Background
Born on November 10, 1895 in Newark, New Jersey, Northrop grew up in Santa Barbara, California.
Born on November 10, 1895 in Newark, New Jersey, Northrop grew up in Santa Barbara, California.
He joined the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1923 as a draftsman, designed fuel tanks for the Douglas round-the-world cruisers, and, by 1927, was a project engineer. In 1927 he became one of the founders of the Lockheed Aircraft Company. As chief engineer, he designed the Lockheed Vega and the Lockheed Air Express model. In 1928 he and W. K. Jay formed the Avion Corporation to build the first of the flying-wing airplanes; in 1929 the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation bought his company, and the Northrop Aircraft Corporation became its subsidiary, with Northrop as vice-president and chief engineer. The Northrop Corporation was formed by Northrop, Jay, and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1932. Northrop's pioneering aircraft design was influential in the 1930's. His multicellular, stressed-skin wing- and tail-surface construction, his use in commercial airplanes of split trailing-edge flaps, and his invention of the double split flap for dive bombers are among his achievements. Northrop died in Glendale, California, on Feburary 19, 1981.
Quotes from others about the person
Designer John Cashen says: "As he held this model in his shaking hands, it was as if you could see his entire history with the flying wing passing through his mind. "