Schmüd, Edgar

Born December 30, 1899 in Hornbach , Germany . At the age of 8, he saw an airplane in flight and decided that aviation would become his life's work. To become an engineer, Edgar began self-training and got a job as a student at a small engine factory. There he developed a number of engine components for which he received patents. In his free time, he continued his self-education in the field of aviation.

In 1925, his work experience led him to move to Brazil, where he worked for the American company General Motors. In 1931, already in the United States, in a subsidiary of General Motors - General Aviation (recently acquired by the Fokker Aircraft), Maryland . So he began his career as an aircraft designer. Soon, General Aviation took over another subsidiary of General Motors - North American Aviation , California . In 1935, he moved from General Motors to North American Aviation in Los Angeles, California. But his wife Louise did not want to move from the east coast and Schmüd worked for AviaBellanca Aircraft but not for long. During a trip to California to get N AA again, their car got into a head-on collision on Highway 60. Schmüd's wife died, and he was seriously injured.

Jobs at North American Aviation

At the beginning of 1936, after recovery, Schmüd joined North American Aviation under the supervision of the Dutchman Kindelberger , a self-taught engineer, one of the former leaders of the famous Douglas Aircraft , as a designer. There he took part in the development of North American XB-21 (design of the front tower), the creation of the NA-50 (single-engine fighter for Peru) and NA-62 (later the B-25 Mitchell). Schmüd became the head of the department of general species ^[1] .

For 22 years, North American Aviation Schmüd has made a great contribution to the development of many famous aircraft. His most famous development is the unusual design of the P-51 Mustang aircraft of the Second World War . The first machine, in fact, a completely new project took off 178 days after the British government ordered the modernization of the P-40 based on the license they purchased from Curtiss . Schmüd created a completely new wing with an unusual then laminar aerodynamic profile , much larger. And he made numerous improvements: a powerful turbocharger , a new cooling system, significantly more powerful weapons, fuel tanks. What made the P-51 better in every way, and its flying qualities are excellent. When its long production ceased, the aircraft still won in competitions and set speed records for aircraft with piston engines.

Schmüd was known in the company as a workaholic and, after closing the P-51 in 1941, developed the Morrow Victory Trainer under a free contract. Due to its resemblance to the P-51, this aircraft received the name "mini-mustang" ^{[2] [3]} .

According to clearly erroneous legends, Edgar Schmüd worked with Wilhelm Messerschmitt . Of course, they were unlikely to meet young people before leaving for Brazil.

Schmüd has been with North American Aviation for 22 years. There he developed the unusual F-82 Twin Mustang and the famous F-86 Saber with swept wings, the F-100 Super Saber - the first supersonic fighter.

Jobs at Northrop Corporation

But he left the company NAA to work as an aircraft designer at Northrop , also a well-known American company, where for 5 years he worked on a very successful family of supersonic aircraft: the F-5 fighter and the T-38 Talon training aircraft . Their aerodynamics again clearly stood out among the works of that time.

Edgar Schmud died on June 1, 1985 in Oceanside , California.

On September 14, 1991, Edgar Schmüd was immortalized in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

• Bloom, Scott. "Edgar's Mini-Mustang." Mustangs: North American Aviation's P-51: Past, Present & Future, Warbirds International, Summer 2007 .
• Wagner, Raymond. Mustang Designer: Edgar Schmued and the P-51 . Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. ISBN 1-56098-994-7 .