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RO B ER T W. R U M M EL
1915–2009
Elected in 1973
“For contributions to the integration of design and airline operational
considerations in the development of economic transport aircraft.”
BY JOSEPH SUTTER
R OBERT W. RUMMEL, space expert and aerospace engineer,
died October 17, 2009. He was 94 years old. He had the “vision
to understand what is required to face the future.”
Bob was born in Dakota, Illinois, on August 4, 1915, to
William Howard and Dora Elizabeth (Ely) Rummel. As a
youth he became fascinated with aviation. He graduated from
Mount Carroll High School and attended the Curtiss-Wright
Technical Institute for Aeronautics in Glendale, California. He
graduated in 1935 with a degree in aeronautical engineering
and went to work for Hughes Aircraft Company as a stress
analyst.
He worked for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Aero
Engineering Corporation, National Aircraft Corporation,
and Rearwin Aircraft, before starting as a senior engineer
in 1943 with Trans World Airlines (TWA). He worked at
TWA for 35 years and in 1969 was named vice president of
technical development. While working at TWA, Bob was also
a consultant on aviation affairs to Howard R. Hughes.
I first heard of Bob Rummel when I left the U.S. Navy in
1946. I was an aerodynamics engineer. Before the war, TWA
bought the Boeing Stratoliner (the B307). These airplanes were
called to war duty and were in the Air Transport Command.
After the war they were given back to TWA. TWA made some
279
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280 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
major modifications to them, and Boeing and TWA recertified
them to Civil Aeronautics Administration requirements.
(The CAA was the forerunner to today’s Federal Aviation
Administration.) The Boeing engineer was Jack Steimer, who
kept us up to date on the testing. Bob Rummel was the leader
of TWA’s efforts.
TWA then became very involved with several reciprocating
engine airplanes. TWA was the lead airline in the development
of the Lockheed Constellation airplane. Howard Hughes was
a major owner of TWA at that time. Bob Rummel was head of
the TWA effort to define the airplane and was the principal
go-between for Hughes and Lockheed.
TWA then got into turbine-powered airplanes—first the 707
and 727 at Boeing. TWA also helped develop such airplanes
as the Convair 880 and 990. Bob was head of engineering
at that time and made a major contribution in defining the
characteristics required for safe commercial operation. I got
to know him better when TWA purchased and operated the
Boeing 747 airplane. Again as head of engineering, Bob’s input
was helpful in defining the airplane. I retired from Boeing in
June of 1986.
After retiring from TWA, Bob founded his own consulting
firm—Robert W. Rummel Associates—before retiring to
devote his time to writing.
Bob was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the
Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, serving on the operations
subpanel. I headed the design panel for the commission.
The commission made 14 recommendations, which President
Reagan told the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration to comply with. I believe Bob and I were very helpful in
developing these recommendations. For instance, an astronaut
would review the readiness of the vehicle for launch. When
shuttle operations were restarted, astronaut Bob Crippen
was assigned launch approval duty. A chief of safety was
established who reported directly to the NASA administrator.
He and the astronaut assigned to the launch had to approve
the launch. Bob Rummel served his country well.
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RO B ER T W. R U M M EL 281
Being the go-between for TWA and Howard Hughes was
a task Bob performed for many years. Life as an engineer
requires knowledge, the ability to deal with many people who
have many interests, and the vision to understand what is
required to face the future. Bob had the necessary attributes
that made him a great engineer. I would urge everyone to read
the book Howard Hughes and TWA written by Robert Rummel
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991).
Bob was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service
Medal in 1979. He was a fellow of both the Society of Automotive
Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, and he was elected a member of the National
Academy of Engineering in 1973. He served on a number of
NASA committees and as chairman of the Aeronautics and
Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council.
Bob is survived by his children, Linda Kay Yarbrough,
Sharon Lee Barnes, Marjorie Susan DuBois, Diana Beth
Gillespie, and Robert Wiland Rummel, Jr.; 10 grandchildren;
and 13 great-grandchildren. His wife, Marjorie B. Cox Rummel,
predeceased him in 2003.
