Joseph Frederick Sutter (March 21, 1921 – August 30, 2016) was an American engineer for the

Boeing Airplane Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and manager of the design team for the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

under Malcolm T. Stamper, the head of the 747 project. '' Air & Space/Smithsonian'' magazine has described Sutter as the "father of the 747".

Early life and education

Sutter was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and grew up in the vicinity of Boeing's Seattle plant. He was of Slovenian descent—his father, Franc Suhadolc (1879–1945) from Dobrova, Slovenia, moved to the US as a

gold prospector Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospe ...

. Sutter attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in aeronautical engineering in 1943.Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Appointment of Joseph F. Sutter as a Member of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident
/ref>

Career

In 1940, Sutter took a summer job at Boeing Plant 2 while studying aeronautical engineering at the

. Sutter served as a junior officer aboard the

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

in the U.S. Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a young U.S. Navy veteran finishing his degree when both Boeing and Douglas offered him jobs. Boeing believed in

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

, so he went there. Former Boeing executive Jim Albaugh believes Douglas would probably own Boeing today if it went otherwise. At Boeing, Sutter worked on many commercial airplane projects, including the 367-80 "Dash 80", 707, 727 and 737. He eventually became a manager for the new jumbo-sized wide body airplane, the four-engine

. As chief engineer, he led the 747 design and build team from conception in 1965 to rollout in 1969. He would become known as the "father of the 747". Sutter's final job was as executive vice president for commercial airplane engineering and product development when he retired from Boeing in 1986.

Later life

Sutter served on the Rogers Commission, investigating the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. He was also selected as a recipient of the International Air Cargo Association's 2002 Hall of Fame Award and was an engineering

sales consultant Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

. As of July 2010, he was a member of the Boeing Senior Advisory Group which was studying the alternatives of a clean sheet replacement of the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

or a re-engine of the then-current design, the latter ultimately chosen and later marketed as the

Boeing 737 MAX The Boeing 737 MAX is a series of narrow-body aircraft developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation and incorporates more efficient CFM International LEAP engin ...

. For decades, he resided in West Seattle. In 2011, on his 90th birthday, Boeing's 40-87 building in Everett, WA, the main engineering building for Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, was renamed the Joe Sutter building. Sutter died on August 30, 2016, at a hospital in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

, from complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, at the age of 95. He is memorialized by

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc. is a major American cargo airline, charter airline, passenger charter airline, and Aircraft lease, aircraft lessor based in White Plains, New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas Air is t ...

's final 747 (N863GT), the 1,574th and final 747 ever made by the company, via a sticker with a picture of him, the first ever 747, his name, and the words "Forever Incredible". Atlas Air took delivery of the aircraft on January 31, 2023.

Book

Aviation author and historian Jay Spenser worked closely with Sutter for 18 months to write his autobiography, entitled ''747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation'' (). It was published by Smithsonian Books/

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

as a

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

in 2006 and as a

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

in 2007. This book tells of Sutter's childhood and describes his life and 40-year career at Boeing. The book details Sutter's tenure as chief engineer of the development of the 747 and elaborates on its design, manufacturing, testing, certification, and delivery to the world's airlines. The book also describes subsequent models of the 747 and the two major-derivative updates to the type, the 747-400 of 1989, and the 747-8.

Awards

* 1985 United States Medal of Technology award. For his contributions to the development of commercial jet aircraft. *In September 2024, Sutter 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 ...

in Dayton, Ohio.

References

External links

Boeing: Remembering an 'Incredible' legend
a blog entry tributed to Joe Sutter
The Sutter twist – an engineering story
a Wing twist named after him {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter, Joseph 1921 births 2016 deaths American aerospace engineers United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Slovenian descent Boeing people National Medal of Technology recipients Writers from Seattle United States Navy officers University of Washington College of Engineering alumni