Johnson, Clarence Leonard (1910-1990), known as Kelly Johnson, was an important aircraft designer from the United States. He developed more than 40 different airplanes, primarily for the military.
Johnson was born on Feb. 27, 1910, in Ishpeming, Michigan. During elementary school, he gained the nickname “Kelly” from a popular song and kept the name for the rest of his life. From an early age, Johnson knew he wanted to design airplanes. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1932 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Johnson had difficulty obtaining work after graduation because there were few jobs available in his field during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Johnson returned to the University of Michigan and earned a master’s degree in science in 1933. He then obtained a position as a tool designer at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (now part of Lockheed Martin Corporation) in Burbank, California.
The young tool designer was outspoken about the quality and safety of aircraft, and he contributed innovative design improvements. He was quickly promoted to an engineering position. Troubles in Europe prior to World War II (1939-1945) led the United States and the United Kingdom to expand their development of military aircraft. With Johnson’s help, Lockheed secured contracts to develop airplanes for the U.S. Army Air Corps and for the British Air Ministry. Johnson was the primary designer of many of these airplanes, including the American P-38 fighter and the British Hudson bomber.
In 1943, Johnson headed up Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects, which became known as the Skunk Works. The division stood next to a bad-smelling plastics factory and got its nickname from the “Skonk Works,” a stinky illegal still in the popular “Li’l Abner” comic strip.
The Skunk Works produced many significant military planes, including the P-80 (later called the F-80) jet fighter; the F-104 Starfighter, the first airplane to fly at twice the speed of sound at level flight; and the P2V Neptune, an antisubmarine patrol plane that set a nonstop distance record of nearly 11,236 miles (18,082 kilometers) in 1946. Johnson became Lockheed’s chief engineer in 1952. Later developments of the Skunk Works under Johnson included the U-2, a high-altitude spy plane; stealth technology for radar avoidance; and the SR-71 Blackbird, the world’s fastest piloted jet aircraft. Johnson retired from Lockheed in 1975.
During his career, Johnson won more than 50 awards, mostly national, for aircraft design. His autobiography, Kelly: More Than My Share of It All, was published in 1985. Johnson died on Dec. 21, 1990.
