List of aerospace engineers

This is a list of notable aerospace engineers, people who were trained in or practiced aerospace engineering.

See also List of engineers for people from other disciplines.

A

• Clément Ader
• Michael P. Anderson – died in Columbia disaster
• Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) - first man on the moon
• A.P.J Abdul Kalam — (1930-2015) - Missile Man of India
• Ron Ayers – designer of ThrustSSC, the first land-based vehicle to break the sound barrier

B

• V. P. Barmin - designer of the rocket launch complex
• Frank Barnwell (1880–1938) - chief engineer, Bristol Aeroplane Company
• Don Beckerleg (1933-2015) - iconic flight engineer, Lockheed Martin
• Charles Bolden - NASA Administrator
• Ludwig Bölkow - aerodynamicist for the Me 262
• Frank Borman (born March 14, 1928) - first man to circle the moon
• Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) - electrothermal hydrazine thruster
• Adolf Busemann - swept wing

C

• Sir Sydney Camm
• Sir George Cayley – notable for his research in aerodynamics
• Roy Chadwick
• Roger Chaffee – Apollo 1 fire victim
• Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003) - died in Columbia disaster
• Vladimir Chelomei
• Henri Coandă – inventor of the jet engine
• Nicholas Comper (1897–1939) - designer of the Comper Swift
• Philip M. Condit - former CEO of Boeing
• Scott Crossfield
• Glenn Curtiss

D

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
• Werner Dahm
• Marcel Dassault (1892–1986)
• Serge Dassault (1925–)
• Geoffrey de Havilland (1882–1965)
• Juan de la Cierva – inventor of the autogyro
• Satish Dhawan (1920–2002)
• Paul Bernard Dilworth (1915–2007)
• Heini Dittmar (1911–1960) - first man faster than 1000 km/h; Me163A and Me163B test pilot; first sailplane world champion, 1937
• Claudius Dornier
• Iain Dowie
• Sir George Dowty
• Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932) - inventor of the dirigible; aeronautics pioneer
• Pedro Duque

E

• Joe Engle
• Walter Extra

F

• Charles Richard Fairey - founder of the Fairey Aviation company
• Roy Fedden - British engine designer for Bristol Engine Company
• Gerhard Fieseler - German aircraft designer
• Anton Flettner
• Anthony Fokker (1890–1939)
• Henry Folland

G

• Giuseppe Gabrielli (1903–1987) - Italian aircraft designer
• Valentin Glushko
• Robert Goddard
• Tadeusz Góra
• Jay Greene
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão - Portuguese priest; aircraft designer

H

• Wolfgang Haack
• B. J. Habibie
• Raoul Hafner
• Harry Hawker
• Edward H. Heinemann
• Ernst Heinkel
• Homer Hickam
• Peter K. Homer
• Stanley Hooker
• Howard Hughes - aerospace engineer, cineast, entrepreneur
• Marley Hughes - aerospace engineer, astrophysicist
• Rick Husband – died in the Columbia disaster
• François Hussenot - inventor of one of the early forms of the flight recorder

J

• Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990)
• Robert T. Jones

K

• A.P.J Abdul Kalam (born October 15, 1931) - former President of India
• Ave K. Kludze, Jr.
• Sergey Korolev
• Chris Kraft
• Eugene Kranz - aeronautical engineer
• Dietrich Küchemann

L

• Samuel Pierpont Langley – aircraft
• Otto Lilienthal
• Alexander Lippisch
• Per Lindstrand – balloons and other aircraft
• Glynn Lunney (1936– )

M

• Paul MacCready
• Ernst Mach (1838–1916)
• Elsie MacGill (1905–1980)
• Frederick Marriott (1805–1884)
• Mark D. Maughmer
• William C. McCool - died in Columbia disaster
• Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978)
• R. J. Mitchell
• Montgolfier Brothers

N

• Gerhard Neumann - General Electric J79

O

• Hermann Oberth (1894–1989)

P

• Richard Pearse – early New Zealand aircraft builder
• W. E. W. (Teddy) Petter
• Percy Pilcher
• Henry Potez
• Herman Potočnik (1892–1929)
• Ludwig Prandtl

R

• Wilfrid Thomas Reid (1887–1968)
• Judith Resnik
• Osborne Reynolds (1842–1912)
• Ben Rich – Lockheed Martin Skunk Works; contributor to SR-71; President during F-117 development
• John M. Riebe (1921–2011)
• Les Frères Robert, Anne-Jean Robert (1758–1820) and Nicolas-Louis Robert - balloonists
• Sir Alliott Verdon Roe
• Jan Roskam
• Ludwig Roth
• Edward J. Ruppelt (1923–1960) – director of Project Blue Book
• Burt Rutan
• Tubal Claude Ryan (1898–1982) - founder of the Ryan Aeronautical Company

S

• Nevil Shute – aeronautical engineer and author
• Igor Sikorsky
• Ozires Silva – founder of Embraer
• Herbert Smith – designer of the Sopwith Triplane
• Sir Tom Sopwith – Sopwith Aeroplane company
• Joe Sutter – chief engineer for the Boeing 747
• Victor Szebehely – aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics

T

• Kurt Tank – design engineer for Focke-Wulf
• Theodore Theodorsen – aerodynamicist at NACA
• Richard Truly – former astronaut and head of NASA
• Andrei Tupolev – founder of OKB Tupolev

V

• Aurel Vlaicu
• Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) - German rocket pioneer
• Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963)
• Hans von Ohain (1911–1998)
• Traian Vuia – first flight with no other ground devices

W

• Sir Barnes Wallis (1887–1979)
• Ken Wallis MBE – autogyro
• Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980) – rocket engines
• Johanna Weber
• Edward Curtis Wells (1910-1986)
• Richard Whitcomb
• Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996) – Pioneer of the jet engine
• Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932)
• The Wright Brothers

X

• Qian Xuesen

Y

• Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev – founder of OKB Yakovlev

Z

• Engelbert Zaschka (1895–1955) - one of the first German helicopter pioneers
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917)
• Henri Ziegler - father of the Airbus program
• Robert Zubrin

See also

• List of Russian aerospace engineers