Gerhard Neumann | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1917-10-08)October 8, 1917 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany |
| Died | November 2, 1997(1997-11-02) (aged 80) |
| Occupation(s) | executive,engineer |
| Spouse | Clarice Neumann |
| Awards | Daniel Guggenheim Medal(1979) |
Gerhard Neumann (October 8, 1917 – November 2, 1997) was a German-Americanaviation engineer andexecutive forGeneral Electric'saircraft engine division (which today is calledGE Aerospace). Born and raised in Germany, he went to China shortly beforeWorld War II where he became anaircraft mechanic for theUnited States Army Air Forces. He was naturalised as an American citizen by an Act of Congress, and went on to a career in theaerospace manufacturing industry.
Neumann was born inFrankfurt (Oder) in thePrussianProvince of Brandenburg.[1] His parents Siegfried and Frieda were non-practicingJewish Germans.[2] As a teenager, Neumann apprenticed under a master auto mechanic, surnamed Schroth, who followed the traditional Prussian lifestyle of "First the work, then the pleasure."[3] In 1935, Neumann entered the well-regarded technical collegeIngenieurschule Mittweida[4] and earned very high grades. With other students from the college, he learned to construct and pilot a one-person glider. His experience as an engine mechanic, aircraft designer, and practical engineer proved very useful in his career.
The winds of war were growing inNazi Germany, and alliances were murky and shifting. In late 1938, Neumann saw a bulletin board posting at Mittweida saying that Chinese GeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek needed engineers in his fight againstJapanese invaders. Engineers who got the jobs would receive deferment fromconscription into the German army.[5] Neumann decided to leave his family and embark on a long journey to the Britishcolony of Hong Kong in May 1939. But upon arriving in Hong Kong, he found that the company for which he was to work had disappeared. Fortunately, his skills as anauto mechanic were in great demand.
A few months later, on 1 September 1939, Germanyinvaded Poland. On 3 September, theUnited Kingdom declared war on Germany, and all Germans in Hong Kong were rounded up and interned inLa Salle College, Kowloon,[6] a Christian Brothers High School for boys. Neumann was interned in the school together with some 100 Germans for several months. The British in Hong Kong considered any German citizen a potentialfifth column and revoked his passport. No embassy would talk to him.
Neumann had a chance meeting with W. Langhorne Bond of theChina National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). The company arranged for Neumann to enter China without a passport.[7] He flew toKunming, capital of the remoteYunnan province, and there he contacted the Chinese Air Force. He worked as an auto mechanic until thePearl Harbor attack, when he accepted an offer from ColonelClaire Lee Chennault, who had established the Chinese Air Force withMadame Chiang Kai-shek, to work in support of that Air Force.
As the war with Japan progressed, the Chinese Air Force became theAmerican Volunteer Group (AVG), nicknamed the "Flying Tigers."[8] Neumann was part of the Headquarters Squadron as a Propeller Specialist.[9] While with the Flying Tigers, Neumann was nicknamed "Herman the German". When the AVG was replaced by the U.S. Army Air Forces, Neumann was inducted into the USAAF in July 1942 although he was not yet a U.S. citizen.[10] He helped the effort against the Japanese in many important ways. He led dangerous supply convoys, performed all types of mechanical repairs onP-40 aircraft, translated to and from Chinese, assembled a working enemy Zero fighter from crash parts to assess its flight characteristics (the other such Zero was theAkutan Zero), and even directed bombing attacks from the ground while disguised as a Chinesecoolie.
Eventually Neumann was dispatched toWashington, D.C. to brief William Donovan, head of the OSS, where he met his future wife Clarice. Yet for all of Neumann's heroism in China, as a German he was still considered anenemy alien. It took an act of theUnited States Congress to correct this.[11] After the war, he was finally permitted to work forDouglas Aircraft Research.
In late 1946, Chennault offered Neumann an engineering position[12] with Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Airline, a new airline Chennault was forming using war-surplusC-46 transports. Neumann accepted, and on their way to China he and Clarice were married.[13]
In the year that followed, theChinese Civil War was raging and the CommunistPeople's Liberation Army was taking over China. The Neumanns had no choice but to attempt to return to the United States. They chose an unusual route. Instead of flying or sailing across the Pacific, Clarice suggested that they drive over the Asian continent towards North Africa.[14] Thus began their incredible and quite dangerous journey to the Mediterranean Sea, via Siam (now Thailand), Burma, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. Most border crossings were dangerous, because by 1948 most countries in Asia were undergoing political turmoil. Finally, after a journey of many thousands of miles on poor roads byJeep, Neumann, Clarice and their dog Mr. Chips arrived in Tel Aviv during the first Arab-Israeli war and were able to travel conventionally toNew York City.
In March 1948, Neumann began work as a test engineer for theGeneral Electric Aircraft Gas Turbine Division, located inLynn, Massachusetts.[15] There he drove many innovations in jet engine design, which included promoting the variable stator compressor for theJ79 jet engine which enabled aircraft such as theF-104 to reach speeds ofMach 2; The development team (Neumann, Neil Burgess, andClarence L. Johnson of Lockheed) were awarded theCollier Trophy for 1958. As a Vice President at General Electric, he piloted various jet fighters during the 1960s to personally understand how engines behaved in flight and what pilots required from them.
A major success for GE was his guiding the design and development of the huge high-bypassturbofan jet engines (or simply called "fanjets") that now power the largest commercial and military cargo aircraft. These include theTF39,CF6, and (in 50/50 collaboration with SNECMA[16]) theCFM56.
Neumann retired from GE on January 1, 1980, after 32 years of service.[17] He remained active in retirement, until he developedleukemia and died on November 2, 1997.
In 1987, Neumann was inducted into theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[18]
TheGerhard Neumann Museum inNiederalteich,Bavaria, honors his contributions to aviation.[19]
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Aeronautics and Astronautic Department's Neumann Hangar facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is named in his honor.
His autobiography "Herman the German: Just Lucky I Guess"[20] chronicles his life.
GE Aerospace, located in Evendale, Ohio, is on 1 Neumann Way. This facility at one point housed over 4.5 million square feet under one roof.
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