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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Stephen Keys

The honoree, Joseph B. Hoffman, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 1929.
 
He received a pilot's license at age 16 and served in the U. S. Air Force during the Korean War.
 
He graduated from Drexel University with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1957 and received a MS degree in Engineering from California State University Long Beach in 1971.
 
His career spanned forty years as an Aerospace Structural Engineer with North American Aviation Co., McDonnell Douglas Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. and included the work on following programs: the F100 and A3J aircraft, DC 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and C17 aircraft, Nike Zeus missile (White Sands Missile Range), Skybolt missile, S-IVB space vehicle, Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Saturn space program (Cape Canaveral) and the B1 windshield and F16 canopy.
 
His experience included various R&D programs related to windshield design requirements for bird impact, wind tunnel testing, laser protection, computer applications, external environmental coatings and a design guidelines manual.
 
He was the Program manager for the design and development of the windshield system for the B2 stealth Bomber (ref. patent number 5621520).