Black and White

We are reaching the end of our ranking list and today comes to visit us at number two, the American Clarence Leonard “Kelly” Johnson (1910 – 1990), one of the best aeronautic designers that has ever existed. His list of designs astonishes everybody. From the P-38 Lightning (the double engine fighter of WWII) up to the SR-71 Blackbird (which still holds the speed record for an aircraft taking off from the ground, at more than 3500 km/h), including also the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter and the U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft. One of his greatest achievements was the creation in Lockheed (the company where he worked almost all his life) a legendary engineering group known as “Skunk Works” which is still today the benchmark for any “Black Nailed” engineer. His credo was condensed into the so called ‘14 rules’ that you can find in the Internet and are a paradigm of how engineering can be understood in a different way.

Therefore I put “Kelly” Johnson in the second position.

Some weeks ago I promised to explain to you how the leading people are. I mean those who lead small engineering groups which, in big companies, are strongholds of wisdom, activity and know how. Today, the day when “Kelly Johnson” enters our ranking list, is the best time to do it and that’s what this entry is all about.

Lo blanco y lo negro

Estamos llegando al final de nuestra lista y hoy viene a visitarnos, en el puesto número dos, uno de los mejores diseñadores aeronáutico que ha existido, el norteamericano Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (1.910 - 1.990). Su lista de diseños te deja anonadado. Desde el P-38 Lightning (el caza bimotor de la II Guerra Mundial) hasta el SR-71 Blackbird (que aún ostenta el récord de velocidad para un avión despegando desde tierra, con mas de 3.500 Km/h) pasando por el P-80 Shooting Star, el F-104 Starfighter o el avión espía U-2. Uno de sus grandes logros fue la creación en Lockheed (la empresa en la que prácticamente trabajó toda su vida) de un grupo de ingenieros de leyenda denominado "Skunk Works" que aún hoy son el referente de cualquier "Uña Negra" que se precie. Su credo estaba condensado en las llamadas 14 reglas que podéis encontrar en Internet y que son un paradigma de como entender la ingeniería de otra manera.

Vaya pues mi número 2 para "Kelly" Johnson.

Hace unas semanas prometí contaros como son las personas que lideran esos pequeños grupos de ingeniería que, en las grandes empresas, son reductos de conocimiento, actividad y saber hacer. Hoy, el día en que entra en nuestra lista "Kelly" Johnson, es el momento perfecto para hacerlo y de eso irá nuestra entrada de esta semana.

Watts and acetone

In the final stage of our ranking list, we reach number three that corresponds to the most important designer of the last 30 years. This is none other than the American Burt Rutan (1943) who from his company Scaled Composites in Mojave’s dessert, with his revolutionary developments and with the use of composed materials, has been able to proof that the innovation in the aeronautic world is not only in the hands of companies like Boeing or Airbus, but in the hands of people with an extraordinary talent and his small groups of engineers.

Among his achievements we find the design of the GlobalFlyer that made a non stop flight around the world with a single pilot, the Ares, a revolutionary low-cost jetfighter, the StarShip, designed for Beechcraft as an executive jetliner in canard configuration, that employed for the first time a carbon fiber composite for the structure and, of course, the design of the SpaceShip One (and the carrier aircraft White Knight) which won the X-Prize in 2004 flying at an altitude of over 328000 ft.

                 

Therefore number 3 goes to Rutan.

Today we will talk about one of the most difficult duties that one has to face in his professional life: write a good specification. Although, as mentioned previously, this work is usually given to the newcomers, this task is one of the most complex ones that an engineer can face. It takes knowledge, experience and synthesis capacity and these are capabilities that not everybody has.

Los watios y la acetona

En la etapa final de nuestra clasificación, alcanzamos el número tres que le corresponde al diseñador mas importante de los último 30 años. Este no es otro que el norteamericano Burt Rutan (1.943), quien desde su empresa Scaled Composites en el desierto de Mojave, con sus diseños revolucionarios y mediante el empleo de los materiales compuestos, ha conseguido demostrar que la innovación en el mundo aeronáutico no está en manos de compañias como Boeing o Airbus, sino en las de personas con un talento fuera de lo común y de sus pequeños grupos de ingenieros.

Entre sus logros está el diseño del GlobalFlyer que logró dar la vuelta al mundo sin escalas con un solo piloto, el Ares un revolucionario caza de bajo costo, el StarShip que diseñó para Beechcraft un avión ejecutivo en configuración canard que por primera vez empleaba una estructura en fibra de carbono y, por supuesto el SpaceShip One (y su avión portador el White Knight) con el  que ganó el X Prize en 2.004 superando una altitud de 328.000 ft.

Vaya pues mi número 3 para Rutan.

Hoy vamos a hablar de unas de las tareas más difíciles a las que uno se puede enfrentar en su labor profesional: elaborar una buena especificación. Aunque, como ya hemos comentado en alguna otra ocasión,  este trabajo se suele encomendar a los recién llegados es una de las tareas más complejas que un ingeniero puede desarrollar. Hacen falta conocimientos, experiencia y capacidad de síntesis y eso es algo que no todas las personas poseen.

You've got mail

Reaching position number four on our list of prominent designers we find a Spaniard, Juan de la Cierva y Codorniú (1895 – 1935). This great engineer faced the problem of designing a rotorwing aircraft with self sustaining capability (autogyro) that he made in 1922 in his first prototype, the C-1. After several unsuccessful models, C-4 flied successfully flew in January 1924 in Getafe’s airfield, piloting Lieutenant Alejandro Gómez Spencer. In later models he introduced the flapping hinges to avoid the asymmetric lift by the rotor. In 1925 after a successful show in England with the C-6 model, he started the Cierva Autogyro Company Ltd. to manufacture his aircrafts. The implementation of his innovations contributed significantly to the development of the helicopter.

                              

Therefore I grant La Cierva with my number 4.

This week we will relax a little bit and talk about how technology affects our daily work and our customs and behavior. Today we will think about the e-mail.