. * , a screw sloop commissioned in 1863 ...

on behalf of Ford. Ford was very displeased when he saw that the effort was publicised in the

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

and cut Prudden. In 1927, Prudden founded the Prudden-San Diego Airplane Company, to manufacture an all-metal trimotor with Ryan supplied engines. In November 1928, Prudden left the company at the height of the depression and the company was renamed to the Solar Aircraft Company. The company Prudden founded is still active as Solar Turbines Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

Later, Prudden developed the Prudden-Whitehead monoplane with the Atlanta Aircraft Corporation. While in Atlanta, Prudden helped develop Candler Field, Atlanta. In 1932, Prudden worked for Lockheed Aircraft where he helped engineer the

Lockheed Vega The Lockheed Vega is an American five- to seven-seat high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very l ...

and Lockheed Orion aircraft. In World War II, Prudden managed the Ryan Aeronautical factory in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. In 1961, Prudden became the President of the ''Early birds of Aviation''. He died on January 20, 1964.

Legacy

Many of Prudden's awards were displayed in the

San Diego Air & Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

, but were destroyed in a 1978 arson fire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prudden, George American aerospace engineers University of Minnesota alumni 1893 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American engineers Members of the Early Birds of Aviation Engineers from Minnesota