Foil: 7 Panel: 4 Column: 2 Line: 63

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

George W. Bowen, Professional Engineer, had an early interest in aircraft that was started in his youth with the assembling of small balsa wood models bought in the corner stationery store, this ultimately leading to rubberband-powered models.

His college education was interrupted by World War II with service aboard the heavy carrier USS Franklin CV 13 as an Aviation Electrician Mate 3/C. A purple heart was received when the carrier was attacked by a Kamikaze pilot off Kyushu, Japan on March 18-21, 1945.

A Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree, received from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, followed by a Masters of Industrial Engineering degree from New York University School of Engineering, culminated with a Professional Engineer's License.

As a material handling and manufacturing consultant work was done at Republic Aviation on the production of the F-84 Thunderstreak and the F-105 Thunderchief. Other projects included the design of the cargo handling system for the Pan American Airways air cargo terminal at JF Kennedy International Airport, redesign of the aircraft catering system for British Overseas Airway Company (BOAC )(now British Airways (BA)) and layout of the East Side passenger terminal in New York City.

Working with the International Standards Organization, an affiliate of the United Nations, he participated in the development of international standards relating the intermodal cargo container used in the Lockheed L-I011 and the Boeing 747 cargo aircraft. Other standards projects were standardization on the design and testing of new and retreaded aircraft tires

On the personal side, he became a member of the Long Island Early Fliers Club in 1986 and did volunteer work at the Cradle of Aviation Museum located at Mitchel Field, Garden City, NY. From 1990 to 1996, he served as a tour guide in the old hanger complex. With the new Cradle of Aviation Museum facility, which opened May 2002, he is volunteering as a member of the gift shop staff.