John H. McMasters

John H. McMasters (April 26, 1939 – February 13, 2008) was an aeronautical engineer notable for his contributions to aerodynamics and engineering education.

Early life and education McMasters was born in Taft, California and fell in love with airplanes in 1943 when his uncle gave him a private "air show" in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. After completing high school, he went on to earn BS and MS degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1960 and 1962 and a PhD from Purdue University in 1975, all in Aeronautical Engineering.

Early career and Ph.D. After having completed his BS and MS on a ROTC scholarship, he entered the US Air Force as a 1st Lt Working at the US Air Force Special Weapons Center (later the Air Force Weapons Lab) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, he was given the opportunity to develop a guided missile eventually given the provisional designation ZAIM-68A Quetzalcoatl.

Later career In 1976, having completed graduate school, he took a job working at Boeing Commercial Airplanes as a research aerodynamicist and worked there until his death.

Research His professional and avocational interests ran together over a broad range of topics including: low-speed/highlift aerodynamics, airplane design, Reynolds number scale conditions in wind tunnel testing, soaring and human powered flight technology, bioaerodynamics, paleontology, and engineering education. He authored over 90 publications and technical papers, and lectured to a broad range of university, government, and professional society audiences in all these topic areas. John made significant contributions in a variety of aerodynamic and aircraft design areas, including high-lift aerodynamics, sailplanes, vortex generators, very large aircraft design, undersea gliders, and many other concepts.

Awards and memberships John was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and served as an AIAA Distinguished Lecturer, from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2006. In 2002, he was named an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer by the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. He was awarded the 29th SAE/AIAA Littlewood Memorial Lectureship, 2004 and was selected as a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer for 2005-07.

Personal life John was married to Marie from September 1960 to the time of his death. Together, they had two children.

John served for five years on the Vashon Island, Washington School Board.