Johnson, Clarence Leonard (Kelly)

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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b. 27 February 1910 Michigan, USA

d. 21 December 1990 Burbank County, California, USA

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American aircraft designer responsible for many outstanding Lockheed aircraft over a period of almost forty-eight years.

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The large and successful Lockheed Aircraft Corporation grew out of a small company founded by Allan and Malcolm Loughhead (pronounced "Lockheed") in 1913. The company employed many notable designers such as Jack Northrop, Jerry Vultee and Lloyd Stearman, but the most productive was "Kelly" Johnson. After studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan, Johnson joined Lockheed in 1933 and gained experience in all the branches of the design department. By 1938 he had been appointed Chief Research Engineer and became involved with the design of the P-38 Lightning twin-boom fighter and the Constellation airliner. In 1943 he set up a super-secret research and development organization called Advanced Development Projects, but this soon became known as the "Skunk Works": the name came from a very mysterious factory which made potions from skunks in the popular comic strip Li'lAbner. The first aircraft designed and built by Johnson's small hand-picked team was the XP-80 Shooting Star prototype jet fighter, which was produced in just 143 days: it became the United States' first production jet fighter. At this stage the Skunk Works produced a prototype, then the main Lockheed factories took over the production run. The F-104 Starfighter and the C-130 Hercules transport were produced in this way and became widely used in many countries. In 1954 work began on the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft which was so secret that production was carried out within the Skunk Works. This made the headlines in 1960 when one was shot down over Russia. Probably the most outstanding of Johnson's designs was the SR-71 Blackbird of 1964, a reconnaissance aircraft capable of flying at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). Johnson was not only a great designer, he was also an outstanding manager, and his methods—including his "14 Rules"—have been widely followed. He retired from the Lockheed board in 1980, having been involved in the design of some forty aircraft.

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Principal Honours and Distinctions

National Medal of Freedom (the highest United States award for a civilian) 1964.

Further Reading

Obituary, 1991, Aerospace (Royal Aeronautical Society) (March).

B.R.Rich, 1989, "The Skunk Works" management style: it's no secret', Aerospace (Royal Aeronautical Society) (March) (Rich was Johnson's successor).

Details of Lockheed aircraft can be found in several publications, e.g.: R.J.Francillon, 1982, Lockheed Aircraft since 1913, London.

JDS