Willis Hawkins

For the Georgia Supreme Court justice, seeWillis A. Hawkins.

External image
Willis Hawkins,in front of a C-130, linked to from thehttp://www.godickson.com/ahsfv.htmweb page, and ultimately from an LA Times Obituary.

Willis Moore Hawkins(December 1, 1913 – September 28, 2004) was an Americanaeronautical engineerforLockheedfor more than fifty years. He was hired in 1937, immediately after receiving his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from theUniversity of Michigan.Prior to that, he was in the first graduating class ofThe Leelanau School,aboarding schoolinGlen Arbor, Michigan.He contributed to the designs of a number of historic Lockheed aircraft, including theConstellation,P-80 Shooting Star,XF-90,F-94 Starfire,andF-104 Starfighter.DuringWorld War II,he was part of the group of Lockheed designers who designed the first American attempt at a jet plane, theLockheed L-133.

Jack Real, left; Willis Hawkins, center; Joseph Ware, Jr., right, at a StarDusters gathering.

In 1951, he led the design team that created the proposal for the Lockheed Model 82, which would become theC-130 Hercules,withJoseph F. Ware, Jr.as Flight Test Engineer in charge. Hawkins started theLockheed Missiles and Space Companyand served as president. He was elected a Vice President of the Lockheed Corporation in 1960 and later served on the corporation's board of directors. Hawkins served as Assistant Secretary for Research and Development for theUS Armyfrom 1962 to 1965, where he was instrumental in starting development of theM1 Abramsmain battle tank. He retired from Lockheed in 1980, but Lockheed chairmanRoy Andersonbrought Hawkins back to run the Lockheed—California Company on an interim basis in the 1980s. Hawkins retired for good in 1986. He died in 2004 at the age of 90, after witnessing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the C-130's first flight on August 23, 1954.

References

• An obituary of Willis Hawkins from the Marshall Institute
• "Willis Hawkins and the Genesis of the Hercules", by Jeff Rhodes, fromCode One
• OAC Willis M. Hawkins Papers, 1920-2009
• [1]"Youtube with interview sequences of Willis Hawkins"