Lt. Gen. Donald Leander Putt, USAF
Donald Putt's life spanned one of the most exciting periods in scientific development. As a Second Lieutenant in the 1930's at Wright Field he was the escort of Orville Wright on his visits from his home in Dayton to the Field named after Orville and his brother. As the President of United Technologies Corporation in 1959 (now the Chemical Division of United Technologies Corporation) he presided over the development of very large solid rocket boosters for space flights.
He was born in Sugar Creek, Ohio as the first son of a family which ran a general store and a Dodge automobile agency. After graduating from High School he worked on a Ford production line in Cleveland and later signed on as a telegrapher on a Great Lakes ore steamer to earn money for college.
He entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1924 to study electrical engineering where he graduated with honors and selection to Tau Beta Pi. In 1928 right after graduation he joined the Army Air Corps and enrolled in flight training at Brooks and Kelly Fields in San Antonio, Texas. He was subsequently assigned to a pursuit squadron at Selfridge Field, Michigan.
After 3 1/2 years he was posted to Wright Field, Ohio as a test pilot. He flew the first military test flight for the B-17 which resulted in a terrible crash, total destruction of the plane and the loss of several lives including the command pilot and the test pilot from Boeing. Fortunately he escaped but with several severe injuries. This was the Air Corps' first 4 engine bomber and the crash almost resulted in the termination of the program. Lt. Putt reported that the problem had been the failure to release the external control surface locks before takeoff and not a deficiency of the aircraft design. Fortunately the program continued because the start of WW II was near.
Major Putt studied aeronautical engineering at the Air Corps Engineering School and then went on to receive his masters degree at the California Institute of Technology where he became a student and close friend of Dr. Theodore von Karman.
After receiving his degree he returned to Wright Patterson Field to head up the Experimental Bombardment Aircraft branch. During his time as Chief of this Branch the B-24, B-29, and B-36 evolved. He also oversaw the special design and modifications of the B-29 for the carrying of the first atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
Near the end of the war in Europe he was sent there to head up Air Corps Technical Intelligence and to evaluate captured scientific facilities in Germany. The most significant discovery was the Goering Institute at Braunschweig where he, in conjunction with Dr. von Karman and others, discovered supersonic wind tunnels, swept wing aircraft designs and many eminent scientists. Col. Putt headed up Operation Paperclip which brought very significant scientific equipment, documents and German aeronautical scientists to the United States.