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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Robert J. Brulle

A World War II P-47 combat pilot with 70 combat mission with 366th Fighter Group in Europe, he shot down one German FW-190 and destroyed enough German military vehicles to equip a sizeable force. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1948 and Master of Science degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) 1952.

He served as AirForce Project Officer to get the F-84F aircraft into operational service and was an assistant professor at AFIT. He joined McDonnell Aircraft in 1957 as an aerodynamicist. His projects included the Alpha Draco missile, Mercury and Gemini manned space vehicles, and research on advanced missile and aircraft control dynamics. In addition he was an adjunct associate professor at the University of Missouri Graduate Center in St. Louis.

He invented the GIROMILL wind turbine and built a 40kW unit for Energy Research and Development Administration.

He retired from McDonnell-Douglas in 1983 and developed the AquaGiro, a unique water turbine to extract energy from a water current. He moved to Florida in 1988 and devotes his time to writing about his aviation experiences. He has published a dozen magazine articles and one book titled Angels Zero (Smithsonian Institution Press, Sept. 2000). He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1968.