James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger (May 8, 1895 – July 27, 1962) was an American aviation pioneer. He led North American Aviation from 1934 until 1960. An extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness and punctuality. Early life Kindelberger was born on May 8, 1895, in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Charles Frederick Kindelberger, a steelworker and Rose Ann Kindelberger. Kindelberger dropped out of school in the 10th grade and started working in the steel industry with his father. He took correspondence courses to further his education. In 1916, when he was 21 years old, he went to study at the Carnegie Institute of Technology to pursue engineering. His nickname, 'Dutch' referred to his descent from German (Deutsch) immigrants from Nothweiler, Pfalz. In 1919, he married Thelma Knarr and they had two children. Aviation career During World War I, Kindelberger was a member of the US Army Air Service. He was a pilot instructor based at Park Field in Memphis, Tennessee. After the war, Kindelberger looked for work in aviation. In 1920, became chief draftsman and assistant chief engineer with the Glenn L. Martin Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Kindelberger formed a lifelong working association with J. L. "Lee" Atwood when they met as young engineers at Douglas Aircraft Company in 1930, working on the DC-1 and DC-2 transports. Kindelberger worked as chief engineer and remained with Douglas for nine years. The two left Douglas Aircraft in 1934, moving to North American Aviation. Atwood assumed the title of Chief Engineer, and Kindelberger was named president and General Manager. When they started at NAA, the company had orders for one passenger aircraft. Kindelberger managed to get a $1 million order for a military trainer, the North American BT-9. World War II In the summer of 1941, while United States was still a non-participant in World War II, the British Air Ministry asked North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters for the Royal Air Force, since the total output of the Curtiss factory was earmarked for USA military use. Kindelberger told his UK contacts that North American could create a better design, and completed the prototype of the P-51 Mustang in four months. In all, 42,000 aircraft were built by the company by the end of the war. Post war After World War II Atwood expected there would be a need for improved rocket engines based on those