George J. Mead | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 27, 1891 |
| Died | January 20, 1949 (aged 57) |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer, entrepreneur, executive, director, public servant |
| Years active | 1915–1949 |
| Known for | Aircraft engineer and executive of Pratt & Whitney and United Aircraft; president of NACA |
| Notable work | Innovator and lead developer of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series; as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission, Mead helped the U.S. to maximize its aircraft production for World War II |
| Spouse | Cary Hoge Mead [wrote a biography of her husband[1]] |
George Jackson Mead (December 27, 1891 Everett, Massachusetts – January 20, 1949 Hartford, Connecticut) was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with Frederick Rentschler, of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Mead and Rentschler left Wright Aeronautical with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925.[2] Their first project was to build a new, large, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine of Mead's design,[2] which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the R-1340, and a large series of Wasp models and Hornet models followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent United Aircraft. He served as the president of the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA),[3] and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission[3] during World War II, as a manager in the U.S. government's war materiel production effort.[4]
- ^ Mead 1971.
- ^ a b Fernandez 1983, pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Fernandez 1983, pp. 128–129.
- ^ Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, p. 81, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.