Ogden Boden; Aircraft Designer, Co-Creator of F-51 Mustang

Ogden Boden, 88, aircraft designer who co-created the World War II workhorse F-51 Mustang fighter. A graduate of Stanford University in aeronautical engineering, Boden went to work in the 1930s for North American Aviation and in 1940 co-designed and then supervised the construction of the Mustang in a lightning 100 days. He went on to modify the B-25 bomber, and co-conceived and handled the preliminary design of the company’s first Navy jet fighter, the XFJ-1. Boden helped lead his industry into the rocket and space age era, guiding the technical construction of the Santa Susana Rocket Test Facility where North American developed large liquid fuel rocket engines. Boden also co-conceived and directed the design and construction of the first 16-inch supersonic wind tunnel that was used in the development of the Navajo missile, the X-15 and the B-70. In the 1960s, he was a consultant for several companies, including Hughes Aircraft, in developing design concepts used in the lunar rover vehicles for NASA. Boden founded Progresco Co. in 1961, manufacturing cord closures that he designed for laundry bags, back packs, shoes and other items. On Thursday in Sierra Madre.