Joe Sutter
{{Short description|American engineer, Boeing Airplane Company (1921–2016)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Joe Sutter
| image = Joe_Sutter,_Nova_Gorica,_June_2006.jpg
| caption = Sutter in 2006
| birth_date = March 21, 1921
| birth_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|8|30|1921|3|21}}
| death_place = Bremerton, Washington, U.S.
| known_for = Chief engineer for the development of the Boeing 747
| education = University of Washington (BS)
| alma_mater =
| employer = Boeing Commercial Airplanes
| notable works = 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation
| spouse = Nancy French{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/747creatingworld00sutt|author=Joe Sutter|title=747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2006|isbn=0060882417|url-access=registration}}
| children = 3
| awards = United States Medal of Technology (1985)
Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1990)
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aircraft Award
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy{{cite web|url=http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june01/sutter2.html|title=Part Two: Sutter's Idea Revolutionized Air Travel|publisher=University of Washington|date=June 2001|access-date=August 18, 2019}}
}}
Joseph Frederick Sutter (March 21, 1921 – August 30, 2016) was an American engineer for the Boeing Airplane Company and manager of the design team for the Boeing 747 under Malcolm T. Stamper, the head of the 747 project.{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20060609/boeing09/an-aviation-pioneers-grounded-memoir|author=John B. Saul|title=An aviation pioneer's grounded memoir|work=The Seattle Times|date=June 9, 2006|access-date=August 18, 2019|archive-date=September 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911174059/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060609&slug=boeing09|url-status=live}} Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine has described Sutter as the "father of the 747".Bettina Chavanne, [https://www.airspacemag.com/as-interview/a-amp-s-interview-joe-sutter-14734609/ "The 'Father of the 747'"]. Air&Space Smithsonian. January 2007.
Early life and education
Sutter was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in the vicinity of Boeing's Seattle plant.{{cite news|author=Roberts, Sam|title=Joe Sutter, 95, Dies; Guided Creation of the Boeing 747|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 1, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/business/joe-sutter-dead.html|access-date=August 18, 2019}} He was of Slovenian descent—his father, Franc Suhadolc (1879–1945) from Dobrova, Slovenia, moved to the US as a gold prospector. Sutter attended the University of Washington and graduated with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1943.[https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/20686f Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Appointment of Joseph F. Sutter as a Member of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident]
Career
In 1940, Sutter took a summer job at Boeing Plant 2 while studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Washington. Sutter served as a junior officer aboard the destroyer escort {{USS|Edward H. Allen|DE-531}} in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He was a young U.S. Navy veteran finishing his degree when both Boeing and Douglas offered him jobs. Boeing believed in jet aircraft, so he went there. Former Boeing executive Jim Albaugh believes Douglas would probably own Boeing today if it went otherwise.{{cite news|url=https://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/opinion-jim-albaugh-s-lessons-aerospace-success|title=Opinion: Jim Albaugh's Lessons Of Aerospace Success|date=December 4, 2017|author=James Albaugh|magazine=Aviation Week & Space Technology|author-link=James Albaugh}}
At Boeing, Sutter worked on many commercial airplane projects, including the 367-80 "Dash 80", 707, 727 and 737. He eventually became a manager for the new jumbo-sized wide body airplane, the four-engine Boeing 747. As chief engineer, he led the 747 design and build team from conception in 1965 to rollout in 1969. He would become known as the "father of the 747".{{cite news|author=Tibbits, George|title=In US, Boeing tearing down plant 2, factory where Seattle became a high tech town|date=September 14, 2010|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/in-us-boeing-tearing-down-plant-2-factory-where-seattle-became-a-high-tech-town|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 18, 2019}}
Sutter's final job was as executive vice president for commercial airplane engineering and product development when he retired from Boeing in 1986.
Later life
Sutter served on the Rogers Commission, investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. He was also selected as a recipient of the International Air Cargo Association's 2002 Hall of Fame Award and was an engineering sales consultant.[https://tiaca.org/hall-of-fame/joseph-sutter/ TIACA profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818155734/https://tiaca.org/hall-of-fame/joseph-sutter/|date=August 18, 2019}}{{cite journal|author=Joseph F. Sutter|author2=David C. Knowlen|title=An engineer's perspective on the air transportation industry|journal= SAE Transactions|volume=99|year=1990|pages=2264–2277|jstor=44473182}} As of July 2010, he was a member of the Boeing Senior Advisory Group which was studying the alternatives of a clean sheet replacement of the Boeing 737 or a re-engine of the then-current design, the latter ultimately chosen and later marketed as the Boeing 737 MAX.{{cite web|url=https://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/2010/07/16/boeings-sutter-737-replacement-timing-depends-on-engines/|author=Aubrey Cohen|title=737 replacement timing depends on engines|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=July 16, 2010|access-date=August 18, 2019}} For decades, he resided in West Seattle. In 2011, on his 90th birthday, Boeing's 40-87 building in Everett, WA, the main engineering building for Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, was renamed the Joe Sutter building. Sutter died on August 30, 2016, at a hospital in Bremerton, Washington, from complications of pneumonia, at the age of 95.{{cite magazine|title=Legendary 747 designer Sutter dies age 95|url=https://atwonline.com/people/legendary-747-designer-sutter-dies-age-95|magazine=Air Transport World|date=August 30, 2016}}
Book
Aviation author and historian Jay Spenser worked closely with Sutter for 18 months to write his autobiography, entitled 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation ({{ISBN|0-06-088241-7}}). It was published by Smithsonian Books/HarperCollins as a hardcover in 2006 and as a paperback in 2007. This book tells of Sutter's childhood and describes his life and 40-year career at Boeing.
The book details Sutter's tenure as chief engineer of the development of the 747 and elaborates on its design, manufacturing, testing, certification, and delivery to the world's airlines. The book also describes subsequent models of the 747 and the two major-derivative updates to the type, the 747-400 of 1989, and the 747-8.Sutter, Joe and Spenser, Jay. 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation, University of Washington Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-06-088241-7}}.
Awards
- 1985 United States Medal of Technology award. For his contributions to the development of commercial jet aircraft.[https://www.nationalmedals.org/laureates/joseph-f-sutter# US Government list: The National Medal Of Technology Recipients] Retrieved August 18, 2019.
- In September 2024, Sutter was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.{{cite web |title=The National Aviation Hall of Fame Announces the "Class of 2024" |url=https://nationalaviation.org/the-national-aviation-hall-of-fame-announces-the-class-of-2024/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFrom%20innovators%20and%20industry%20trailblazers,essence%20of%20excellence%20in%20aviation. |website=National Aviation Hall of Fame}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.boeing.com/commercial/joesutter/index.page Boeing: Remembering an 'Incredible' legend]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20141223051621/http://www.boeing.com/randy/archives/2006/08/father_knows_be.html Boeing: Randy's Journal: Father knows best], a blog entry tributed to Joe Sutter
- [http://thefullgull.com/the-sutter-twist/ The Sutter twist – an engineering story], a Wing twist named after him
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Category:American aerospace engineers
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:American people of Slovenian descent
Category:National Medal of Technology recipients
Category:United States Navy officers
Category:University of Washington College of Engineering alumni