John Michael Harrison

United States of America

 

1920 - 2011

John Michael "Mike" Harrison was the Chief Aerodynamicist at Westland Helicopters in Yeovil, England, and he later worked for Lockheed Martin on the Cheyenne project.

Mike was born on April 16, 1920, in Yorkshire, England. He joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1936 and served as an officer in West Africa and India during World War II.

In 1967, he moved to California to work with Lockheed. Later, he worked for North American Rockwell on the space shuttle before joining Hughes Helicopters in Culver City.

When Hughes merged with McDonnell Douglas (which later became part of The Boeing Company), Mike and his family relocated to Mesa, Arizona, where he worked on the AH-64 Apache, work that brought him great pleasure in his later years.

He passed away on February 3, 2011, in Laguna Hills, California. 

AHS Update: Vertiflite Fall 2011