List of aerospace engineers
This is a list of notable aerospace engineers, people who were trained in or practiced aerospace engineering and design.
A
- Talbert Abrams β aerial photography and plexiglas pioneer, designer of the Abrams P-1 Explorer
- Gerd Achgelis β helicopter pioneer
- Jakob Ackeret
- ClΓ©ment Ader β early aviation pioneer
- Bruce Aikenhead β Avro Canada, NASA
- Buzz Aldrin β astronaut, mechanical engineer and second person to walk on the Moon
- Rostislav Alexeyev β ground effect vehicle designer
- Edmund T. Allen β engineer, test pilot
- Harry Julian Allen β NASA, inventor of blunt body re-entry vehicles
- Gwen Alston β aerodynamicist
- Oleg Antonov β founder of the OKB-153 Antonov design bureau
- Neil Armstrong β astronaut, aeronautical engineer and first person to walk on the Moon
- Yuri Artsutanov β space elevator pioneer
- Holt Ashley β researched aeroelasticity
- Lee Atwood β North American Aviation engineer
B
- Brunolf Baade β lead designer of the Baade 152
- Erich Bachem β designer of the Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket plane
- Leonard Bairstow β National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) researcher
- Herman Barkey β led the design team for the McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Phantom
- V. P. Barmin β designer of the rocket launch complex
- Frank Barnwell β chief engineer Bristol Aeroplane Company
- Robert Ludvigovich Bartini β designer of the Bartini Beriev VVA-14 and other experimental projects, founder of the OKB-86 design bureau
- Yaakov Bar-Shalom β researcher of target tracking
- L. E. Baynes β designer of the Baynes Bat tank glider
- Jim Bede
- Hermann Behrbohm β aerodynamicist at Messerschmidt and Saab
- Rex Beisel β lead engineer at Curtiss and Vought
- Giuseppe Mario Bellanca β aircraft pioneer, blended wing designer
- Viktor Nikolayevich Belyaev β strength engineer, designer of the Belyayev DB-LK
- Dwight Henry Bennett β developed Fly-by-wire technology, helped design the F2Y, F-102, F-4 Phantom, F/A-18
- Thomas W. Benoist β early airline entrepreneur
- Igor Bensen β autogyro designer
- Max Bentele β jet engine pioneer
- Aleksandr Bereznyak β designer of the BI-1 rocket plane
- Georgy Beriev β founder of the OKB-49 Beriev design bureau
- J. D. Bernal β invented the Bernal sphere for space habitation
- Albert Betz β designer and researcher
- Paul Bevilaqua β lift fan inventor
- Ronald Eric Bishop - chief designer of the de Havilland Mosquito
- Matus Bisnovat β missile designer
- Robert Blackburn β aviation pioneer
- Louis BlΓ©riot β aviation pioneer
- George Eugene Bockrath β researched fracture mechanics
- Hendrik Wade Bode β NASA advisor
- Jenny Body β former President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
- William Boeing β founder of Boeing
- Charles Bolden β NASA Administrator
- Viktor Bolkhovitinov β lead designer of the Bolkhovitinov DB-A bomber, founder of the OKB-293 design bureau
- Ludwig BΓΆlkow β aerodynamicist for the Me 262
- Alan Bond β designed spaceplanes and an SST
- Philip Bono β space launcher developer
- Frank Borman β commanded first mission to circle the Moon
- Karel Bossart β lead designer of the Atlas ICBM
- Enea Bossi Sr. β aviation pioneer
- William Hawley Bowlus β glider designer
- John Boyd β created the energyβmaneuverability theory
- Frances Bradfield β wind tunnel researcher
- Ferdinand Brandner β aircraft engine designer
- Erik Bratt β lead designer at Saab AB
- Vance Breese β engineer and test pilot
- Louis Charles Breguet β aviation pioneer, founder of BrΓ©guet Aviation
- Maurice Brennan β designer of flying boats, helicopters, transports, rockets, hovercraft
- Yvonne Brill β electrothermal hydrazine thruster
- Arthur E. Bryson β "father of modern optimal control theory"
- Isabelle Buret β engineer specializing in telecommunications and astronautics
- Vincent Burnelli β blended wing and lifting body designer
- Anne Burns β wind shear expert
- Adolf Busemann β swept wing
- Robert W. Bussard β designer of nuclear thermal rocket engines
- Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin β aviation pioneer
C
- Sydney Camm β Hawker Hurricane designer
- Secondo Campini β jet engine pioneer
- Giovanni Caproni β founder of Caproni
- Albert Caquot β aviation pioneer
- Mario Castoldi β chief designer at Aeronautica Macchi
- Beatrice Mabel Cave-Browne-Cave β undertook pioneering work in the mathematics of aeronautics
- George Cayley β notable for his research in aerodynamics
- Clyde Cessna β early aircraft designer and founder of Cessna
- Roy Chadwick β design engineer for the Avro Company
- Roger Chaffee β Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
- George Henry Challenger β engineer with the Bristol Aeroplane Company and later with Vickers
- Jim Chamberlin β Avro Canada, NASA
- Roy Chaplin β Hawker Aircraft
- George Chapline Jr. β proposer of a fission-fragment rocket
- Kalpana Chawla β died in the Columbia disaster
- Vladimir Chelomey β founder of the OKB-52 rocket design bureau
- Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky β flying wing designer
- Boris Chertok β space program control systems designer
- Chu Chia-Jen
- Thomas P. Christie β mathematician, co-creator of the Energyβmaneuverability theory with John Boyd
- ZbysΕaw CioΕkosz β introduced the use of shaft turbine power for helicopters
- John Drury Clark β developer of jet and rocket fuel
- Val Cleaver β rocket engineer
- Henri CoandΔ β inventor of the jet engine
- Richard Coar β RJ10 rocket engine designer
- Christopher Cockerell β hovercraft inventor
- Dandridge MacFarlan Cole β Titan II designer
- Franklin R. Collbohm β Douglas test pilot, engineer, and executive, co-founder of the RAND Corporation
- Giuseppe Colombo β developed the gravitational assist profile used in the Mariner 10 mission to Mercury, invented the space tether
- Nicholas Comper β designer of the Comper Swift
- Philip M. Condit β former CEO of Boeing
- RenΓ© Couzinet β invented retractable landing gear
- Eugene E. Covert β wind tunnel designer
- Ray Creasey aerodynamicist, helped design the BAC Lightning
- Gaetano Crocco β rocketry pioneer
- Scott Crossfield β first man to fly faster than twice the speed of sound in NAA's X-15
- Alwyn Crow β rocket designer
- Irv Culver β P-38 designer
- Glenn Curtiss β founder of the US aircraft industry
- Kazimierz Czarnecki β NACA and NASA engineer
D
- Werner Dahm
- Frederick Dallenbach β Auxiliary power unit designer
- Corradino D'Ascanio β helicopter pioneer
- Marcel Dassault
- Serge Dassault
- Arthur Davenport β Westland Aircraft
- Fred David β designer at Heinkel, Mitsubishi, Aichi Kokuki and Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
- Stuart Davies β designed the Avro Lancaster and Vulcan
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Geoffrey de Havilland
- Louis de Monge β blended wing inventor
- Juan de la Cierva β inventor of the autogyro
- Satish Dhawan
- Walter Stuart Diehl β created US Navy test facilities, authored Engineering Aerodynamics
- Bertil Dillner β engineer at Saab and Boeing
- Paul Bernard Dilworth
- Heini Dittmar β record-breaking pilot
- Jurgis DobkeviΔius β Lithuanian aviation constructor, military pilot
- Takeo Doi β designer for Kawasaki Aircraft Industries
- Tom Dolan β developed the lunar orbit rendezvous concept for the Apollo program
- Roy Dommett β the United Kingdom's Chief Missile Scientist
- Charles J. Donlan β NASA manager
- Allen F. Donovan WW2 aircraft, Atlas and Titan missiles, nuclear rockets
- Jimmy Doolittle β instrument flying developer
- Γtienne Dormoy β airplane and autogyro designer
- Claude Dornier
- Anatoly Dorodnitsyn β researched meteorology, vortex wing theory, boundary layer theory in a compressible gas, and supersonic gas dynamics
- Donald W. Douglas β founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company
- George Dowty β designer of aircraft components
- Charles Stark Draper β developed inertial navigation
- Hugh Latimer Dryden β researcher and NASA administrator
- Guy du Merle β engineer, test flew captured Bf 109 and He 111 in Spain
- Alberto Santos Dumont β inventor of the dirigible; aeronautics pioneer
- J. W. Dunne β invented the first delta wing
- Pedro Duque β engineer and astronaut
- William F. Durand β propeller designer, NACA chair
- Ludwig DΓΌrr β airship designer
- Leonid Dushkin β rocket engine designer
E
- George Edwards β designer at Vickers-Armstrongs and BAC
- Alfred J. Eggers β NACA / NASA researcher, developed re-entry bodies and compression lift, managed Pioneer program
- Joe Engle β astronaut
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie β aviation and rocketry pioneer, invented the center stick
- Walter Extra β aerobatic aircraft designer
F
- Maxime Faget β designer of the Project Mercury spacecraft
- Ole Fahlin β propeller and prototype airplane developer
- Sherman Fairchild β founded Fairchild Aircraft
- Charles Richard Fairey β founder of the Fairey Aviation Company
- Farman Brothers
- Robert W. Farquhar β NASA engineer, inventor of the halo orbit
- Roy Fedden β British engine designer for Bristol Engine Company
- Bobak Ferdowsi β JPL flight engineer
- Antonio Ferri β created the Ferri scoop used on the jet intakes of the XF-103, F-105, XF8U-3, and SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile, and the diverterless supersonic inlet used on the F-35
- Gerhard Fieseler β German aircraft designer
- Harold Finger β Project NERVA lead engineer
- Gary Flandro β NASA researcher, conceived the Planetary Grand Tour fulfilled by the Voyager program
- Alexander H. Flax β developer of tandem helicopters and reconnaissance satellites
- Anton Flettner β helicopter pioneer
- Nicolas Florine β helicopter pioneer
- James C. Floyd β Avro Canada designer
- Henrich Focke β helicopter pioneer
- Anthony Fokker
- Henry Folland β chief designer at Nieuport, Gloster, and Folland Aircraft
- Edward Forman β co-founder of JPL, Aerojet
- Robert L. Forward β designer of solar sails and space tethers
- Harlan D. Fowler β Fowler flap inventor
- John Fozard β Hawker Siddeley Harrier designer
- Anselm Franz β jet engine pioneer
- Stelio Frati β designer of several aircraft inc the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260
- Leslie Frise β designed the Type 156 Bristol Beaufighter
- John Carver Meadows Frost β chief designer of the Avro Canada CF-100 and several VTOL projects
- Michimasa Fujino β Hondajet designer
G
- Giuseppe Gabrielli β aircraft designer
- Robert Gilruth β engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
- Peter Glaser β developed the solar power satellite
- John Glenn β first American man to orbit the Earth in 1962
- Valentin Glushko
- Robert Goddard β scientist who developed the first liquid-fueled rocket 3-16-26
- Tadeusz GΓ³ra
- Fritz Gosslau β V-1 flying bomb designer
- Arthur Gouge β designed the "C-class" Empire and Sunderland flying boats, invented the Gouge flap
- Granville Brothers β GeeBee racers
- Jay Greene
- Alan Arnold Griffith β jet engine designer
- Gus Grissom β Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
- Gordon G. Grose β integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
- Gu Songfen β participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the Shenyang J-8 and Shenyang J-8II
- Guan De β aeroelasticity engineer, participated in the design and development of the Shenyang JJ-1, the Shenyang J-8 and the Shenyang J-8II
- Leroy Grumman β founder of Grumman Aircraft
- Tore Gullstrand β chief engineer at Saab
- Siegfried and Walter GΓΌnter β jet aircraft pioneers
- Mikhail Gurevich β co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau
- Bartolomeu de GusmΓ£o β Portuguese priest, aircraft designer
- Antanas Gustaitis β Lithuanian aircraft designer, Brigadier General, Commander-in-Chief of Lithuanian Air Force
H
- Wolfgang Haack
- B. J. Habibie
- Raoul Hafner β helicopter pioneer
- Edward N. Hall β Minuteman ICBM engineer
- β sailplane designer
- Julius Hatry β built the first rocket plane
- Harry Hawker β test pilot, formed Hawker Aircraft
- Willis Hawkins β design lead of the L-133 and C-130
- Clinton H. Havill β researched airships and propellers
- Richard E. Hayden β noise reduction developer
- Wallace D. Hayes β discoverer of the area rule and hypersonics
- Edward H. Heinemann β Chief Engineer for Douglas Aircraft, designed 20 military aircraft
- Ernst Heinkel β developed first jet rocket aircraft
- Chris Heintz β kit plane designer
- Scarlin Hernandez β aerospace engineer for NASAβs James Webb Space Telescope
- Hall Hibbard β Lockheed engineer
- Homer Hickam β NASA engineer, model rocketry enthusiast
- Geoffrey T. R. Hill β designer of the Westland-Hill Pterodactyls and co-developed the aero-isoclinic wing
- Stanley Hiller β founder Hiller Aircraft
- Hellmuth Hirth β aircraft engine designer, brother of Wolf Hirth
- Wolf Hirth β sailplane designer, brother of Hellmuth Hirth
- Leonard S. Hobbs β engine designer
- John Hodge β Avro Canada, NASA
- Sighard F. Hoerner β aerodynamicist, assisted the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch design
- Nicholas J. Hoff
- Samuel Kurtz Hoffman β rocket engine designer
- Kurt Hohenemser β helicopter pioneer
- Walter Hohmann β invented the Hohmann transfer orbit
- Peter K. Homer
- Stanley Hooker β British engine engineer for Rolls-Royce Aerospace
- Ralph Hooper β Hawker Siddeley Harrier developer
- Jiro Horikoshi β chief engineer for the Mitsubishi A6M
- Horten brothers β flying wing designers
- John Houbolt β NASA engineer, lunar orbit rendezvous proponent
- Kathleen Howell β known for her contributions to dynamical systems theory applied to spacecraft trajectory
- Hsue-Chu Tsien β aeronautical engineer
- Howard Hughes β aerospace engineer, owned RKO movie studio
- Huang Zhiqian β lead designer of the Shenyang J-8
- Jerome Clarke Hunsaker β pioneer of heavier and lighter than air aircraft
- Rick Husband β died in the Columbia disaster
- FranΓ§ois Hussenot β inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder
I
- Sergey Ilyushin β founder of the OKB-39 Ilyushin design bureau
- Aleksei Isaev β rocket engine designer
- Hideo Itokawa β aircraft and rocket designer at Nakajima Aircraft Company
- Sergey Izotov β aircraft engine designer, founder of the OKB-117 design bureau
J
- Mary Jackson β NASA engineer
- Eastman Jacobs β advanced wind tunnels, airfoils, turbulence, boundary layers, and Schlieren photography
- Hans Jacobs β sailplane pioneer
- Jack James β Mariner program manager
- Antony Jameson β pioneered computational fluid dynamics
- Robert P. Johannes β developed Fly-by-wire technology
- Clarence "Kelly" Johnson β formed Lockheed's Skunk Works and led the design of the SR-71, U-2, F-117A, F-104, C-130, T-33, P-38, and Constellations
- Katherine Johnson β mathematician who worked as an aerospace technologist at NASA
- Robert Thomas Jones β aeronautical engineer at NASA
- Drago Jovanovich β rotorcraft designer
- Charles Joy β engineer at Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft Company. and Handley Page
- Hugo Junkers β pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes
K
- Rudolf Kaiser β sailplane designer
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam β former President of India, "Missile Man of India"
- Charles Kaman β helicopter pioneer
- Nikolai Kamov β founder of the Kamov design bureau
- Abraham Karem β founder of UAV technology
- Alexander Kartveli β Chief Engineer at Republic Aviation, contributor to first aerospace vehicle prototypes
- Otto Kauba β designer of the Ε koda-Kauba SK 257, co-designer of the Ε koda-Kauba P14
- Harold R. Kaufman β developed first ion thrusters
- David Keith-Lucas β engineer at Short Brothers
- Mstislav Keldysh β rocket and spacecraft designer
- W. Wallace Kellett β Kellett Autogiro Corporation
- Thomas J. Kelly β leader of the Apollo Lunar Module design team
- Alexander Kemurdzhian β mechanical engineer who is best known for designing Lunokhod 1, the first lunar rover
- Sergey Khristianovich β aerodynamicist
- Dutch Kindelberger β Chief Engineer at Douglas Aircraft and head of North American Aviation
- Klapmeier brothers β founders of Cirrus Aircraft
- Milton Klein β nuclear rocket engineer
- Ave K. Kludze, Jr. β NASA engineer
- Heinz-Hermann Koelle β von Braun associate
- Yuri Kondratyuk β first developer of the lunar orbit rendezvous concept
- Otto C. Koppen β MIT professor, designer for Ford and Helio Courier
- Yuri Koptev β engineer, former Roscosmos General Director
- Sergey Korolev β Korolev rocket design bureau founder
- Semyon Kosberg β lead engine designer at OKB-154
- Gleb Kotelnikov β parachute pioneer
- Frank Kozloski β rotorcraft and missile developer
- Chris Kraft β NASA administrator
- Eugene Kranz β aeronautical engineer
- Werner KrΓΌger β inventor of the Krueger flap
- Dietrich KΓΌchemann β aerodynamicist
- Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov β engine designer, founder of the OKB-276 Kuznetsov design bureau
L
- Gustav Lachmann β designer at Handley-Page
- Barry Laight β designer of the Blackburn Buccaneer
- Aarne Lakomaa β involved in the design of the Saab 35 Draken and the Saab 37 Viggen
- Frederick W. Lanchester β aerodynamicist
- Geoffrey A. Landis β NASA engineer, interplanetary exploration
- Samuel Pierpont Langley β aircraft pioneer
- Agnew E. Larsen β engineer at Curtiss and Pitcairn
- Conrad Lau β lead designer of the XF8U-3 and A-7 Corsair
- Semyon Lavochkin β founder of the OKB-301 Lavochkin design bureau
- Lovell Lawrence Jr. β co-founder of Reaction Motors
- Bill Lear β founder of Learjet
- Jerome F. Lederer β aviation-safety pioneer
- RenΓ© Leduc β designer of the ramjet-powered Leduc 0.10
- Diane Lemaire β first woman to graduate from the University of Melbourne with a degree in engineering
- LΓ©on Levavasseur β aviation pioneer
- David S. Lewis β F-4 Phantom II program manager
- George W. Lewis β NACA administrator
- Gordon Lewis β turbine engine designer
- Fuk Li β JPL Mars Exploration Directorate manager
- Robert Lickley β Chief Engineer at Fairey Aviation Company
- Robert H. Liebeck β airfoil and blended wing body designer
- Otto Lilienthal
- Charles Lindbergh β made first solo transatlantic airplane flight from NY to Paris in 1927 on Spirit of St. Louis
- Per Lindstrand β balloons and other aircraft
- Alexander Lippisch
- Claude Lipscomb β designer of the Short Stirling
- Boris Lisunov β engineered a copy of the DC-3
- William Littlewood β contributed to the design and operational requirements of transport aircraft
- Olof LjungstrΓΆm β engineer at Saab, taught aircraft design at Stanford University and Caltech
- Allan Lockheed β co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation
- Malcolm Lockheed β co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation
- Grover Loening β awarded first ever degree in aeronautical engineering
- Robert Loewy β rotor-wing VTOL aircraft designer
- Roy LoPresti β general aviation designer
- Samuel Jasper Loring β researched aeroelastic flutter problems
- George Low β aerodynamicist and NASA administrator
- Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy β General Designer of the NPO Molniya design bureau, lead designer of the Buran space shuttle
- Lu Xiaopeng β designer of the Nanchang Q-5 and the Nanchang J-12
- Heinrich LΓΌbbe β Anthony Fokker collaborator
- Glynn Lunney β Apollo program
- Robert Lusser β designer at Messerschmitt, Heinkel, and Fieseler
- Jean-Marie Luton β ESA Director General
- Arkhip Lyulka β engine designer, founder of the OKB-165 Lyulka design bureau
- Lev Lyulyev β artillery, rocket, and missile designer, founder of the OKB-8 design bureau
M
- Paul MacCready β human-powered aircraft designer
- Elsie MacGill β chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry
- Ernst Mach β physicist, studied shock waves
- Georg Hans Madelung β V-1 designer
- Peyton M. Magruder β lead designer of the Martin B-26
- Viktor Makeyev β SLBM designer
- Frank Malina β rocket engineer, JPL administrator
- John C. Mankins β NASA space-based solar power researcher
- Frank E. Marble
- Frederick Marriott
- Glenn L. Martin β founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company
- Hans Mauch β jet engine pioneer, artificial limb developer
- Mark D. Maughmer β aerodynamicist
- Owen Maynard β Avro Canada, NASA
- William C. McCool β died in the Columbia disaster
- James Smith McDonnell β founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
- Colin R. McInnes β solar sail researcher
- Marion O. McKinney Jr. β NACA and NASA engineer, researched VTOL flight
- William B. McLean β lead designer of the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile
- George J. Mead β engine designer
- William C. Mentzer β contributed to aircraft maintenance and economics
- Wilhelm Messerschmitt β designed Bf 109 and jet powered Me 262
- Artem Mikoyan β co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau
- Mikhail Mil β founder and general designer of the OKB-329 Mil design bureau
- Alexander Mikulin β engine designer, founded the OKB-24 Mikulin design bureau
- Frederick George Miles β designer at Miles Aircraft, husband of Maxine Blossom Miles
- John W. Miles β pioneer in theoretical fluid mechanics
- Maxine Blossom Miles β pilot, designer, draughtswoman, aerodynamicist and stress engineer, designer of the Miles Hawk
- Clark Blanchard Millikan β professor of aeronautics
- Arseny Mironov β Russian scientist, aerospace engineer and aircraft pilot
- Don Mitchell β sailplane designer
- R. J. Mitchell β designed the Spitfire aircraft
- Swati Mohan β Mars 2020 engineer
- Paul Moller β circular aircraft designer
- Montgolfier brothers β inventors of the hot air balloon
- John J. Montgomery
- Albert Mooney β general aviation designer
- Hans Moravec β space tether developer
- Morien Morgan β 'Father of the Concorde'
- George Mueller β NASA administrator
- Alan Mulally β Boeing executive and President of Ford
- Hans Multhopp
- Elon Musk β founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla
- Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev β founder of the OKB-23 Myasishchev design bureau
N
- Aleksandr Nadiradze β Soviet Georgian ballistic missile and rocket engineer
- James C. Nance β aircraft nuclear propulsion engineer
- Gerhard Neumann β engineer for General Electric, contributed to the design of the J79
- Γdouard Nieuport β aviation pioneer
- No Kum-sok aka Kenneth H. Rowe β North Korean MiG-15 pilot defector, US aeronautical engineer and professor
- Umberto Nobile β semi-rigid airship designer
- Desmond Norman - co-designer of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
- John Dudley North β chief engineer at Boulton Paul Aircraft
- Robert B. C. Noorduyn β Noorduyn Norseman designer
- Jack Northrop β founded Northrop Corporation in 1939 and later the Flying Wing
- Genrikh Novozhilov β key designer of multiple Ilyushin passenger aircraft
O
- Hermann Oberth β rocketry pioneer
- William C. Ocker β instrument flying pioneer
- Wendy Okolo β NASA engineer
- Gerard K. O'Neill β developer of the O'Neill cylinder for space colonization
P
- Frederick Page β lead designer of the English Electric Lightning and the BAC TSR-2
- Mark Page β blended wing body and UAV designer
- Thomas O. Paine β engineer, scientist, NASA administrator
- Paul C. Paris β known for introducing fracture mechanics to the aviation industry
- Bob Parkinson β HOTOL spaceplane developer
- Jack Parsons β rocket engineer, chemist, JPL founder
- Pedro Paulet β rocketry pioneer
- Vladimir Pavlecka β invented flush rivets, designed the ZMC-2 rigid airship and pressurized transports
- Nicolas Roland Payen β delta wing developer
- Richard Pearse β early New Zealand aircraft builder
- Jerome Pearson β space elevator developer
- George Edward Pendray β co-founder of Reaction Motors
- Harald Penrose β test pilot and glider designer
- Edgar Percival β founder of the Percival Aircraft Company
- Bruce Peterson β NASA engineer and test pilot
- Anatoly Perminov β former Roscosmos General Director
- Vladimir Petlyakov β founder of the Petlyakov design bureau
- W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter β designer at Westland, English Electric, and Folland
- Frank Piasecki β helicopter pioneer
- William Hayward Pickering β rocketry pioneer, JPL director
- Percy Pilcher
- Harold Frederick Pitcairn β autogyro developer
- Curtis Pitts
- Paul Poberezny β founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association
- Mikhail Pogosyan β general director of Sukhoi and United Aircraft Corporation
- Hermann Pohlmann β designer of the Ju 87 Stuka
- Nikolai Polikarpov β founded the Polikarpov design bureau
- Boris Popov β invented one of the first successful aircraft ballistic parachute systems
- Henry Potez
- Herman PotoΔnik
- Ludwig Prandtl
- Ronald F. Probstein β researched hypersonics including re-entry vehicle design
- Ralph V. Pruitt β integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
- Palmer Cosslett Putnam β wind-power pioneer
Q
R
- Arthur Emmons Raymond β lead designer of the DC-3
- R. Dale Reed β NASA lifting body designer
- Wendell E. Reed β developed jet engine controls
- Wilfrid Thomas Reid
- Frederick Rentschler β aircraft engine designer
- Judith Resnik
- Osborne Reynolds
- Richard V. Rhode β researched aerodynamic loading
- Ben Rich β director of Lockheed's Skunk Works; contributed to SR-71 and F-117 development
- G. Tilghman Richards β annular wing designer
- John M. Riebe
- Norbert Riedel β developed jet engine starting motors
- Robert brothers β balloonists
- Tecwyn Roberts β Avro Canada, NASA
- Frank D. Robinson β helicopter designer
- Alliott Verdon Roe
- Francis Rogallo β NASA engineer, created the Rogallo wing which led to hang-gliding
- Gertrude Rogallo β wife and collaborator of Francis Rogallo
- Frank E. Rom β NASA nuclear propulsion engineer
- Stuart Roosa β astronaut
- Harold Rosen β electrical engineer known as "the father of the geostationary satellite"
- Milton Rosen β lead designer of the Vanguard rocket
- Jan Roskam
- Ludwig Roth
- Carlo Rubbia β fission-fragment rocket proposer
- Edward J. Ruppelt β director of Project Blue Book
- Archibald Russell β designed the Concorde, Blenheim, Britannia, and Type 188
- Burt Rutan β airplane and spacecraft designer
- Tubal Claude Ryan β founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company
- Yuri Alekseevich Ryzhov β aerodynamicist
S
- Friedrich Wilhelm Sander β pyrotechnics and rocket technology engineer
- Eugen SΓ€nger β spaceplane designer
- Irene SΓ€nger-Bredt β wife and collaborator of Eugen SΓ€nger
- George S. Schairer β lead designer at Consolidated and Boeing
- Helmut Schelp β jet engine pioneer
- Alexander Schleicher β sailplane designer
- Paul Schmidt β V-1 engine designer
- Edgar Schmued β lead engineer on the P-51, F-86, F-100, F-5, T-38
- Edmund Schneider β glider designer including the Schneider Grunau Baby
- Raemer Schreiber β nuclear rocket engine designer
- Bernard Schriever β managed ICBM development
- Schweizer brothers β sailplane designers
- William T. Schwendler β co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
- Robert Seamans β engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
- William R. Sears β flying wing designer
- Ernest Edwin Sechler β researched thin-shell structures
- Anita Sengupta β led the JPL team that designed the Curiosity Mars rover parachute system
- Lucien Servanty β SO.6000 Triton and Concorde designer
- Alexander P. de Seversky β founder of Seversky Aircraft, later Republic Aviation
- Joseph Francis Shea β NASA Administrator for the Apollo Program
- Beatrice Shilling β perfected the carburetor on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
- Leonid Shkadov β aircraft development and optimization engineer
- Nevil Shute β aeronautical engineer and author
- Arkady Shvetsov β chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau
- Igor Sikorsky β pioneered helicopters
- Ozires Silva β founder of Embraer
- Abe Silverstein β engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
- Apollo M. O. Smith β Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, F3D, and F4D designer, pioneer in computational fluid dynamics
- Herbert Smith β designer of the Sopwith Triplane
- John Maynard Smith β military aircraft designer, later evolutionary biologist and geneticist
- Joseph Smith β designer at Supermarine
- Ted R. Smith β designer of the Aero Commander and Aerostar
- Pavel Solovyov β chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau
- Song Wencong β lead designer of the Chengdu J-10
- Thomas Sopwith β Sopwith Aviation Company
- Tony Spear β Mars Pathfinder project manager
- Percival H. Spencer β designer of the Republic RC-3 Seabee
- Dorothy Spicer β aeronautical engineer
- Reginald Stafford β designer of the Handley Page Victor
- John Stack β Bell X-1 designer
- Lloyd Stearman β founder of Stearman Aircraft
- Adam Steltzner β JPL engineer for Mars rovers' entry, descent, and landing
- Alan Stern β engineer and planetary scientist, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto
- Homer Joseph Stewart β helped develop Explorer 1, Pioneer 4, and several rockets
- Edward Stinson β founder of the Stinson Aircraft Company
- Luigi Stipa β invented the "intubed propeller"
- Harrison Storms β directed North American Aviation's Apollo Program
- William Bushnell Stout β Ford Trimotor designer
- Michael Stroukoff β designer of the Fairchild C-123 Provider
- Ernst Stuhlinger β ion engine developer
- Pavel Sukhoi β founded the OKB-51 Sukhoi design bureau
- Martin Summerfield - co-founder of Aerojet
- Sun Cong - chief designer of the FC-31 and Shenyang J-15
- Joe Sutter β chief engineer for the Boeing 747
- Ed Swearingen β general aviation designer
- Clarence Syvertson β NACA / NASA researcher, developed sounding rockets, compression lift, lifting bodies
- Victor Szebehely β aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics
T
- Max Taitz β scientist in aerodynamics and flight testing of aircraft, one of the founders of Gromov Flight Research Institute
- Kurt Tank β designer of aircraft in Germany, Argentina, and India
- Clarence Gilbert Taylor β designer of the Piper Cub
- Moulton Taylor β experimental aircraft pioneer
- Peter Theisinger β JPL Mars Exploration Rover project manager
- Theodore Theodorsen β aerodynamicist at NACA
- Richard G. Thomas β aeronautical engineer and test pilot
- Mikhail Tikhonravov β rocket and spacecraft pioneer
- Milton Orville Thompson β NASA engineer and test pilot
- Grigori Tokaty β rocket engineer
- Alessandro Tonini β designer at Gabardini, Macchi, and IMAM
- Myron Tribus β deicer developer, heat transfer researcher
- Robert Truax β Aerojet engineer, designer of the Sea Dragon heavy launch vehicle
- Richard Truly β former astronaut and head of NASA
- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky β rocketry pioneer
- Tu Jida β participated in the development of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the Nanchang CJ-6, Shenyang J-5A, Chengdu JJ-5, and several variants of the J-7 fighter, including the Chengdu J-7M
- Sergey Tumansky β engine designer, founder of the OKB-300 Tumansky design bureau
- Andrei Tupolev β founder of the OKB-156 Tupolev design bureau
U
- Dana Ulery β JPL scientist, automated tracking of deep space probes
- Ralph Hazlett Upson β designed the world's only all-metal stressed-skin airship
- Oskar Ursinus β sailplane designer
V
- Max Valier β rocketry pioneer
- Sitaram Rao Valluri β researched metal fatigue
- Kermit Van Every β high-speed aircraft designer, Douglas Aircraft
- Richard VanGrunsven β prolific kit aircraft engineer
- Vandi Verma β JPL robot engineer
- Vladimir Vetchinkin β aerodynamicist
- Walter G. Vincenti β hypersonic aircraft designer
- Aurel Vlaicu
- Richard Vogt β designer of asymmetrical aircraft
- Gabriel Voisin β aviation pioneer
- George Volkert β designed the Handley-Page Halifax
- Wernher von Braun β German rocket pioneer
- Theodore von KΓ‘rmΓ‘n
- Hans von Ohain
- Fritz von Opel β rocketry pioneer
- Chance M. Vought β founder of Vought Aircraft
- Traian Vuia β first flight with no other ground devices
- Gerard Vultee β engineer, founder of Vultee Aircraft
W
- Lawrence Wackett β "father of the Australian aircraft industry", lead designer of the CAC Boomerang
- Gerhard Waibel β sailplane designer
- Dwane Wallace β early Cessna CEO and designer
- Richard Walker β main designer for jet aircraft of Gloster Aircraft Company
- Barnes Wallis
- Ken Wallis β autogyro
- Hellmuth Walter β rocket engines
- Frid WΓ€nstrΓΆm β engineer, head of calculations at Saab
- Joseph F. Ware Jr. β Lockheed engineer and test pilot
- Edward Pearson Warner β NACA research engineer
- KyΕ«ichirΕ Washizu
- Frank Wattendorf β von Karman assistant, wind tunnel designer
- Johanna Weber β aerodynamicist for the Handley-Page Victor and Concorde
- Fred Weick β airmail pilot, NACA research engineer who designed the NACA cowl, and designer of the Ercoupe and Piper Cherokee
- Daniel Weihs
- Edward Curtis Wells β Boeing executive and designer
- Ted A. Wells β co-founder of Beech Aircraft Corporation
- Michael J. Wendl β developed terrain following technology, energy management theory, and integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
- GΓΌnter Wendt β McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation engineer; pad leader, prepared all crewed Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft
- Alexander Weygers β discopter designer
- Ray Wheeler β Saunders-Roe designer of rockets and hovercraft
- Orville A. Wheelon β invented the Verson-Wheelon process for aircraft sheet-metal forming, introduced titanium fabrication
- Richard Whitcomb β NACA/NASA inventor of the area rule, supercritical airfoil, and winglet
- Ed White β Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
- Gustave Whitehead β aviation pioneer
- Frank Whittle β pioneer of the jet engine
- Michel Wibault β invented vectored thrust
- Robert H. Widmer β lead designer on the B-36, B-58, F-111, and F-16
- Sheila Widnall β fluid mechanics researcher
- StanisΕaw Wigura
- Geoff Wilde β Rolls-Royce engine designer
- Heather Willauer β United States Naval Research Laboratory researcher of jet fuel manufacture from seawater
- Oswald S. Williams Jr.
- Sam B. Williams β small fanjet engine developer
- Thornton Wilson β B-47, B-52, and Minuteman missile designer
- Steve Wittman β air-racer and aircraft designer
- Hans Wocke β designed forward-swept wing jet aircraft
- Julian Wolkovitch β promoted the closed wing
- Homer J. Wood β auxiliary power unit designer
- Pete Worden β NASA director
- Wright brothers β made first powered airplane flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC
- Theodore Paul Wright β engineer and administrator
- Georg Wulf β aviation pioneer
- James Hart Wyld β co-founder of Reaction Motors, designed the rocket engines for the Bell X-1 and RTV-A-2 Hiroc
X
- Xu Shunshou β oversaw the development of the Shenyang JJ-1 and participated in the design of the Nanchang CJ-6, the Nanchang Q-5, and the Xian H-6, died from mistreatment during the Cultural Revolution
Y
- Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev β founder of the OKB-115 Yakovlev design bureau
- Mikhail Yangel β founder of the OKB-586 design bureau
- Ye Zhengda β participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1
- Chuck Yeager β test pilot and first to break the sound barrier
- Vladimir Yermolaev β lead designer at OKB-240
- Ed Yost β developer of the modern hot air balloon
- Arthur M. Young β designer of the first Bell helicopter
Z
- Albert Francis Zahm β aeronautical experimenter and chief of the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Library of Congress
- Stephen Joseph Zand β solved many early aviation vibrations problems
- Friedrich Zander β rocket designer, solar sail and gavitational assist developer
- Filippo Zappata β worked for Gabardini, Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, BlΓ©riot, Breda, and Agusta
- Engelbert Zaschka β one of the first German helicopter pioneers
- Helmut Zborowski β rocket and VTOL designer
- Ferdinand von Zeppelin β airship designer
- Nikolay Zhukovsky β researcher
- Henri Ziegler β father of the Airbus program
- Charles H. Zimmerman β experimental aircraft designer, designed the Vought XF5U "flying pancake" and invented a kinesthetic theory of control that led to the VZ-1 Pawnee flying platform
- Robert Zubrin β Mars Society founder, designer of the theoretical nuclear salt-water rocket
- Fritz Zwicky β astronomer, patented several jet engine features