Jack Real
Encyclopedia
Jack G. Real was an aerospace
pioneer and Howard Hughes
confidant.
he quickly moved on to attend Michigan Technological University
, graduating in 1937. Real moved to California in 1939 and went to work for Lockheed
. Less than a year later he was promoted to senior design engineer on the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar program. That move led to designing, developing and testing many of the company's aircraft projects from the Lockheed Hudson
bomber to the Lockheed Constellation
.
Real was loaned to Pan American Airways for more than a year in 1943 to learn about commercial aircraft development. He served as a flight engineer for Pan Am on the South American and African routes. Back at Lockheed, he was assigned to work with aviation pioneer Kelly Johnson
, and became division engineer for all flight test activities in 1957, and then chief of engineering flight test in 1960. He also was a flight test engineer on the first flight of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules on 23 August 1954. Two years later, his career advanced again with a promotion to chief engineer of research, development and testing. During 1964, he concentrated on the SR-71 Blackbird development with Johnson at the Lockheed Skunk Works and worked on aircraft testing projects at the Area 51
military base in southern Nevada
. He was also in charge of the development of the Lockheed CL-475
and Lockheed XH-51
helicopters. By 1965, he was vice president and general manager for the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter program and by 1968 Lockheed had made him responsible for all of the company's rotary wing aircraft programs. From 1964 to 1965, he attended the University of Southern California
School of Business.
in November 1957, while working at Lockheed and became Hughes' personal adviser. In May 1965, Real was one of the figures involved in Hughes Helicopters
bid to the US government for what became the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse. It is reported that Howard Hughes directed his company to submit a bid at a price below the actual production cost of the helicopter, in order to secure this order, resulting in substantial losses on the US Army deal, with the anticipation that an extended production cycle would eventually prove financially viable.
In 1971 Hughes pleaded with Real to leave the Lockheed Aircraft Company and reorganize his troubled helicopter company. Real was looking forward to retirement, but out of loyalty to Hughes he accepted the challenge. In 1979, three years after Hughes' death, Real became president of the troubled Hughes Helicopter, accomplishing over four years one of business history's most impressive corporate turn-around efforts. While heading the company, he also guided the development of the AH-64 Apache helicopter program for the US Army. The program was so successful that in 1984 he oversaw the sale of Hughes Helicopters to McDonnell Douglas
and became president and CEO of that company until his retirement in 1987.
On Thanksgiving Eve 1970, Hughes suffered from a bout with pneumonia. Jack Real arranged for Hughes to be secretly moved by aircraft to the Bahamas. Real was also on board the jet returning Hughes to his birthplace, Houston, Texas in route from Mexico when Howard Hughes died. After his death, one of Hughes' bodyguards, Gordi Margulis, was quoted as saying that Real and Hughes often spent hours on the telephone talking about aviation. He said, "Jack was a really great guy who cared about Howard and did everything he could to help him."
In retirement, he played a key role in relocating the Spruce Goose to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
where he was Chairman and President from 1995-2001.
, Army Aviation Association of America, and the National Aerospace Council of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He served as a director at large for the American Helicopter Society
and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
. He also served on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America
and as a director with the California State University System, Davey Industries, Engineering School Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania
, Evergreen International Aviation, Engineering School of Loyola University, Hughes Airwest
Airline and Midway Airlines
.
Aviation may have dominated his life, but he had another lifelong dedication, which was to scouting. Along with President Gerald R. Ford, Bob Hope
and General Jimmy Doolittle
, in 1983, Real became only the fourth person to receive the prestigious Americanism Award, which is "given to individuals of national stature who have made outstanding contributions to their community and profession."
He is a recipient of the Howard Hughes Memorial Award
presented by the Southern California Aeronautic Association to give recognition "to an aerospace leader whose accomplishments over a long career have contributed significantly to the advancement of aviation or space technology." In 1983, under Real's leadership, Hughes Helicopters received the Robert J. Collier Trophy, American aviation's highest aeronautics achievement honor for his role in developing the AH-64 Apache helicopter. He shared the award with Secretary of the Army Jack Marsh.
In addition to the Collier Trophy and the Boy Scouts of America's Americanism Award, he received numerous awards and honors over his career. They included the Helicopter Association International's Lifetime Member Award (2005); Distinguished Alumni Award, Calumet High School, Calumet, Michigan
(2004); Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor (2003); The Chuck Yeager Award (1996); The Howard Hughes Memorial Award (1996); Pioneers In Aviation's Flight Path award, Los Angeles International Airport (1996); Michigan Technological University's Distinguished Alumnus Award (1995) and Elder Statesman of Aviation and National Aeronautical Association (1989). He received honorary doctorate degrees from Northrop University (1985), the Aeronautical Science Selma College (1983) and Michigan Technological University (1968).
In 2003, he published a book, The Asylum of Howard Hughes (ISBN 978-1413408751).
Jack Real died September 6, 2001.
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
pioneer and Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
confidant.
Career at Lockheed
After graduating from Calumet High School in Calumet, MichiganCalumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
he quickly moved on to attend Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
, graduating in 1937. Real moved to California in 1939 and went to work for Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
. Less than a year later he was promoted to senior design engineer on the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar program. That move led to designing, developing and testing many of the company's aircraft projects from the Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
bomber to the Lockheed Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
.
Real was loaned to Pan American Airways for more than a year in 1943 to learn about commercial aircraft development. He served as a flight engineer for Pan Am on the South American and African routes. Back at Lockheed, he was assigned to work with aviation pioneer Kelly Johnson
Clarence Johnson
Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson was an aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator. 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"...
, and became division engineer for all flight test activities in 1957, and then chief of engineering flight test in 1960. He also was a flight test engineer on the first flight of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules on 23 August 1954. Two years later, his career advanced again with a promotion to chief engineer of research, development and testing. During 1964, he concentrated on the SR-71 Blackbird development with Johnson at the Lockheed Skunk Works and worked on aircraft testing projects at the Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
military base in southern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. He was also in charge of the development of the Lockheed CL-475
Lockheed CL-475
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 9780851778051...
and Lockheed XH-51
Lockheed XH-51
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography*Landis, Tony and Jenkins, Dennis R. Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne - WarbirdTech Volume 27, Specialty Press, 2000. ISBN 1580070272.- External links :* * - All the World's Rotorcraft...
helicopters. By 1965, he was vice president and general manager for the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter program and by 1968 Lockheed had made him responsible for all of the company's rotary wing aircraft programs. From 1964 to 1965, he attended the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
School of Business.
Involvement With Howard Hughes
Real met Howard HughesHoward Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
in November 1957, while working at Lockheed and became Hughes' personal adviser. In May 1965, Real was one of the figures involved in Hughes Helicopters
Hughes Helicopters
Hughes Helicopters was a major manufacturer of military and civil helicopters from the 1950s to the 1980s.The company began in 1947, as a unit of Hughes Aircraft, then was part of the Hughes Tool Company after 1955. It became the Hughes Helicopter Division, Summa Corporation in 1972, and was...
bid to the US government for what became the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse. It is reported that Howard Hughes directed his company to submit a bid at a price below the actual production cost of the helicopter, in order to secure this order, resulting in substantial losses on the US Army deal, with the anticipation that an extended production cycle would eventually prove financially viable.
In 1971 Hughes pleaded with Real to leave the Lockheed Aircraft Company and reorganize his troubled helicopter company. Real was looking forward to retirement, but out of loyalty to Hughes he accepted the challenge. In 1979, three years after Hughes' death, Real became president of the troubled Hughes Helicopter, accomplishing over four years one of business history's most impressive corporate turn-around efforts. While heading the company, he also guided the development of the AH-64 Apache helicopter program for the US Army. The program was so successful that in 1984 he oversaw the sale of Hughes Helicopters to McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
and became president and CEO of that company until his retirement in 1987.
On Thanksgiving Eve 1970, Hughes suffered from a bout with pneumonia. Jack Real arranged for Hughes to be secretly moved by aircraft to the Bahamas. Real was also on board the jet returning Hughes to his birthplace, Houston, Texas in route from Mexico when Howard Hughes died. After his death, one of Hughes' bodyguards, Gordi Margulis, was quoted as saying that Real and Hughes often spent hours on the telephone talking about aviation. He said, "Jack was a really great guy who cared about Howard and did everything he could to help him."
In retirement, he played a key role in relocating the Spruce Goose to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville, Oregon
McMinnville is the county seat and largest city of Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to Oregon Geographic Names, it was named by its founder, William T. Newby , an early immigrant on the Oregon Trail, for his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee...
where he was Chairman and President from 1995-2001.
Honors and Awards
During his life, Real was affiliated with the Association of the United States ArmyAssociation of the United States Army
The Association of the United States Army is a private, non-profit organization that acts primarily as an advocacy group for the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 125 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not just Army personnel, nor is membership mandatory for soldiers,...
, Army Aviation Association of America, and the National Aerospace Council of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He served as a director at large for the American Helicopter Society
American Helicopter Society
The American Helicopter Society, International is a professional society in the area of vertical flight. It was formed in 1944. It publishes an official magazine and a technical journal ...
and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
. He also served on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and as a director with the California State University System, Davey Industries, Engineering School Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Evergreen International Aviation, Engineering School of Loyola University, Hughes Airwest
Hughes Airwest
Hughes Airwest was an airline that was backed by Howard Hughes. Hughes Airwest flew routes around the western United States and to certain points in Mexico and Canada. The airline was purchased by Republic Airlines on October 1, 1980...
Airline and Midway Airlines
Midway Airlines
Midway Airlines was the name of two different, defunct airlines:*Midway Airlines , airline based in Chicago, Illinois and operating out of Chicago Midway International Airport between 1976 and 1991...
.
Aviation may have dominated his life, but he had another lifelong dedication, which was to scouting. Along with President Gerald R. Ford, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and General Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
, in 1983, Real became only the fourth person to receive the prestigious Americanism Award, which is "given to individuals of national stature who have made outstanding contributions to their community and profession."
He is a recipient of the Howard Hughes Memorial Award
Howard Hughes Memorial Award
The Howard Hughes Memorial Award is an aviation industry award presented annually by the Aero Club of Southern California. According to the Association's official website, the award is given "to an aerospace leader whose accomplishments over a long career have contributed significantly to the...
presented by the Southern California Aeronautic Association to give recognition "to an aerospace leader whose accomplishments over a long career have contributed significantly to the advancement of aviation or space technology." In 1983, under Real's leadership, Hughes Helicopters received the Robert J. Collier Trophy, American aviation's highest aeronautics achievement honor for his role in developing the AH-64 Apache helicopter. He shared the award with Secretary of the Army Jack Marsh.
In addition to the Collier Trophy and the Boy Scouts of America's Americanism Award, he received numerous awards and honors over his career. They included the Helicopter Association International's Lifetime Member Award (2005); Distinguished Alumni Award, Calumet High School, Calumet, Michigan
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
(2004); Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor (2003); The Chuck Yeager Award (1996); The Howard Hughes Memorial Award (1996); Pioneers In Aviation's Flight Path award, Los Angeles International Airport (1996); Michigan Technological University's Distinguished Alumnus Award (1995) and Elder Statesman of Aviation and National Aeronautical Association (1989). He received honorary doctorate degrees from Northrop University (1985), the Aeronautical Science Selma College (1983) and Michigan Technological University (1968).
In 2003, he published a book, The Asylum of Howard Hughes (ISBN 978-1413408751).
Jack Real died September 6, 2001.