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W ILLIA M C H ARLE S DIE T Z
1919–2006
Elected in 1982
“For major technical and engineering advancements incorporated in
high-performance bomber and fighter aircraft of the U.S. Air Force.”
BY ALAN C. BROWN
W ILLIAM DIETZ, best known as chief engineer of the
F-111 and F-16 aircraft programs at General Dynamics, in Fort
Worth, Texas, died on July 31, 2006, at the age of 87.
He was born on April 17, 1919, in Chicago, and graduated
from the Aeronautical University of Chicago in 1940 with a
B.S. in aeronautical engineering.
Bill joined Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego on October
10, 1940, staying with that company, which became General
Dynamics, for 53 years until his retirement on October 31,
1993, as vice president and senior technical staff member. He
was very proud to have been the first employee to reach 50
years of company service in October 1990.
He progressed through the Engineering Loft and Lines
Group at Consolidated Aircraft to the Structural Design
Group as a structural designer, working on projects such as
the Consolidated PBY Catalina, the twin-engined World War II
flying boat (PBY, PB2Y, PB4Y, P4Y, B-24, B-32, and B-36). In
1943 he was promoted to group engineer on the P4Y project
and transferred to the newly organized New Orleans Division.
After termination of this project, he was promoted to project
engineer of the PBY.
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66 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
In 1945, Mr. Dietz transferred to the Fort Worth Division
as fuselage group engineer and then was promoted to
project engineer, responsible for all second-shift engineering
operations in connection with production of the B-36. He
then became assistant project engineer for the YB-60. After
completion of the program, he was promoted to project
engineer on the B-58 and continued with that project until
August 1961, being promoted to senior project engineer and
then chief of B-58 projects.
In August 1961 he was transferred to the F-111 project,
where he was responsible for technical coordination of the
proposal effort. After award of the contract in November
1962, he was appointed chief engineer of the F-111 project
and managed and directed the F-111’s engineering design
and development. In May 1969 he was assigned as director of
airframe and structures technology, responsible for airplane
design, structures analysis, loads, and engineering test
laboratories.
Mr. Dietz was made engineering director in October 1971
and in this position was responsible for the lightweight fighter
proposal. After award of the contract in April 1972, he became
director of YF-16 engineering. In July 1974 he was promoted
to vice president of F-16 engineering and directed the
engineering effort for full-scale development and production
of the program.
In 1979, Mr. Dietz transferred to the General Dynamics
Convair Division, in San Diego, as vice president and program
director of the cruise missile programs. He returned to Fort
Worth in 1982 and assumed responsibility for the newly
organized Special Projects Department as vice president and
program director.
In September 1988 he was assigned the task of assisting the
vice president of the YF-22 program in coordinating the design
and development effort. In March 1989 he became responsible
for providing division-wide coordination of engineering tasks
on key programs, including the A-12 program. In January
1991 he became division vice president and senior technical
staff member. Then in March 1991 he was tasked with the
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W ILLIA M C H ARLE S DIE T Z 67
engineering design of the AX program (a Navy program to
develop a stealthy shipborne attack/fighter aircraft), retiring
from the company two and a half years later.
Mr. Dietz’s personal list of career highlights includes the
first supersonic bomber (B-58 Hustler), the first swing-wing
military aircraft (F-111), and of course the F-16 fighter, which
became one of the dominant international fighter aircraft of
the past 30 years. As impressive as his accomplishments were,
Mr. Dietz accepted little individual credit for innovations
his work helped foster. “Nobody does anything single-
handedly at a modern aerospace company,” he said. “All of
our accomplishments have been team efforts with a lot of
contributions from different people.”
Mr. Dietz was elected to the National Academy of
Engineering in 1982. He was a fellow of the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was a past member of
the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, for which he received
the Air Force’s Exceptional Civilian Service Award, and he
served on numerous Air Force and National Research Council
committees and advisory panels. He was a member of the
Advisory Group for Aerospace and Research Development’s
Flight Mechanics Panel, and in 1977 he received the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Reed Award.
Also in connection with his leadership of the F-16 fighter
development team, Mr. Dietz received an award for
outstanding engineering accomplishments from the Society
of Professional Engineers, and he was a member of the team
that received the Collier Trophy for F-16 development. More
recently, in 1992 he won the Kelly Johnson Aerospace Vehicle
Design and Development Award (named for the engineer who
led the Lockheed Skunk Works), and in 2000 he was nominated
as a National Aeronautic Association Elder Statesman of
Aviation with the following citation: “Over 53 years William C.
Dietz led or contributed to the design of thirteen outstanding
military aircraft, spanning projects from the PBY seaplane to
the F-22 air superiority fighter.”
Bill was married to Leta Ruth Dietz for 47 years until
her death in 1993. Survivors include his wife of 11 years,
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Loraine Dietz; a son, David Dietz; daughter Deborah Pipes
and her husband Wayne; four grandchildren; nine great-
grandchildren; stepdaughter Earline Wood and her husband
Jerry; two step-grandsons; and six step-grandchildren.
Deborah Pipes described her father as “kind, considerate,
caring and generous. He was totally unassuming, never
wanting the spotlight on himself. He was a hard worker and
a man of integrity.” She also wrote that he enjoyed wonderful
times with his family and friends, including bowling leagues,
golf, holiday parties, and cookouts. In his later years he enjoyed
trips with his wife Lori to Arkansas and New Mexico.
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