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Memorial Plaque honoring Gerhard Nuemann, (Herman the German); mounted in the Engineering Building at the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO. The plaque was dedicated by the 76th Fighter Squadron (China) on November 20, 1998 and accepted by Lt/Gen Tad J. Oelstrom, Superintendent, on behalf of the Academy. Submitted by Leonard O'Dell


Gerhard Neumann departed his native Germany in 1939 for China to provide technical assistance in processing their German equipment purchases. He was, however, detained enroute for several months in Hong Kong where, by pure chance, he began a lifetime career of meteoric success by accidentally bumping into a stranger on an elevator. The stranger was W. Langborne Bond, a Pan American Airways regional executive.

Things had gone reasonably well there for Gerhard until June 1940 when France fell to the German Blitzkrieg, whereupon he, an enemy alien, was ordered to leave the Crown Colony immediately. This was the situation when he met Mr. Bond on the elevator.

Bond recognized Gerhard's talents and managed to get him on an airplane (without a passport) for Kunming with an introductory note to Claire Chennault, who was then working with the Chinese Air Force. Chennault hired him on the spot.

During 1941 the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) was formed under the leadership of Colonel Chennault, and Gerhard signed on as an aircraft mechanic. He was truly a godsend in their environment of supporting skill shortages.

The brief but spectacular performance of the AVG is well known, and Gerhard's reputation as a master mechanic was well established. On July 4th. 1942 the AVG was deactivated and the 23rd Fighter Group of the US Army Air Force was simultaneously activated. Simply stated, this amounted to a federalization of the AVG material assets and such of their personnel who desired to stay. In spite of his alien status Gerhard was made a Staff Sergeant, assigned to the 76th Fighter Squadron as Engineering Chief and rapidly promoted to Master Sergeant. We called him Herman, and our respect and affection became legend.

After the war. Gerhard Neumann became an American citizen by Special Act of Congress and he said, "The greatest day of my life was when President Truman signed that paper."

Our faith was redeemed exponentially over the following thirty-three years. He joined General Electric in 1948 as a founding member of their fledgling Gas Turbine Division, and fifteen years later was elected Vice President of the Corporation. By this time, their jet engine enterprise had grown tremendously, and Gerhard was shortly put in overall charge as Group Executive of the Aircraft Engine Group in Evendale, Ohio.

1946 Awarded US Citizenship

1948 Hired by General Electric

1951 Began development of variable stator J-79   engine, a major technical breakthrough. Powered the F-104 (first Mach 2 Fighter); 19,000 produced.

1959 Awarded COLLIER TROPHY for J-79.

1963 Elected Vice President of General Electric Corporation.

1968 Appointed Group Executive of Aircraft Engine Group.

1970  Presented GODDARD AWARD.

 1974 Development of CFM 56 engine. Joint GE-SNECMA (France) Venture. Extensively 
used world-wide in large aircraft.

1979 Awarded DANIEL GUGGENHEIM GOLD 
MEDAL.

1980 Retired after 32 years with General 
Electric.

1986 Enshrined in our National Aviation Hall 
of Fame.

1993 Awarded WRIGHT BROTHERS MEMORIAL 
TROPHY.

1995 Awarded OTTO LILIENTHAL MEDAL, Germany's highest aviation award.

Gerhard Neumann's instinct for advanced technology was a matter of genius, but his talents for "hands on" management and international marketing were equally impressive. He was the heart and the sinew; the "dirty fingernails" engineer; and the dynamic executive who holds a position of prominence amongst those most responsible for the efficiency and reliability of modern aircraft propulsion.

76th SQUADRON OF THE 23RD FLYING TIGER ASSOCIATION

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A Tribute to Gerhard Neumann

Cincinnati Enquirer 11/6/97
Gerhard Neumann a pioneer in design of aircraft engines -  WW II hero helped create GE division
BY MIKE BOYER The Cincinnati Enquirer

__________________________________

Gerhard Neumann, a feisty German engineering genius who was one of the creators of GE Aircraft Engines died Sunday at his home in Massachusetts. Mr Neumann, who died from complications of leukemia was 80.

During a career that stretched from pre-World War II China to the supersonic age, Mr. Neumann was at times adventurer, war hero, inventor and businessman.

He joined GE’s fledging aircraft gas-turbine division in Lynn, Mass. in 1948. By the time he retired in 1979 as GE group vice president, Mr. Neumann had launched GE into the commercial jet engine business and formed CFM International, GE’s partnership with Snecina, a French aircraft maker. "Each person in GE today owes a huge debt of gratitude to Gerhard Neumann," GE Chairman Jack Welch said in a statement. "He was a pioneer in both technology and management and a true entrepreneur…… GE Aircraft Engines is today the world leader in its market, and we can trace much of this success directly to (his) remarkable legacy." Many of his early adventures as a member of Gen. Chennault’s famed "Flying Tigers" volunteers in China during World War II were detailed in his 1984 autobiography, Herman the German, the nickname he earned while serving as the mechanic for the unit. Mr. Neumann, who went to China in 1939 to maintain German aircraft for the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, was initially detained in Hong Kong as an "enemy alien" at the start of World War II. He slipped into free China in 1940 with the help of an American executive with Pan American Airways and led a truck convoy over the Burma Road before hooking up with the Flying Tigers. Heralded as a mechanical genius, Mr. Neumann was the first man to put back together a downed Japanese Zero fighter plane for the Allies to study .

"That reconstructed Zero’s first flight failed, on the ground," he recalled in a 1984 interview with the Enquirer. "That was the low point of my life. Then I was given the opportunity to reconstruct it again (and it flew perfectly). That showed great confidence in me. It turned into the high point of my life." As a result of his war exploits, which included work for the Office of Strategic Services, Mr. Neumann was made an American citizen by act of Congress.

His early work at GE included the invention of the variable stator compressor, a device that dramatically increases a jet engine’s power and is today standard equipment on all jet engines. He also led the development of GE’s J79 engine used on the Air Force F-4 and F-104 fighters. Mr. Neumann lived in Cincinnati in the mid-1959s as general manager of its jet engine department and continued to spend an extensive amount of time in Cincinnati in the 1960s and 1970s as first corporate vice president of the aircraft engine business and later group vice president. It was his friendship with Rene Ravaud, the former French resistance fighter and president of the French engine-maker Snecina, which led to the creation and set the tone for CFM International, the most successful international engine partnership.

During his lifetime, Mr. Neumann received eight patents and was named to the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He was also the recipient of America’s top three aviation awards: the Collier Tropy in 1958, the Goddard Award in 1970 and the Daniel Guggenheum Gold Medal in 1979. A private funeral was planned for Mr. Neumann.