I’ve had a very successful and exciting career as an aerodynamics engineer. I often worked on highly classified and/or advanced technology projects that were vital to our country’s national security. My wife and I raised two children, who are doing very well professionally. We enjoy spending time with them and our four grandchildren.
Initially, I had intended to be an airline pilot. My whole family was involved in flying. My father was a naval pilot prior to WWII and then became an airline pilot. An uncle flew B-29s during WWII and also became an airline pilot. Another uncle was a WWII Army pilot who trained new pilot-candidates. He was killed during the war. A close cousin was a naval F-4 pilot before becoming an astronaut. He was the pilot on the third space shuttle flight, which was the only one that had to land at White Sands, NM.
My father owned a Cessna 170B. At 16 I earned my student pilot license and was qualified to fly solo. But I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where the minimum age for driving alone is 16½. So, I was in the quirky position of needing my father to accompany me to the airport so that I could fly a plane solo. Go figure! When I got my private plot license at age 17, I was able to fly with passengers. I took many of my high school friends for their first airplane ride. I was dating Sara at the time, years before we got married. An ideal date was to fly to the Atlantic City Beach airport. We would spend a few hours on the beach and return home in time for dinner.
I started high school in the fall of 1955. In the fall of 1956, at a “barn party”, popular in eastern Pennsylvania at the time, I met a young lady named Sara Smith. We were both all of 15 years old. We “went steady” throughout the rest of our high school years. Little did we realize that as of this writing we would be married 56 years.
Because I had intended to become an airline pilot, I thought an aeronautical engineering degree would provide a good background. Michigan was rated tops in the country. I never considered the consequences of a hard course at an academically tough university. Almost a big mistake! I started at Michigan in the fall of 1959. My dorm roommate was from Burbank, California. He came home with me to Bethlehem for spring break of 1960 to see our little part of the East. I flew him to the New York City area and even though we had to stay out of restricted close-in regions, he loved it.
I pledged Delta Chi in 1960 during my freshman second semester. The house membership was much smaller back then. There were only four in my pledge class. During my sophomore year and part of my junior year (more on that later) I roomed with Lee Wesley ’63 in one of the large third floor rooms. We became very close friends. Besides having the same name, we discovered we were born on the same day and year. Lee was always very humble. He had an older Chevy at the house, although I don’t remember him driving it much. However, to get away from the fraternity house to study, he would drive us to the student union. We would study in the Alumni Room on the second floor. There was never anybody there, and it was very quiet. It didn’t hurt that across the hall was the recreational room, which had ping pong tables and pool tables, providing an excellent opportunity for a study break. One very cold eve while driving to the Union I asked Lee why he never turned on the heater. In his typical way, he said he didn’t want to waste money on the gas for heat for just a short drive. After I explained that the heat came from the hot water of the radiator, he never failed to use the heater.
Lee was the best man in my marriage to Sara in 1963 in Bethlehem, PA. We visited him and his wife Vicki several times in Chicago (notably as a guest at their wedding), as they did us in Georgia and in California when I was working there. We corresponded over the years. After we both had children, we discovered we had other things in common. We both had two children, a boy and a girl, with the boy born first. Lee was a class act. He died in December 2019 of pulmonary fibrosis. During my most recent visit to my pulmonary doctor, I mentioned Lee’s death. The doctor said, “it’s a horrible disease”. If you have the opportunity to follow this link to his obituary, you can read about his amazing life. I miss him.
I have also kept in touch with my big brother, Herb Koenig ‘63. One evening we were fooling around in the kitchen area. I started falling backward toward a window and put my hand out to catch myself. My elbow hit the window glass before my hand reached the windowsill. The glass broke and gashed my arm. After a trip to the university infirmary for stitches, all was well. Herb and his lovely wife, Mary, have visited with us in Georgia on several occasions.
Normally one may not write much about their medical history. But, in my case, my medical problems are a large part of my life. I cannot exclude them from my life’s events. I live with chronic pain, but I’ve learned to deal with it. It takes perseverance and a never give up attitude.
In 1961, at the start of my junior year, I had a life-changing event. Keith Hellems ‘62 and I were riding his Lambretta Scooter down Hill St. to a sorority party. It was Halloween night, and the goblins must have been at work. Shortly after we crossed Washtenaw Ave., a car coming in the opposite direction suddenly turned left, colliding with us. Without warning I was hurled into the car and through the air, landing next to the curb. I put a large dent in the car, which was a Renault. I learned later that the ambulance medical technicians at the scene said that if the car had not had the engine in the rear, I probably would have been killed. Keith was more fortunate. He was hurled over the car and survived fairly well. I didn’t. I could tell right away things were not going well. Although shock kept me from a lot of pain, I knew that a leg bending back behind me was not a good thing.
I remember the ambulance ride to the University Hospital and entering the surgery room. But that is all. I went unconscious for 7 days. That was probably a good thing while the doctors struggled to keep me alive. I had a 105-degree fever and pulmonary embolisms in my lungs, liver and brain. The doctors back then weren’t even sure how to treat embolisms. I was on an ice mattress for the fever, in traction because of a broken femur leg bone, and in an improvised baby’s oxygen tent for the embolism. A doctor called my parents in Pennsylvania and told them they couldn’t be sure I would live. When they arrived, I was not a pretty sight.
I was literally one of the first patients to survive fatty embolisms. Thank God for great U of M doctors. I was in traction in the orthopedic ward for over 5 months. There was no phone by the beds (cell phones were not invented yet) to keep in communication. It’s a good thing I enjoyed reading books. Naturally, I had to drop out of my classes. Unbelievably, good ole Michigan gave me a hard time because it was past the deadline to drop classes. Common sense did eventually prevail. I turned 21 in December, but of course was unable to make it to the P-Bell for my birthday bash. Thank goodness for the visits by fraternity brothers and other friends over the 5-plus months. But even so, for an entire year, including my recovery, I had very limited contact with the fraternity. Finally, in April 1962, almost 6 months after the accident, I was put in a body cast (Spica) that was to last another 2 months. Getting around with crutches was a challenge. I had plenty of time to master it though.
It was June when the cast finally came off, but I would still need crutches for a long time. Physical therapy as we know it today, didn’t exist in 1962. I was allowed to use the indoor pool at Lehigh University. I improvised my own therapy. Over the next months I methodically used the varying pool depth to gradually put more weight on my legs. I was learning to walk all over again. To increase my leg muscular strength, I sat on a desk and did leg exercises with a bag of sugar tied to my ankles. The hospital and recovery experience taught me the life lessons of patience, perseverance and to never give up. My goal was to return to Michigan in the fall. Go ahead, sing it…..”I want to go back to Michigan, to dear Ann Arbor town.”
By August 1962, my doctor okayed me to go back to school. I began my junior year over again. My grades were mediocre at best. I pushed ahead though. During semester break my orthopedic doctor in Bethlehem suggested that I should find some help. So, Sara and I talked it over. We had planned to get married after my graduation. But Sara suggested that by getting married then she could provide the help I needed. With our parents’ consent we decided to get married during the summer of 1963.
When we returned to campus in the fall of 1963, we lived in the university married housing on North Campus. Our apartment was on the second floor, which was the top floor. It got quite hot even in the late fall. On one occasion my grandparents visited us from Pennsylvania and brought a window air conditioner. It was only a matter of days before we got a letter from the university stating that window air conditioners were not allowed unless there was a medical necessity. I took the letter to the orthopedic doctor who oversaw me when in the hospital. He only asked one question. “Can you study better when the room is cooler?” I, of course, said yes. He replied, “sounds like a necessity to me”, and signed the letter. Now that’s a cool doctor (pun intended).
Sara had taken a job in the university hospital pharmacy as a medication records and billing secretary. We both used the university bus system to travel to and from the central campus. My grades showed some improvement. For the second time though in my years at Michigan my contact with the fraternity was limited. As a married student circumstances had changed from the experiences of a regular student.
I’ve heard it said that everyone old enough remembers where they were when they heard President Kennedy was assassinated. Ironically, I was in a lab class in the wind tunnel on North Campus. Little did I know I would be spending a lot of time in wind tunnels during my career. After graduation I began working for Lockheed Aircraft Company at the Georgia division in 1965. I started as an aerodynamic performance engineer working in the C-5A group. My initial assignment was as one of several engineers participating in wind tunnel tests and analyzing the data. I needed a secret clearance right away because at that time the engine performance data was classified secret and I needed access to the engine data. I have had a secret clearance (or higher) my entire career.
Our son, Brian, was born in 1968. We were enjoying that new experience when, in the spring of 1969, I was one of a dozen performance engineers selected to go to Edwards AFB in California to support the C-5A flight testing. Although we were working 10-hour days and frequent weekends, I enjoyed the work experience. We worked closely with the test pilots, predicting the plane’s performance for their testing. We also got to attend their post-flight test briefings. On a rotating basis, the performance engineers were occasionally allowed to fly on a test flight.
When the testing was completed in early 1970, we returned to Georgia. We had saved money while working in California to buy a house, but the aerospace downturn had already begun. So, we rented a house instead. The bad years for aerospace continued into 1972. Lockheed Georgia had peaked at 32,000 people during the C-5A build-up, but at the end of 1972 the employment was down to 8,200. I was one of the lucky ones to survive being laid off. The outlook was improving in 1973 when our daughter, Tiffany, was born. She was the first girl born on my side of the family in 58 years. With her addition to our family, and the work outlook improving, we decided it was time to get out of the small rental house and buy our first house.
I had several research projects over the next decade. Aerodynamic research projects often investigate concepts for far-future application. One of my more successful projects was an investigation into the benefits of a blended wing body (BWB) configuration. A wind tunnel test verified the aerodynamic benefits, but the BWB concept was not accepted well by the airlines at the time. However, about 40 years later, Airbus is now flying a 10-foot span model and has plans to build a prototype plane for passenger service.
In 1978, NASA issued a multi-year contract to develop a laminar flow control concept for wing surfaces. This would drastically reduce the wing drag. The contract involved a lot of wing design computer work and several wind tunnel tests. During one test, at Langley, Virginia, I worked directly with Richard Whitcomb, the noted NASA aerodynamics expert. Although the laminar flow control worked fine, it was too complex for practical use on commercial aircraft at that time. It was another case of the research results being too far ahead of its time. Just now, 40 years later, the manufacturing technology has progressed enough to where Boeing and Airbus are beginning to use it on some of their planes. I learned a lot about laminar flow and wing design during this two-year contract. I also became experienced in preparing and presenting data to NASA supervision.
After the NASA contract I was assigned to work on the new F-22 program. Security was very strict. The main Lockheed F-22 design group was in Burbank, California, but the task of designing the wing was assigned to Georgia. There were four of us working on the design. We had a new wing design computer program to aid us. Lockheed was teamed with General Dynamics on the F-22 design. They had their own group of wing designers. The chief of aerodynamics at Lockheed in Burbank was to decide which company’s wing design to use. He was about as old as my grandfather and happened to look something like him too. His decision was to use General Dynamics’ wing. The reason he gave was that he didn’t trust wing design computer codes, and General Dynamics had used a “tried-and-true” NASA design (forgetting to mention that it was modified). We were bitterly disappointed, and felt we were betrayed by an old codger.
While I was busy working, Sara did volunteer work for a popular local politician. We were both invited to his victory dinners. At one of these dinners we were introduced to his father-in-law, who was Bobby Dodd, the legendary ex-coach of Georgia Tech football. We spent a lot of time talking after he discovered we had grown up in the same region of Pennsylvania. On another occasion we were invited to a campaign rally in Atlanta for John Glen when he ran for president in 1984. Of course, he knew my astronaut cousin. I think that connection merited a few extra minutes of his valuable time. We have some memorable photographs with him, and a few campaign mementos.
In the latter 1980s Lockheed decided to consolidate the Georgia engineers with those at the Burbank, California facility. I decided that if I was going to have to move to California, I would really like this next phase of my work to be at the famous, secretive Lockheed Skunk Works. I had to apply for employment there even though I was already a Lockheed employee. I received a job offer from them and in the summer of 1989, we moved to California for the second time. Brian was starting his senior year at Wake Forest University and did not move with us. Tiffany was entering her junior high school year.
Like the main Lockheed facilities, the Skunk Works was in Burbank, but their plans were to move to a Palmdale airport site in two years. Palmdale is in the Mojave Desert, about 30 miles from the better-known Edwards AFB. I bought a house in nearby Lancaster, figuring for two years I would commute the 60 miles to Burbank. The two years became three years. Although I carpooled, I was very glad when the Skunk Works finally moved to Palmdale.
When I initially reported to work in 1989, I had to get a top secret clearance. When my new clearance was approved, I was taken to a very secure area. Unknown to me, I was hired for the express purpose of designing the wing for a top secret airplane. The airplane program, in security terminology, was conducted in the ”black world”, which means the government does not even acknowledge its existence.
It was a challenging job assignment, and that is all the information I am going to write about it. As Maverick, in the movie Top Gun said, “if I told you, I’d have to kill you.” It is still an unacknowledged, classified aircraft to this day.
Another program I really enjoyed working on was called DarkStar. It was a large reconnaissance UAV (unmanned air vehicle) with a 70-foot wingspan. The time period was 1991, almost 30 years ago. Today the public is used to hearing about other reconnaissance drones (UAV by another name) like the Global Hawk. However, those drones are actually piloted remotely by someone at a terminal on the ground. In comparison, the DarkStar was autonomous, meaning, it was controlled by an onboard computer and flew its mission completely by itself. It would takeoff, fly its recon mission, return and land without any human intervention. Remember, this was almost 30 years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed working on such advanced technology.
The Air Force required us to team up with Boeing for the final design. They specified that Boeing was responsible for the wing, and Lockheed for the body and overall performance. Of course, Boeing had their own wing design, and was not happy with having my design already incorporated. They did an additional wing design, and tested it and my wing in Boeing’s own wind tunnel. In the end, they reluctantly accepted my design because it performed better.
The DarkStar first flight was very successful. However, on the second flight, the plane lost control on takeoff and crashed in a ball of flames. The problem was eventually traced back to a computer program error, but only after Boeing tried to blame it on my wing design (which they had accepted earlier). In the end, Lockheed built six DarkStar UAVs before the Air Force cancelled the program. I was disappointed because it would have been nice to see the DarkStar in action knowing that I was responsible for the wing design.
All is not totally lost though. One of the six DarkStars is on display at the Smithsonian Air Museum in Washington, DC and another at the air museum at Wright Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. Actually, there are four planes associated with the Brandt family on display at the Smithsonian. Remember, at the beginning I wrote that my whole family was involved in flying. There is the DarkStar, an Eastern Air Lines DC-3 whose serial number indicates that it is one which my father actually flew, a B-29 like my uncle flew in WWII, and a Space Shuttle like my cousin flew. I wonder if any other family can claim to be associated with four planes at the Smithsonian.
Following the DarkStar program I was taught (on the job training) a very complex new technique for airplane computer analyses. It is computational fluid dynamics, known as CFD. This computer program calculates the airflow around an entire plane configuration, including the complex boundary layer next to the surface. CFD results are accurate enough to select the best iterations during an airplane design process, but for the final airplane configuration data, wind tunnel results are needed. It is said that wind tunnel data are hard on CFD analyst’s egos.
One very different assignment was working with an avionics group. I was to report directly to the supervisor of the U-2 reconnaissance group. He needed to know what the airflow was around a new nose design. It was a perfect application for CFD analysis. Because I did not have a “need-to-know” to do my job, I was not told why the analysis was necessary. This is common in black world programs.
One day the boss told me that they were going to test the actual new U-2 nose in a large wind tunnel. He said he was going to ask the Air Force to cut a two-foot circle out of the tunnel wall and insert a window. They wanted to use some avionics equipment to shine a laser beam on the nose and take measurements. I explained that I doubted they would get approval for that because of the tremendous forces generated by the airflow in a wind tunnel. WRONG! Wow, when it was approved, I was not only shocked, but I also wondered what the compelling reason could have been. Damn need-to-know! I was asked to be at the wind tunnel test. They didn’t mind me watching their laser work because I had no idea what they were really doing anyway. Everything went fine and they got a lot of laser data. They were happy with the test results and I was happy because it verified the CFD analysis. They were so impressed with the work that they even sent an “attaboy” letter to my boss.
It was while living in California that my orthopedic problems began to get worse. I started to have a lot of knee and ankle pain. The Michigan hospital doctors had told me that the arthritis pain would start getting worse after turning 40. Unfortunately, they were right. My doctor put me on NSAID medication, which helped some.
Sara and I experienced a troublesome California phenomenon, earthquakes. Most measured 3 to 4 on the Richter scale. We learned to ignore the rattling from these smaller quakes. However, there were three major quakes. The first were twin earthquakes centered in the southern Mojave Desert one summer day in 1992. The first one hit well before dawn with a very large magnitude of 7.2. Let me tell you, that’s a very rude way to be awakened, not to mention scary. Only a few hours later, just after dawn, there was the rattle, rattle, rattle of another one. This one was also large at 6.3, but its epicenter was closer and only 100 miles from our house. Our house was new and built to the new earthquake codes, so we had no damage. However, watching the chandelier lights swing like a circus trapeze doesn’t do a lot for your confidence. Meanwhile, the wooden rafters creaked loudly like an out-of-tune musical instrument. The third was the strong 6.2 Northridge quake just before dawn in 1994. It was centered only 50 miles west of our house. However, there is a mountain ridge in between, which buffered the jolt a little. It was still strong.
Around this time Lockheed, in its infinite wisdom, was announcing plans to again move engineering. This time the move was to Georgia. The original Burbank employees were very upset. So, Lockheed had now managed to anger the engineers from both coasts. In March 1995, we moved back to Georgia. That same year Lockheed and Martin Marietta (of Maryland) merged. The new company was called Lockheed Martin. We older engineers were not impressed and continue to call “our” company just Lockheed. The company management moved to Bethesda, MD. Engineers noticed a distinct change in company management philosophy. It became much less employee-friendly than the old Lockheed had been.
Most of my job assignments by now dealt with aerodynamics research. I was given the title of Senior Aerodynamics Research Engineer. My work would involve a lot of computer usage and occasional wind tunnel testing. However, there were two assignments which were different. After the crash of the DarkStar on its second flight, the Skunk Works asked for me to do an analysis of the crash under a separate work contract. They had done their own analysis but wanted an independent one. Afterwards, I found out that my analysis agreed with theirs. There was no aerodynamic reason for the crash.
The other different assignment was to redesign the leading-edge portion of the wing for the C-130 cargo airplane. Although I had previously worked in Georgia for 24 years, I had never worked on anything related to the C-130. I was tasked with modifying the wing curvature to reduce an adverse effect at high nose angles of new, more powerful engines that had been installed on all C-130s. I had the severe restriction of only changing the design forward of the front wing spar, about 20 percent of the wing. I was successful with modifying the flow enough to achieve acceptable computer results. Before my design was approved though, it was tested in a wind tunnel. Success! Then a C-130 was modified with the new leading-edge for flight testing. Again success! However, then entered the accounting department. The bean counters said it would be cheaper to avoid the flight problem area by just having the stick pusher (an automatic mechanical device) push the nose down before the problem area is reached. They won out! Another engineering life lesson. Engineering success does not always translate to positive financial accomplishment.
My final assignment was a return to the F-22 program. It was accompanied by a promotion to Senior Staff Aerodynamics Engineer. I again worked with flight test pilots preparing estimated data for their flights, and then analyzing the flight data. This time I was able to do this while still in Georgia because there was a secure link between our computers and the Edwards AFB computers. I always enjoyed working with the test pilots. They are a special breed. Unlike the movies though, they have no intention of taking unnecessary risks. I have several neat F-22 photos with inscriptions from them.
After several years of the new management, I no longer enjoyed the work atmosphere and decided to retire. So, I handed in my resignation with a two-month notice. My supervisor wasn’t happy and offered a significant pay raise if I stayed. I told him it wasn’t about money; I was unhappy with the new work environment and decided to leave. My last day at Lockheed was February 1, 2003. I had worked for Lockheed more than 37 years.
As a retirement gift, our children sent us on a cruise up the Inland Passageway from Vancouver, Canada to Seward, Alaska. We added on another week of an inland bus tour to Fairbanks. There were many highlights, and it is still our favorite vacation. We were fortunate to spend a day and a half at Denali Park, and actually see Mt. Denali, which is usually hidden by clouds. The most memorable experience was a flight in a twin engine 9-passenger airplane from Fairbanks to Coldfoot, which is above the Arctic Circle. After landing on a short cinder runway, we were taken by minibus to a trapper’s village named Wiseman, which has total year-round population of 12. There were several log cabin houses with one or two windows. I found it interesting, though, that each had a satellite TV dish on the roof. There was also an outhouse available for the tourists. I was the only one who chose to use it. I can honestly say that I am one of a select group that has peed above the Arctic circle.
Thank goodness we had our Alaskan vacation right after retirement. Since then, my orthopedic problems have become progressively worse. They make it difficult to get around. I started to need Cortisone shots in my knees every six months. Eventually I had a total knee replacement on each leg. I also had three spine surgeries (laminectomy and bone fusions) to reduce the pain in my lower back and down my legs. In spite of these surgeries, I still use a cane to walk.
My medical problems need to be put in perspective with my wife’s problem. In 2010, Sara was diagnosed with kidney disease. She delayed complete kidney failure for five years by following a very strict renal food diet and taking several medications, but the day finally came when she had to start dialysis. She chose to do it at home using the peritoneal dialysis method. Soon after she requested to go on a transplant list. She was approved, even though she was 75 at the time. The doctors told her the odds of getting one were slim and to expect an 8- to 10-year wait. However, after “only” 15 months of dialysis, she received a phone call from Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta stating that a kidney was available for transplant. The kidney was a 100% match to her. We learned that when that occurs, the recipient jumps to the top of the transplant list. She is doing very well, but needs to take anti-rejection medications, which suppress her immune system, for the rest of her life.
Due to our medical conditions, any recent vacations have been limited, but not zero. We have enjoyed two vacations at our favorite beach location of Panama City Beach, Florida. On another occasion, we attended our 60th high school class reunion in Bethlehem, PA. We also had a 3-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. It was a complete disaster. Storms had stirred up the water, and beaches were closed. There were record-setting low temperatures. Whoever freezes in the Bahamas? We refer to the cruise as our Arctic trip to the Bahamas.
We enjoy spending time with our children and grandchildren. Brian and Tiffany both live within 20 miles of us. Brian graduated from Wake Forest University with a bachelor’s degree and Emory University with a masters. He works as a Physician Assistant (PA). While we were in California, he took flying lessons and thus joined the family aviation tradition as a pilot. He has two children, Hannah, 11, and Abigail, 8. They are very active in the local cross-country running club at 3K and 5K distances. For the past two years both qualified for the National Cross-Country competition. They have run in 10K local races and finished well. Brian runs also, but they finish ahead of him.
Tiffany graduated from Michigan – Go Blue – with a Communications and English double major Bachelor of Arts Degree. Following a progression of communication jobs, she was hired by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). Her latest promotion has put her in charge of global marketing operations. She has a son and daughter. Her son, Brandt, 15, is a high school freshman, but he made the junior varsity baseball team where he is a starting pitcher and first baseman, and bats in the clean-up position. He also plays travel baseball the year-round. Her daughter, Ansley, 7, is in fourth grade and is in competitive cheer, which she loves. She is small, but very coordinated, and so she is a team flyer.
May you always have good health! Work hard and persevere in the face of adversity. Never give up. We live in the greatest country in the world!
I can be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at 678-403-2153.
Lee Brandt 2020
