Flying with Eagles

My first go­od job after col­l­ege was de­­signing suspension bits for Traction-Master Co. Later in 1968, I became a small contractor to Douglas Aircraft. In those days I enjoyed competing in slalom racing, which is how I met Elliott Forbes-Robinson who introduced me to Dan Gurney. After several lengthy interviews, Dan hired me in January 1970 to do trackside vehicle dynamics for both his Trans-Am Barracuda and USAC Indy car teams. I was fortunate to work with Dan throughout his last year of driving, and attended over 50 test outings and races that year. As time permitted, I apprenticed under chief designer Roman Slobodynskyj, who was incredibly kind and patient. They were both fine mentors.

Dan retired and was replaced by Bobby Unser in 1971. I continued to do much of AAR’s trackside chassis work for the next couple of years. I was better at R&D than drafting, so with my friend Bob Liebeck’s tutoring I increasingly specialized in aerodynamics. (Today Bob is known as the father of Boeing’s futuristic BWB, or Blended Wing Body, airplane.)