Harrison A. Storms Jr.; Designed Planes, Spacecraft

Harrison A. Storms Jr., who headed the North American Aviation team that built the Apollo spacecraft, is dead of a heart attack.

A family spokesman said Storms was 76 when he died Saturday in Los Angeles.

Throughout a long career, mostly with North American (which became Rockwell International), Storms helped design about 48 aircraft and space vehicles, including the P-51 Mustang of World War II, the F-86 Sabre Jet of the Korean War and the F-100 Super Sabre and the X-15 rocket.

But in the aftermath of the January, 1967, deaths of three Apollo astronauts in an explosion at Cape Canaveral, Storms was replaced as president of the North American space division. The company had come under severe criticism for the launching pad blast.

Storms continued as a vice president of the corporation and later as a consultant to other firms.

Earlier this year he was awarded the prestigious International Von Karman Wings Award for lifetime achievement by the California Museum of Science and Industry. His other honors include the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

Survivors include his wife, Phyllis, two sons, a daughter and four grandchildren.