Edward Henry Heinemann began designed aircraft in 1926 as a draftsman with Douglas Aircraft Company. He moved to International Aircraft, and then to Moreland Aircraft as chief engineer. Heinemann took an active role in proving many of his concepts by being the test pilot on some of the aircraft he designed. In 1930 he joined Northrop Aircraft Corporation as project engineer, but it was as vice president for Military Engineering of the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1936 that he achieved his greatest design triumphs. In 1962 he became corporate president of Engineering with General Dynamics, a position he occupied until his retirement in 1973.

Heinemann was responsible either totally or in part for the design and development of more than 20 outstanding military aircraft. Just some of the aircraft include the SBD Dauntless dive bomber of World War II fame, of which 4982 were built; the A-20 and A-26 light bombers, of which over 8000 were built; the A-I Skyraider; the F4D Skyray; the supersonic research aircraft D-558 Skystreak; and his crowning achievement, the outstanding A-4D Skyhawk which is still current in the Navy’s operational arsenal and is in use worldwide.

In addition to aircraft designs, Heinemann and his staff were responsible for the development of a number of aircraft components and weapons such as ejection seats, cartridge ejector bomb racks, low-drag streamlined bombs, fuel tanks, autopilots, and flight data computers.

Edward Heinemann’s career was devoted to solving engineering problems in aeronautical science. A genius of the times, his intellect and creativity contributed greatly to the advance of world aero science.

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