caption significant_projects death_place birth_place article_title significant_design discipline birth_date image employer education name
clarence leonard `` kelly '' johnson p-38 lightning skunk works lockheed u-2 sr-71 blackbird los angeles , california , u.s. ishpeming , michigan , u.s. kelly johnson -lrb- engineer -rrb-
 lockheed u-2 systems engineering 27 february 1910 clarenceleonardkellyjohnson.jpg lockheed martin flint junior college university of michigan clarence leonard `` kelly '' johnson
kelly johnson -lrb- engineer -rrb-

clarence leonard `` kelly '' johnson -lrb- february 27 , 1910 -- december 21 , 1990 -rrb- was an american systems engineer and aeronautical innovator .
he is recognised for his contributions to many noteworthy aircraft designs , especially the lockheed sr-71 blackbird .
besides the first production aircraft to exceed mach 3 , he also produced the first fighter capable of mach 2 , the united states ' first operational jet fighter , as well as its first successful twin-engine fighter , the first pressurized airliner , and many other contributions to a large number of aircraft .
as a member and first team leader of the lockheed skunk works , johnson worked for more than four decades and is said to have been an `` organizing genius '' .
he played a leading role in the design of over forty aircraft , including several honored with the prestigious collier trophy , acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation .
in 2003 , as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the wright brothers ' flight , `` aviation week & space technology '' ranked johnson 8th on its list of the top 100 `` most important , most interesting , and most influential people '' in the first century of aerospace .
hall hibbard , johnson 's lockheed boss , referring to johnson 's swedish ancestry once remarked to ben rich : `` that damned swede can actually see air . ''
johnson also helped to design the lockheed aqm-60 kingfisher a decade before the famous sr-71 .
the kingfisher was a highly successful single engine mach 4.3 capable ramjet composed mainly of steel , which was used to test american air defenses against nuclear missiles .
the information and experience johnson gained was later used to produce the a-12 spy plane for the central intelligence agency .
johnson then used the combined knowledge of the kingfisher and a-12 to produce the sr-71 blackbird , his most famous aircraft .
