Sad day in the F-16 world

[Cvairwerks]

Sad news tonight as I found out that Harry Hillaker passed away last night. If it weren't for Harry's desire to build the best fighter aircraft the USAF had ever seen and his willingness to listen to off the wall ideas, I probably wouldn't have a career doing what I do, as the F-16 program would have never happened.

I wish that I had known Harry better, as he was a real hoot to spend time with. Both Harry and Neil Anderson were big influences in my coming to work for GD way back when....

I would bet that Harry and Kelly J. are conspiring on new designs and Neil is figuring out how to break 'em....

CAVU guys....unlimted time to bingo fuel and no FLCS faults ever more.

[RickH]

Do you figure John Boyd might be up there with them ?

[Cvairwerks]

Rick: Guaranteed he is working it too.... I never met Boyd, but would have loved to have had the chance.

Got to thinking on the way home from work tonight...most of the guys that I worked with on the engineering side are all gone. Of the 120 or so engineers in my old group, only two dozen or so are still alive and of them, less than a dozen are still active in the business.

Of the engineers of other groups that I used to hang around with, all are gone now. The wealth of experience they had was and still is amazing to me. Between those guys, they were major players in every aircraft built by GD and it's predecessors from San Deigo and Fort Worth....up to and including the F-16 and the Atlas missle program.

Hard to believe that I'm considered an old timer out there at only 48 years old and over 20 years with the company. Some of the kids working out there weren't even gleams in their parents' eyes when I went to work for GD.

[Moonlight]

Do you figure John Boyd might be up there with them ?

I've got to say, his biography is one of the best books I've ever read, aviation themed or otherwise. The line in it when he replied with his opinion on what should happen to the F-111 had me laughing out loud.

[RickH]

Ya'll will appreciate these videos of Boyd in the moment. Here is a discussion setting where Boyd is being asked questions from the audience. He talks about the F111 and the fore runner to the F-15. His efforts gave us more than we'll ever know !

http://boyd2008.ning.com/video

Didn't mean to hijack your thread but this seems to tie in.

[Ztex]

Fort Worth paper this morning...


http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/1194465.html

[Dudley Henriques]

Rick: Guaranteed he is working it too.... I never met Boyd, but would have loved to have had the chance.

Got to thinking on the way home from work tonight...most of the guys that I worked with on the engineering side are all gone. Of the 120 or so engineers in my old group, only two dozen or so are still alive and of them, less than a dozen are still active in the business.

Of the engineers of other groups that I used to hang around with, all are gone now. The wealth of experience they had was and still is amazing to me. Between those guys, they were major players in every aircraft built by GD and it's predecessors from San Deigo and Fort Worth....up to and including the F-16 and the Atlas missle program.

Hard to believe that I'm considered an old timer out there at only 48 years old and over 20 years with the company. Some of the kids working out there weren't even gleams in their parents' eyes when I went to work for GD.

I met John when I was doing inertia coupling research. I liked him. Straight forward and to the point (to a fault actually He was a "take no prisoners" type. I found him a lot like Bader in that respect. He had little use for rank and "authority" when it interfered with what he felt was right.
John was a great help to me personally with my work.
I believe his record for conversion air to air (guns envelope) from a dead 12' o'clock position 1v1 with the Hun against all comers still stands as unique in the Air Force.
Dudley Henriques

[Cvairwerks]

Rick: No way would I consider that a hijack.....

Dudley: I think that he would have been a real blast to spend time with. I tend to get astronomical amounts of stuff done and absorb a phenominal amount of facts and theory when I get to work with people that have that type attitude towards a project.

[Dudley Henriques]

Rick: No way would I consider that a hijack.....

Dudley: I think that he would have been a real blast to spend time with. I tend to get astronomical amounts of stuff done and absorb a phenominal amount of facts and theory when I get to work with people that have that type attitude towards a project.

Boyd in my opinion was a genius whose contribution to fighter aviation has been incalculable. He and Christie and Rutowski gave us the means by which aircraft performance will be measured for years to come.
Dudley Henriques