Alfred Loedding

Career In 1937, he was employed by Bellanca Aircraft. From 1938 to 1950, the Army Air Force, later US Air Force. For three years he led the Jet Propulsion Lab at Wright Field. In 1939, he was involved in model plane contests, serving both as a judge and an award-winning participant. In 1941, he accompanied Robert Goddard to Roswell army airfield for a test. Loedding was involved in Project Sign, the Air Force's investigation into flying discs or UFOs. He conducted a 1949 lecture at University of Pittsburgh. In 1958, Loedding was profiled after being awarded a patent for a solid-fueled military rocket. In 1959, he was profiled and photographed with a model he called a 'flying pumpkin seed'.

Loedding was instrumental to the development of air-to-air refueling systems.