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 (1895–1990) – aerial photography and plexiglas pioneer, designer of the Abrams P-1 Explorer
• Gerd Achgelis (1908–1991) – helicopter pioneer
• Jakob Ackeret (1898–1981)
• Clément Ader (1841–1925) – early aviation pioneer
• Bruce Aikenhead (1923–2019) – Avro Canada, NASA
• Buzz Aldrin (born 1930) – astronaut, mechanical engineer and second person to walk on the Moon
• Rostislav Alexeyev (1916–1980) – ground effect vehicle designer
• Edmund T. Allen (1896–1943) – engineer, test pilot
• Harry Julian Allen (1910–1977) – NASA, inventor of blunt body re-entry vehicles
• Gwen Alston (1907–1993) – aerodynamicist
• Oleg Antonov (1906–1984) – founder of the OKB-153 Antonov design bureau
• Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) – astronaut, aeronautical engineer and first person to walk on the Moon
• Yuri Artsutanov (1929–2019) – space elevator pioneer
• Holt Ashley (1923–2006) – researched aeroelasticity
• Lee Atwood (1904–1999) – North American Aviation engineer

B

• Brunolf Baade (1904–1969) – lead designer of the Baade 152
• Erich Bachem (1906–1960) – designer of the Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket plane
• Leonard Bairstow (1880–1963) – National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) researcher
• Herman Barkey (1909–2005) – led the design team for the McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Phantom
• V. P. Barmin (1909–1993) – designer of the rocket launch complex
• Frank Barnwell (1880–1938) – chief engineer Bristol Aeroplane Company
• Robert Ludvigovich Bartini (1897–1974) – designer of the Bartini Beriev VVA-14 and other experimental projects, founder of the OKB-86 design bureau
• Yaakov Bar-Shalom (born 1941) – researcher of target tracking
• L. E. Baynes (1902–1989) – designer of the Baynes Bat tank glider
• Jim Bede (1933–2015)
• Hermann Behrbohm (1907–1977) – aerodynamicist at Messerschmidt and Saab
• Rex Beisel (1893–1972) – lead engineer at Curtiss and Vought
• Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (1886–1960) – aircraft pioneer, blended wing designer
• Viktor Nikolayevich Belyaev (1896—1953) – strength engineer, designer of the Belyayev DB-LK
• Dwight Henry Bennett (1917–2002) – developed Fly-by-wire technology, helped design the F2Y, F-102, F-4 Phantom, F/A-18
• Thomas W. Benoist (1874–1917) – early airline entrepreneur
• Igor Bensen (1917–2000) – autogyro designer
• Max Bentele (1909–2006) – jet engine pioneer
• Aleksandr Bereznyak (1912–1974) – designer of the BI-1 rocket plane
• Georgy Beriev (1903–1979) – founder of the OKB-49 Beriev design bureau
• J. D. Bernal (1901–1971) – invented the Bernal sphere for space habitation
• Albert Betz (1885–1968) – designer and researcher
• Paul Bevilaqua (born 1945) – lift fan inventor
• Ronald Eric Bishop (1903–1989) - chief designer of the de Havilland Mosquito
• Matus Bisnovat (1905–1977) – missile designer
• Robert Blackburn (1885–1955) – aviation pioneer
• Louis Blériot (1872–1936) – aviation pioneer
• George Eugene Bockrath (1911–1998) – researched fracture mechanics
• Hendrik Wade Bode (1905–1982) – NASA advisor
• Jenny Body – former President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
• William Boeing (1881–1956) – founder of Boeing
• Charles Bolden (born 1946) – NASA Administrator
• Viktor Bolkhovitinov (1899–1970) – lead designer of the Bolkhovitinov DB-A bomber, founder of the OKB-293 design bureau
• Ludwig Bölkow (1912–2003) – aerodynamicist for the Me 262
• Alan Bond (born 1944) – designed spaceplanes and an SST
• Philip Bono (1921–1993) – space launcher developer
• Frank Borman (1928-2023) – commanded first mission to circle the Moon
• Karel Bossart (1904–1975) – lead designer of the Atlas ICBM
• Enea Bossi Sr. (1888–1963) – aviation pioneer
• William Hawley Bowlus (1896–1967) – glider designer
• John Boyd (1927–1997) – created the energy–maneuverability theory
• Frances Bradfield (1895–1967) – wind tunnel researcher
• Ferdinand Brandner (1903–1986) – aircraft engine designer
• Erik Bratt (1916–2010) – lead designer at Saab AB
• Vance Breese (1904–1973) – engineer and test pilot
• Louis Charles Breguet (1880–1955) – aviation pioneer, founder of Bréguet Aviation
• Maurice Brennan (1913–1986) – designer of flying boats, helicopters, transports, rockets, hovercraft
• Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) – electrothermal hydrazine thruster
• Arthur E. Bryson (born 1925) – "father of modern optimal control theory"
• Isabelle Buret – engineer specializing in telecommunications and astronautics
• Vincent Burnelli (1895–1964) – blended wing and lifting body designer
• Anne Burns (1915–2001) – wind shear expert
• Adolf Busemann (1901–1986) – swept wing
• Robert W. Bussard (1928–2007) – designer of nuclear thermal rocket engines
• Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin – aviation pioneer

C

• Sydney Camm (1893–1966) – Hawker Hurricane designer
• Secondo Campini (1904–1980) – jet engine pioneer
• Giovanni Caproni (1886–1957) – founder of Caproni
• Albert Caquot (1881–1976) – aviation pioneer
• Mario Castoldi (1888–1968) – chief designer at Aeronautica Macchi
• Beatrice Mabel Cave-Browne-Cave (1874–1947) – undertook pioneering work in the mathematics of aeronautics
• George Cayley (1773–1857) – notable for his research in aerodynamics
• Clyde Cessna (1879–1954) – early aircraft designer and founder of Cessna
• Roy Chadwick (1893–1947) – design engineer for the Avro Company
• Roger Chaffee (1935–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• George Henry Challenger (1881–1947) – engineer with the Bristol Aeroplane Company and later with Vickers
• Jim Chamberlin (1915–1981) – Avro Canada, NASA
• Roy Chaplin (1899–1988) – Hawker Aircraft
• George Chapline Jr. (born 1942) – proposer of a fission-fragment rocket
• Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• Vladimir Chelomey (1914–1984) – founder of the OKB-52 rocket design bureau
• Boris Ivanovich Cheranovsky (1896–1960) – flying wing designer
• Boris Chertok (1912–2011) – space program control systems designer
• Chu Chia-Jen (1900–1985)
• Thomas P. Christie (born 1934) – mathematician, co-creator of the Energy–maneuverability theory with John Boyd
• Zbysław Ciołkosz (1902–1960) – introduced the use of shaft turbine power for helicopters
• John Drury Clark (1907–1988) – developer of jet and rocket fuel
• Val Cleaver (1917–1977) – rocket engineer
• Henri Coandă (1886–1972) – inventor of the jet engine
• Richard Coar (1921–2013) – RJ10 rocket engine designer
• Christopher Cockerell (1910–1999) – hovercraft inventor
• Dandridge MacFarlan Cole (1921–1965) – Titan II designer
• Franklin R. Collbohm (1907–1990) – Douglas test pilot, engineer, and executive, co-founder of the RAND Corporation
• Giuseppe Colombo (1920–1984) – developed the gravitational assist profile used in the Mariner 10 mission to Mercury, invented the space tether
• Nicholas Comper (1897–1939) – designer of the Comper Swift
• Philip M. Condit (born 1941) – former CEO of Boeing
• René Couzinet (1904–1956) – invented retractable landing gear
• Eugene E. Covert (1926–2015) – wind tunnel designer
• Ray Creasey (1921–1976) aerodynamicist, helped design the BAC Lightning
• Gaetano Crocco (1877–1968) – rocketry pioneer
• Scott Crossfield (1921–2006) – first man to fly faster than twice the speed of sound in NAA's X-15
• Alwyn Crow (1894–1965) – rocket designer
• Irv Culver (1911–1999) – P-38 designer
• Glenn Curtiss (1878–1930) – founder of the US aircraft industry
• Kazimierz Czarnecki (1916–2005) – NACA and NASA engineer

D

• Werner Dahm (1917–2008)
• Frederick Dallenbach – Auxiliary power unit designer
• Corradino D'Ascanio (1891–1981) – helicopter pioneer
• Marcel Dassault (1892–1986)
• Serge Dassault (1925–2018)
• Arthur Davenport (1891–1976) – Westland Aircraft
• Fred David (1898–1992) – designer at Heinkel, Mitsubishi, Aichi Kokuki and Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
• Stuart Davies (1906–1995) – designed the Avro Lancaster and Vulcan
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
• Geoffrey de Havilland (1882–1965)
• Louis de Monge (1890–1977) – blended wing inventor
• Juan de la Cierva (1895–1936) – inventor of the autogyro
• Satish Dhawan (1920–2002)
• Walter Stuart Diehl (1893–1976) – created US Navy test facilities, authored Engineering Aerodynamics
• Bertil Dillner (1923–2015) – engineer at Saab and Boeing
• Paul Bernard Dilworth (1915–2007)
• Heini Dittmar (1911–1960) – record-breaking pilot
• Jurgis Dobkevičius (1900–1926) – Lithuanian aviation constructor, military pilot
• Takeo Doi (1904–1996) – designer for Kawasaki Aircraft Industries
• Tom Dolan – developed the lunar orbit rendezvous concept for the Apollo program
• Roy Dommett (1933–2015) – the United Kingdom's Chief Missile Scientist
• Charles J. Donlan (1916–2011) – NASA manager
• Allen F. Donovan (1914–1995) WW2 aircraft, Atlas and Titan missiles, nuclear rockets
• Jimmy Doolittle (1896–1993) – instrument flying developer
• Étienne Dormoy (1885–1959) – airplane and autogyro designer
• Claude Dornier (1884–1969)
• Anatoly Dorodnitsyn (1910–1994) – researched meteorology, vortex wing theory, boundary layer theory in a compressible gas, and supersonic gas dynamics
• Donald W. Douglas (1892–1981) – founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company
• George Dowty (1901–1975) – designer of aircraft components
• Charles Stark Draper (1901–1987) – developed inertial navigation
• Hugh Latimer Dryden (1898–1965) – researcher and NASA administrator
• Guy du Merle (1908–1993) – engineer, test flew captured Bf 109 and He 111 in Spain
• Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932) – inventor of the dirigible; aeronautics pioneer
• J. W. Dunne (1875–1949) – invented the first delta wing
• Pedro Duque (born 1963) – engineer and astronaut
• William F. Durand (1859–1958) – propeller designer, NACA chair
• Ludwig Dürr (1878–1956) – airship designer
• Leonid Dushkin (1910–1990) – rocket engine designer

E

• George Edwards (1908–2003) – designer at Vickers-Armstrongs and BAC
• Alfred J. Eggers (1922–2006) – NACA / NASA researcher, developed re-entry bodies and compression lift, managed Pioneer program
• Joe Engle (1932–2024) – astronaut
• Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1881–1957) – aviation and rocketry pioneer, invented the center stick
• Walter Extra (born 1954) – aerobatic aircraft designer

F

• Maxime Faget (1921–2004) – designer of the Project Mercury spacecraft
• Ole Fahlin (1901–1992) – propeller and prototype airplane developer
• Sherman Fairchild (1896–1971) – founded Fairchild Aircraft
• Charles Richard Fairey (1857–1956) – founder of the Fairey Aviation Company
• Farman Brothers
• Robert W. Farquhar (1932–2015) – NASA engineer, inventor of the halo orbit
• Roy Fedden (1885–1973) – British engine designer for Bristol Engine Company
• Bobak Ferdowsi (born 1979) – JPL flight engineer
• Antonio Ferri (1912–1975) – 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 (1896–1987) – German aircraft designer
• Harold Finger (born 1924) – Project NERVA lead engineer
• Gary Flandro (born 1934) – NASA researcher, conceived the Planetary Grand Tour fulfilled by the Voyager program
• Alexander H. Flax (1921–2014) – developer of tandem helicopters and reconnaissance satellites
• Anton Flettner (1885–1961) – helicopter pioneer
• Nicolas Florine (1891–1972) – helicopter pioneer
• James C. Floyd (born 1914) – Avro Canada designer
• Henrich Focke (1890–1979) – helicopter pioneer
• Anthony Fokker (1890–1939)
• Henry Folland (1889–1954) – chief designer at Nieuport, Gloster, and Folland Aircraft
• Edward Forman (1912–1973) – co-founder of JPL, Aerojet
• Robert L. Forward (1932–2002) – designer of solar sails and space tethers
• Harlan D. Fowler (1895–1982) – Fowler flap inventor
• John Fozard (1928–1996) – Hawker Siddeley Harrier designer
• Anselm Franz (1900–1994) – jet engine pioneer
• Stelio Frati (1919–2010) – designer of several aircraft inc the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260
• Leslie Frise (1895–1979) – designed the Type 156 Bristol Beaufighter
• John Carver Meadows Frost (1915–1979) – chief designer of the Avro Canada CF-100 and several VTOL projects
• Michimasa Fujino (born 1960) – Hondajet designer

G

• Giuseppe Gabrielli (1903–1987) – aircraft designer
• Robert Gilruth (1913–2000) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
• Peter Glaser (1923–2014) – developed the solar power satellite
• John Glenn (1921–2016) – first American man to orbit the Earth in 1962
• Valentin Glushko (1908–1989)
• Robert Goddard (1882–1945) – scientist who developed the first liquid-fueled rocket 3-16-26
• Tadeusz Góra (1918–2010)
• Fritz Gosslau (1898–1965) – V-1 flying bomb designer
• Arthur Gouge (1890–1962) – designed the "C-class" Empire and Sunderland flying boats, invented the Gouge flap
• Granville Brothers – GeeBee racers
• Jay Greene (1942–2017)
• Alan Arnold Griffith (1893–1963) – jet engine designer
• Gus Grissom (1926–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• Gordon G. Grose (1925–1993) – integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
• Gu Songfen (born 1930) – participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the Shenyang J-8 and Shenyang J-8II
• Guan De (1932–2018) – aeroelasticity engineer, participated in the design and development of the Shenyang JJ-1, the Shenyang J-8 and the Shenyang J-8II
• Leroy Grumman (1895–1982) – founder of Grumman Aircraft
• Tore Gullstrand (1921–2002) – chief engineer at Saab
• Siegfried and Walter Günter (1899–1969)(1899–1937) – jet aircraft pioneers
• Mikhail Gurevich (1893–1976) – co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685–1724) – Portuguese priest, aircraft designer
• Antanas Gustaitis (1898–1941) – Lithuanian aircraft designer, Brigadier General, Commander-in-Chief of Lithuanian Air Force

H

• Wolfgang Haack (1902–1994)
• B. J. Habibie (1936–2019)
• Raoul Hafner (1905–1980) – helicopter pioneer
• Edward N. Hall (1914–2006) – Minuteman ICBM engineer
• (1924–1975) – sailplane designer
• Julius Hatry (1906–2000) – built the first rocket plane
• Harry Hawker (1889–1921) – test pilot, formed Hawker Aircraft
• Willis Hawkins (1913–2004) – design lead of the L-133 and C-130
• Clinton H. Havill (1892–1953) – researched airships and propellers
• Richard E. Hayden (born 1946) – noise reduction developer
• Wallace D. Hayes (1918–2001) – discoverer of the area rule and hypersonics
• Edward H. Heinemann (1908–1991) – Chief Engineer for Douglas Aircraft, designed 20 military aircraft
• Ernst Heinkel (1888–1958) – developed first jet rocket aircraft
• Chris Heintz (1938–2021) – kit plane designer
• Scarlin Hernandez (born 1991) – aerospace engineer for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
• Hall Hibbard (1903–1996) – Lockheed engineer
• Homer Hickam (born 1943) – NASA engineer, model rocketry enthusiast
• Geoffrey T. R. Hill (1895–1955) – designer of the Westland-Hill Pterodactyls and co-developed the aero-isoclinic wing
• Stanley Hiller (1924–2006) – founder Hiller Aircraft
• Hellmuth Hirth (1886–1938) – aircraft engine designer, brother of Wolf Hirth
• Wolf Hirth (1900–1959) – sailplane designer, brother of Hellmuth Hirth
• Leonard S. Hobbs (1896–1977) – engine designer
• John Hodge (1929–2021) – Avro Canada, NASA
• Sighard F. Hoerner (1906—1971) – aerodynamicist, assisted the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch design
• Nicholas J. Hoff (1906–1997)
• Samuel Kurtz Hoffman (1902–1995) – rocket engine designer
• Kurt Hohenemser (1906–2001) – helicopter pioneer
• Walter Hohmann (1880–1945) – invented the Hohmann transfer orbit
• Peter K. Homer (born 1961)
• Stanley Hooker (1907–1984) – British engine engineer for Rolls-Royce Aerospace
• Ralph Hooper (1926–2022) – Hawker Siddeley Harrier developer
• Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982) – chief engineer for the Mitsubishi A6M
• Horten brothers (1913–1998) (1915–1994) – flying wing designers
• John Houbolt (1919–2014) – NASA engineer, lunar orbit rendezvous proponent
• Kathleen Howell – known for her contributions to dynamical systems theory applied to spacecraft trajectory
• Hsue-Chu Tsien (1914–1997) – aeronautical engineer
• Howard Hughes (1905–1976) – aerospace engineer, owned RKO movie studio
• Huang Zhiqian (1914–1965) – lead designer of the Shenyang J-8
• Jerome Clarke Hunsaker (1886–1984) – pioneer of heavier and lighter than air aircraft
• Rick Husband (1957–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• François Hussenot (1912–1951) – inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder

I

• Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977) – founder of the OKB-39 Ilyushin design bureau
• Aleksei Isaev (1908–1971) – rocket engine designer
• Hideo Itokawa (1912–1999) – aircraft and rocket designer at Nakajima Aircraft Company
• Sergey Izotov (1917–1983) – aircraft engine designer, founder of the OKB-117 design bureau

J

• Mary Jackson (1921–2005) – NASA engineer
• Eastman Jacobs (1902–1987) – advanced wind tunnels, airfoils, turbulence, boundary layers, and Schlieren photography
• Hans Jacobs (1907–1994) – sailplane pioneer
• Jack James (1920–2001) – Mariner program manager
• Antony Jameson (born 1934) – pioneered computational fluid dynamics
• Robert P. Johannes (1934–2004) – developed Fly-by-wire technology
• Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990) – 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 (1918–2020) – mathematician who worked as an aerospace technologist at NASA
• Robert Thomas Jones (1910–1999) – aeronautical engineer at NASA
• Drago Jovanovich (1916–1983) – rotorcraft designer
• Charles Joy (1911–1989) – engineer at Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft Company. and Handley Page
• Hugo Junkers (1859–1935) – pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes

K

• Rudolf Kaiser (1922–1991) – sailplane designer
• A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) – former President of India, "Missile Man of India"
• Charles Kaman (1919–2011) – helicopter pioneer
• Nikolai Kamov (1902–1973) – founder of the Kamov design bureau
• Abraham Karem (born 1937) – founder of UAV (drone) technology
• Alexander Kartveli (1896–1974) – Chief Engineer at Republic Aviation, contributor to first aerospace vehicle prototypes
• Otto Kauba (1908-1962) – designer of the Å koda-Kauba SK 257, co-designer of the Å koda-Kauba P14
• Harold R. Kaufman (1926-2018) – developed first ion thrusters
• David Keith-Lucas (1911–1997) – engineer at Short Brothers
• Mstislav Keldysh (1911–1978) – rocket and spacecraft designer
• W. Wallace Kellett (1891–1951) – Kellett Autogiro Corporation
• Thomas J. Kelly (1929–2002) – leader of the Apollo Lunar Module design team
• Alexander Kemurdzhian (1921–2003) – mechanical engineer who is best known for designing Lunokhod 1, the first lunar rover
• Sergey Khristianovich (1908–2000) – aerodynamicist
• Dutch Kindelberger (1895–1962) – Chief Engineer at Douglas Aircraft and head of North American Aviation
• Klapmeier brothers (born 1958) (born 1961) – founders of Cirrus Aircraft
• Milton Klein (1924–2022) – nuclear rocket engineer
• Ave K. Kludze, Jr. (born 1967?) – NASA engineer
• Heinz-Hermann Koelle (1925–2011) – von Braun associate
• Yuri Kondratyuk (1897–1942) – first developer of the lunar orbit rendezvous concept
• Otto C. Koppen (1901–1991) – MIT professor, designer for Ford and Helio Courier
• Yuri Koptev (born 1940) – engineer, former Roscosmos General Director
• Sergey Korolev (1907–1966) – Korolev rocket design bureau founder
• Semyon Kosberg (1903–1965) – lead engine designer at OKB-154
• Gleb Kotelnikov (1872–1944) – parachute pioneer
• Frank Kozloski (1916–2003) – rotorcraft and missile developer
• Chris Kraft (1924–2019) – NASA administrator
• Eugene Kranz (born 1933) – aeronautical engineer
• Werner Krüger (1910–2003) – inventor of the Krueger flap
• Dietrich Küchemann (1911–1976) – aerodynamicist
• Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov (1911–1995) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-276 Kuznetsov design bureau

L

• Gustav Lachmann (1896–1966) – designer at Handley-Page
• Barry Laight (1920–2012) – designer of the Blackburn Buccaneer
• Aarne Lakomaa (1914–2001) – involved in the design of the Saab 35 Draken and the Saab 37 Viggen
• Frederick W. Lanchester (1868–1946) – aerodynamicist
• Geoffrey A. Landis (born 1955) – NASA engineer, interplanetary exploration
• Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834–1906) – aircraft pioneer
• Agnew E. Larsen (1897–1969) – engineer at Curtiss and Pitcairn
• Conrad Lau (1921–1964) – lead designer of the XF8U-3 and A-7 Corsair
• Semyon Lavochkin (1900–1960) – founder of the OKB-301 Lavochkin design bureau
• Lovell Lawrence Jr. (1915–1971) – co-founder of Reaction Motors
• Bill Lear (1902–1978) – founder of Learjet
• Jerome F. Lederer (1902–2004) – aviation-safety pioneer
• René Leduc (1898–1968) – designer of the ramjet-powered Leduc 0.10
• Diane Lemaire (1923–2012) – first woman to graduate from the University of Melbourne with a degree in engineering
• Léon Levavasseur (1863–1922) – aviation pioneer
• David S. Lewis (1917–2003) – F-4 Phantom II program manager
• George W. Lewis (1882–1948) – NACA administrator
• Gordon Lewis (1924–2010) – turbine engine designer
• Fuk Li (born 1953) – JPL Mars Exploration Directorate manager
• Robert Lickley (1912–1998) – Chief Engineer at Fairey Aviation Company
• Robert H. Liebeck – airfoil and blended wing body designer
• Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896)
• Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) – made first solo transatlantic airplane flight from NY to Paris in 1927 on Spirit of St. Louis
• Per Lindstrand (born 1948) – balloons and other aircraft
• Alexander Lippisch (1894–1976)
• Claude Lipscomb (1887–1974) – designer of the Short Stirling
• Boris Lisunov (1898–1946) – engineered a copy of the DC-3
• William Littlewood – contributed to the design and operational requirements of transport aircraft
• Olof Ljungström (1918–2013) – engineer at Saab, taught aircraft design at Stanford University and Caltech
• Allan Lockheed (1889–1969) – co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation
• Malcolm Lockheed (1886–1958) – co-founder of the Lockheed Corporation
• Grover Loening (1888–1976) – awarded first ever degree in aeronautical engineering
• Robert Loewy (1926–2025) – rotor-wing VTOL aircraft designer
• Roy LoPresti (1929–2002) – general aviation designer
• Samuel Jasper Loring (1914–1963) – researched aeroelastic flutter problems
• George Low (1926–1984) – aerodynamicist and NASA administrator
• Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy (1909–2001) – General Designer of the NPO Molniya design bureau, lead designer of the Buran space shuttle
• Lu Xiaopeng (1920–2000) – designer of the Nanchang Q-5 and the Nanchang J-12
• Heinrich Lübbe (1884–1940) – Anthony Fokker collaborator
• Glynn Lunney (1936–2021) – Apollo program
• Robert Lusser (1899–1969) – designer at Messerschmitt, Heinkel, and Fieseler
• Jean-Marie Luton (1942–2020) – ESA Director General
• Arkhip Lyulka (1908–1984) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-165 Lyulka design bureau
• Lev Lyulyev (1908–1985) – artillery, rocket, and missile designer, founder of the OKB-8 design bureau

M

• Paul MacCready (1925–2007) – human-powered aircraft designer
• Elsie MacGill (1905–1980) – chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F)
• Ernst Mach (1838–1916) – physicist, studied shock waves
• Georg Hans Madelung (1889–1972) – V-1 designer
• Peyton M. Magruder (1911–1982) – lead designer of the Martin B-26
• Viktor Makeyev (1924–1985) – SLBM designer
• Frank Malina (1912–1981) – rocket engineer, JPL administrator
• John C. Mankins – NASA space-based solar power researcher
• Frank E. Marble (1918–2014)
• Frederick Marriott (1805–1884)
• Glenn L. Martin (1886–1955) – founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company
• Hans Mauch (1906–1984) – jet engine pioneer, artificial limb developer
• Mark D. Maughmer (born 1950) – aerodynamicist
• Owen Maynard (1924–2000) – Avro Canada, NASA
• William C. McCool (1961–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
• James Smith McDonnell (1899–1980) – founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
• Colin R. McInnes (born 1968) – solar sail researcher
• Marion O. McKinney Jr. (1921–1999) – NACA and NASA engineer, researched VTOL flight
• William B. McLean (1914–1976) – lead designer of the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile
• George J. Mead (1891–1949) – engine designer
• William C. Mentzer (1907–1971) – contributed to aircraft maintenance and economics
• Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978) – designed Bf 109 and jet powered Me 262
• Artem Mikoyan (1905–1970) – co-founder of the OKB-155 MiG design bureau
• Mikhail Mil (1909–1970) – founder and general designer of the OKB-329 Mil design bureau
• Alexander Mikulin (1895–1985) – engine designer, founded the OKB-24 Mikulin design bureau
• Frederick George Miles (1903–1976) – designer at Miles Aircraft, husband of Maxine Blossom Miles
• John W. Miles (1920–2008) – pioneer in theoretical fluid mechanics
• Maxine Blossom Miles (1901–1984) – pilot, designer, draughtswoman, aerodynamicist and stress engineer, designer of the Miles Hawk
• Clark Blanchard Millikan (1903–1966) – professor of aeronautics
• Arseny Mironov (1917–2019) – Russian scientist, aerospace engineer and aircraft pilot
• Don Mitchell (1915–1993) – sailplane designer
• R. J. Mitchell (1895–1937) – designed the Spitfire aircraft
• Swati Mohan – Mars 2020 engineer
• Paul Moller (born 1936) – circular aircraft designer
• Montgolfier brothers (1740–1810) (1745–1799) – inventors of the hot air balloon
• John J. Montgomery (1858–1911)
• Albert Mooney (1906–1986) – general aviation designer
• Hans Moravec (born 1948) – space tether developer
• Morien Morgan (1912–1978) – 'Father of the Concorde'
• George Mueller (1918–2015) – NASA administrator
• Tom Mueller (born 1961) – SpaceX Engineer & Impulse Space Founder
• Alan Mulally (born 1945) – Boeing executive and President of Ford
• Hans Multhopp (1913–1972)
• Elon Musk (born 1971) – founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla
• Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev (1902–1978) – founder of the OKB-23 Myasishchev design bureau

N

• Aleksandr Nadiradze (1914–1987) – Soviet Georgian ballistic missile and rocket engineer
• James C. Nance (1927–2019) – aircraft nuclear propulsion engineer
• Gerhard Neumann (1917–1997) – engineer for General Electric, contributed to the design of the J79
• Édouard Nieuport (1875–1911) – aviation pioneer
• No Kum-sok aka Kenneth H. Rowe (1932–2022) – North Korean MiG-15 pilot defector, US aeronautical engineer and professor
• Umberto Nobile (1885–1978) – semi-rigid airship designer
• Desmond Norman (1929–2002) - co-designer of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
• John Dudley North (1893–1968) – chief engineer at Boulton Paul Aircraft
• Robert B. C. Noorduyn (1893–1959) – Noorduyn Norseman designer
• Jack Northrop (1895–1981) – founded Northrop Corporation in 1939 and later the Flying Wing
• Genrikh Novozhilov (1925–2019) – key designer of multiple Ilyushin passenger aircraft

O

• Hermann Oberth (1894–1989) – rocketry pioneer
• William C. Ocker (1880–1942) – instrument flying pioneer
• Wendy Okolo (born 1984?) – NASA engineer
• Gerard K. O'Neill (1927–1992) – developer of the O'Neill cylinder for space colonization

P

• Frederick Page (1917–2005) – lead designer of the English Electric Lightning and the BAC TSR-2
• Mark Page (born 1956) – blended wing body and UAV designer
• Thomas O. Paine (1921–1992) – engineer, scientist, NASA administrator
• Paul C. Paris (1930–2017) – known for introducing fracture mechanics to the aviation industry
• Bob Parkinson (born 1941) – HOTOL spaceplane developer
• Jack Parsons (1914–1952) – rocket engineer, chemist, JPL founder
• Pedro Paulet (c. 1874–1945) – rocketry pioneer
• Vladimir Pavlecka (1901–1980) – invented flush rivets, designed the ZMC-2 rigid airship and pressurized transports
• Nicolas Roland Payen (1914–2004) – delta wing developer
• Richard Pearse (1877–1953) – early New Zealand aircraft builder
• Jerome Pearson (1938–2021) – space elevator developer
• George Edward Pendray (1901–1987) – co-founder of Reaction Motors
• Harald Penrose (1904–1996) – test pilot and glider designer
• Edgar Percival (1897–1984) – founder of the Percival Aircraft Company
• Bruce Peterson (1933–2006) – NASA engineer and test pilot
• Anatoly Perminov (born 1945) – former Roscosmos General Director
• Vladimir Petlyakov (1891–1942) – founder of the Petlyakov design bureau
• W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter (1908–1968) – designer at Westland, English Electric, and Folland
• Frank Piasecki (1919–2008) – helicopter pioneer
• William Hayward Pickering (1910–2004) – rocketry pioneer, JPL director
• Percy Pilcher (1867–1899)
• Harold Frederick Pitcairn (1897–1960) – autogyro developer
• Curtis Pitts (1915–2005)
• Paul Poberezny (1921–2013) – founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association
• Mikhail Pogosyan (born 1956) – general director of Sukhoi and United Aircraft Corporation
• Hermann Pohlmann (1894–1991) – designer of the Ju 87 Stuka
• Nikolai Polikarpov (1892–1944) – founded the Polikarpov design bureau
• Boris Popov – invented one of the first successful aircraft ballistic parachute systems
• Henry Potez (1891–1981)
• Herman Potočnik (1892–1929)
• Ludwig Prandtl (1875–1953)
• Ronald F. Probstein (1928–2021) – researched hypersonics including re-entry vehicle design
• Ralph V. Pruitt (1936–1983) – integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
• Palmer Cosslett Putnam (1900–1984) – wind-power pioneer

Q

• Qian Xuesen (1911–2009)

R

• Arthur Emmons Raymond (1899–1999) – lead designer of the DC-3
• R. Dale Reed (1930–2005) – NASA lifting body designer
• Wendell E. Reed – developed jet engine controls
• Wilfrid Thomas Reid (1887–1968)
• Frederick Rentschler (1887–1956) – aircraft engine designer
• Judith Resnik (1949–1986)
• Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912)
• Richard V. Rhode (1904–1994) – researched aerodynamic loading
• Ben Rich (1925–1995) – director of Lockheed's Skunk Works; contributed to SR-71 and F-117 development
• G. Tilghman Richards (1884–1960) – annular wing designer
• John M. Riebe (1921–2011)
• Norbert Riedel (1912–1963) – developed jet engine starting motors
• Robert brothers (1758–1820) (1760–1820) – balloonists
• Tecwyn Roberts (1925–1988) – Avro Canada, NASA
• Frank D. Robinson (1930–2022) – helicopter designer
• Alliott Verdon Roe (1877–1956)
• Francis Rogallo (1912–2009) – NASA engineer, created the Rogallo wing which led to hang-gliding
• Gertrude Rogallo (1914–2008) – wife and collaborator of Francis Rogallo
• Frank E. Rom (1926–2012) – NASA nuclear propulsion engineer
• Stuart Roosa (1933–1994) – astronaut
• Harold Rosen (1926–2017) – electrical engineer known as "the father of the geostationary satellite"
• Milton Rosen (1915–2014) – lead designer of the Vanguard rocket
• Jan Roskam (1930–2022)
• Ludwig Roth (1909–1967)
• Carlo Rubbia (born 1934) – fission-fragment rocket proposer
• Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) – director of Project Blue Book
• Archibald Russell (1904–1995) – designed the Concorde, Blenheim, Britannia, and Type 188
• Burt Rutan (born 1943) – airplane and spacecraft designer
• Tubal Claude Ryan (1898–1982) – founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company
• Yuri Alekseevich Ryzhov (1930–2017) – aerodynamicist

S

• Friedrich Wilhelm Sander (1885–1938) – pyrotechnics and rocket technology engineer
• Eugen Sänger (1905–1964) – spaceplane designer
• Irene Sänger-Bredt (1911–1983) – wife and collaborator of Eugen Sänger
• George S. Schairer (1913–2004) – lead designer at Consolidated and Boeing
• Helmut Schelp – jet engine pioneer
• Alexander Schleicher (1901–1968) – sailplane designer
• Paul Schmidt (1898–1976) – V-1 engine designer
• Edgar Schmued (1899–1985) – lead engineer on the P-51, F-86, F-100, F-5, T-38
• Edmund Schneider (1901-1968) – glider designer including the Schneider Grunau Baby
• Raemer Schreiber (1910–1998) – nuclear rocket engine designer
• Bernard Schriever (1910–2005) – managed ICBM development
• Schweizer brothers – sailplane designers
• William T. Schwendler (1904-1978) – co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
• Robert Seamans (1918–2008) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
• William R. Sears (1913–2002) – flying wing designer
• Ernest Edwin Sechler (1905–1979) – researched thin-shell structures
• Anita Sengupta – led the JPL team that designed the Curiosity Mars rover parachute system
• Lucien Servanty (1909–1973) – SO.6000 Triton and Concorde designer
• Alexander P. de Seversky (1894–1974) – founder of Seversky Aircraft, later Republic Aviation
• Joseph Francis Shea (1925–1999) – NASA Administrator for the Apollo Program
• Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990) – perfected the carburetor on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
• Leonid Shkadov (1927–2003) – aircraft development and optimization engineer
• Nevil Shute (1899–1960) – aeronautical engineer and author
• Arkady Shvetsov (1892–1953) – chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau
• Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972) – pioneered helicopters
• Ozires Silva (born 1931) – founder of Embraer
• Abe Silverstein (1908–2001) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
• Apollo M. O. Smith (1911–1997) – Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, F3D, and F4D designer, pioneer in computational fluid dynamics
• Herbert Smith (1889–1977) – designer of the Sopwith Triplane
• John Maynard Smith (1920–2004) – military aircraft designer, later evolutionary biologist and geneticist
• Joseph Smith (1897–1956) – designer at Supermarine
• Ted R. Smith (1906–1976) – designer of the Aero Commander and Aerostar
• Pavel Solovyov (1917–1996) – chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau
• Song Wencong (1930–2016) – lead designer of the Chengdu J-10
• Thomas Sopwith (1888–1989) – Sopwith Aviation Company
• Tony Spear (1937-2024) – Mars Pathfinder project manager
• Percival H. Spencer (1897–1995) – designer of the Republic RC-3 Seabee
• Dorothy Spicer (1908–1946) – aeronautical engineer
• Reginald Stafford (1903–1980) – designer of the Handley Page Victor
• John Stack (1906–1972) – Bell X-1 designer
• Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975) – founder of Stearman Aircraft
• Adam Steltzner (born 1963) – JPL engineer for Mars rovers' entry, descent, and landing
• Alan Stern (born 1957) – engineer and planetary scientist, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto
• Homer Joseph Stewart (1915–2007) – helped develop Explorer 1, Pioneer 4, and several rockets
• Edward Stinson (1893–1932) – founder of the Stinson Aircraft Company
• Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) – invented the "intubed propeller"
• Harrison Storms (1915–1992) – directed North American Aviation's Apollo Program
• William Bushnell Stout (1880–1956) – Ford Trimotor designer
• Michael Stroukoff (1883-1973) – designer of the Fairchild C-123 Provider
• Ernst Stuhlinger (1913–2008) – ion engine developer
• Pavel Sukhoi (1895–1975) – founded the OKB-51 Sukhoi design bureau
• Martin Summerfield (1916–1996) - co-founder of Aerojet
• (born 1961) - chief designer of the FC-31 and Shenyang J-15
• Joe Sutter (1921–2016) – chief engineer for the Boeing 747
• Ed Swearingen (1925–2014) – general aviation designer
• Clarence Syvertson (1926–2010) – NACA / NASA researcher, developed sounding rockets, compression lift, lifting bodies
• Victor Szebehely (1921–1977) – aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics

T

• Max Taitz (1904–1980) – scientist in aerodynamics and flight testing of aircraft, one of the founders of Gromov Flight Research Institute
• Kurt Tank (1898–1983) – designer of aircraft in Germany, Argentina, and India
• Clarence Gilbert Taylor (1898–1988) – designer of the Piper Cub
• Moulton Taylor (1912–1965) – experimental aircraft pioneer
• Peter Theisinger (1945–2024) – JPL Mars Exploration Rover project manager
• Theodore Theodorsen (1897–1978) – aerodynamicist at NACA
• Richard G. Thomas (1930–2006) – aeronautical engineer and test pilot
• Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974) – rocket and spacecraft pioneer
• Milton Orville Thompson (1926–1993) – NASA engineer and test pilot
• Grigori Tokaty (1909–2003) – rocket engineer
• Alessandro Tonini (1885–1932) – designer at Gabardini, Macchi, and IMAM
• Myron Tribus (1921–2016) – deicer developer, heat transfer researcher
• Robert Truax (1917–2010) – Aerojet engineer, designer of the Sea Dragon heavy launch vehicle
• Richard Truly (1937–2024) – former astronaut and head of NASA
• Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) – rocketry pioneer
• Tu Jida (1927–2011) – 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 (1901–1973) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-300 Tumansky design bureau
• Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972) – founder of the OKB-156 Tupolev design bureau

U

• Dana Ulery (born 1938) – JPL scientist, automated tracking of deep space probes
• Ralph Hazlett Upson (1888–1968) – designed the world's only all-metal stressed-skin airship
• Oskar Ursinus (1877–1952) – sailplane designer

V

• Max Valier (1895–1930) – rocketry pioneer
• Sitaram Rao Valluri (1924–2019) – researched metal fatigue
• Kermit Van Every (1915–1998) – high-speed aircraft designer, Douglas Aircraft
• Richard VanGrunsven (born 1939) – prolific kit aircraft engineer
• Vandi Verma – JPL robot engineer
• Vladimir Vetchinkin (1888–1950) – aerodynamicist
• Walter G. Vincenti (1917–2019) – hypersonic aircraft designer
• Aurel Vlaicu (1882–1913)
• Richard Vogt (1894–1979) – designer of asymmetrical aircraft
• Gabriel Voisin (1880–1973) – aviation pioneer
• George Volkert (1891–1978) – designed the Handley-Page Halifax
• Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) – German rocket pioneer
• Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963)
• Hans von Ohain (1911–1998)
• Fritz von Opel (1899–1971) – rocketry pioneer
• Chance M. Vought (1890–1930) – founder of Vought Aircraft
• Traian Vuia (1872–1950) – first flight with no other ground devices
• Gerard Vultee (1900-1938) – engineer, founder of Vultee Aircraft

W

• Lawrence Wackett (1896–1982) – "father of the Australian aircraft industry", lead designer of the CAC Boomerang
• Gerhard Waibel (born 1938) – sailplane designer
• Dwane Wallace (1911–1989) – early Cessna CEO and designer
• Richard Walker (1900–1982) – main designer for jet aircraft of Gloster Aircraft Company
• Barnes Wallis (1887–1979)
• Ken Wallis (1916–2013) – autogyro
• Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980) – rocket engines
• Frid Wänström (1905–1988) – engineer, head of calculations at Saab
• Joseph F. Ware Jr. (1916–2012) – Lockheed engineer and test pilot
• Edward Pearson Warner (1894–1958) – NACA research engineer
• KyÅ«ichirō Washizu (1921–1981)
• Frank Wattendorf (1906–1986) – von Karman assistant, wind tunnel designer
• Johanna Weber (1910–2014) – aerodynamicist for the Handley-Page Victor and Concorde
• Fred Weick (1899–1993) – airmail pilot, NACA research engineer who designed the NACA cowl, and designer of the Ercoupe and Piper Cherokee
• Daniel Weihs (born 1942)
• Edward Curtis Wells (1910–1986) – Boeing executive and designer
• Ted A. Wells (1907–1991) – co-founder of Beech Aircraft Corporation
• Michael J. Wendl (born 1934) – developed terrain following technology, energy management theory, and integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
• Günter Wendt (1924–2010) – McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation engineer; pad leader, prepared all crewed Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft
• Alexander Weygers (1901–1989) – discopter designer
• Ray Wheeler (1927–2019) – Saunders-Roe designer of rockets and hovercraft
• Orville A. Wheelon (1906–1966) – invented the Verson-Wheelon process for aircraft sheet-metal forming, introduced titanium fabrication
• Richard Whitcomb (1921–2009) – NACA/NASA inventor of the area rule, supercritical airfoil, and winglet
• Ed White (1930–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
• Gustave Whitehead (1874–1927) – aviation pioneer
• Frank Whittle (1907–1996) – pioneer of the jet engine
• Michel Wibault (1897–1963) – invented vectored thrust
• Robert H. Widmer (1916–2011) – lead designer on the B-36, B-58, F-111, and F-16
• Sheila Widnall (born 1938) – fluid mechanics researcher
• Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932)
• Geoff Wilde (1917–2007) – Rolls-Royce engine designer
• Heather Willauer (born 1974) – United States Naval Research Laboratory researcher of jet fuel manufacture from seawater
• Oswald S. Williams Jr. (1921–2005)
• Sam B. Williams (1921–2009) – small fanjet engine developer
• Thornton Wilson (1921–1999) – B-47, B-52, and Minuteman missile designer
• Steve Wittman (1904–1995) – air-racer and aircraft designer
• Hans Wocke (1908-post 1967) – designed forward-swept wing jet aircraft
• Julian Wolkovitch (1932–1991) – promoted the closed wing
• Homer J. Wood – auxiliary power unit designer
• Pete Worden (born 1949) – NASA director
• Wright brothers (1871–1948) (1867–1912) – made first powered airplane flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC
• Theodore Paul Wright (1895–1970) – engineer and administrator
• Georg Wulf (1895–1927) – aviation pioneer
• James Hart Wyld (1912–1954) – co-founder of Reaction Motors, designed the rocket engines for the Bell X-1 and RTV-A-2 Hiroc

X

• Xu Shunshou (1917–1968) – 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 (1906–1989) – founder of the OKB-115 Yakovlev design bureau
• Mikhail Yangel (1911–1971) – founder of the OKB-586 design bureau
• Ye Zhengda (1927–2017) – participated in the design of the Shenyang JJ-1
• Chuck Yeager (1923–2020) – test pilot and first to break the sound barrier
• Vladimir Yermolaev (1909–1944) – lead designer at OKB-240
• Ed Yost (1919–2007) – developer of the modern hot air balloon
• Arthur M. Young (1905–1995) – designer of the first Bell helicopter

Z

• Albert Francis Zahm (1862–1954) – aeronautical experimenter and chief of the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Library of Congress
• Stephen Joseph Zand (1898–1963) – solved many early aviation vibrations problems
• Friedrich Zander (1887–1933) – rocket designer, solar sail and gavitational assist developer
• Filippo Zappata (1894–1994) – worked for Gabardini, Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CANT), Blériot, Breda, and Agusta
• Engelbert Zaschka (1895–1955) – one of the first German helicopter pioneers
• Helmut Zborowski (1905–1969) – rocket and VTOL designer
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917) – airship designer
• Nikolay Zhukovsky (1847–1921) – researcher
• Henri Ziegler (1906–1998) – father of the Airbus program
• Charles H. Zimmerman (1908–1996) – 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 (born 1952) – Mars Society founder, designer of the theoretical nuclear salt-water rocket
• Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974) – astronomer, patented several jet engine features

See also

• List of Germans relocated to the US via the Operation Paperclip
• List of Russian aerospace engineers
• List of SETP members (test pilots)

References