BY FRANK E. PICKERING

MELVIN BOBO, a retired chief engineer for General Electric (GE) Aircraft Engines, died on October 27, 1993, at the age of sixty-nine.

Mr. Bobo was born in Blair, Texas, on February 13, 1924. He served as an infantry medical aide in Europe during World War II. He received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 1949 from Texas Tech University, where he was also elected to the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi. He became a registered professional engineer in the state of Ohio in 1954.

Mr. Bobo joined the General Electric Company in 1949 and went on to devote his entire career to the design and development of GE aircraft engines. He retired in 1991.

For over four decades, Mr. Bobo was at the forefront in the design and development of aircraft engines, which powered many of the nation's most advanced military and commercial aircraft.

As a young engineer, Mr. Bobo made important contributions to the designs of the turbines and compressor for the supersonic J79 engine, which set new standards of performance and reliability with a wide range of military applications, including the B-58 bomber, the F-104 fighter, and the famed F-4 "Phantom" fighter. The J79 core was later produced as the gas generator for the CJ805 commercial turbojet, which powered the Convair 880, and the CJ805-23, one of the first