James David Raisbeck (September 29, 1936 – August 31, 2021) was an American aeronautical engineer, known for his entrepreneurship in developing products which enhance the performance of production aircraft. Biography Raisbeck grew up in Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After high school, he entered Purdue University (1954), with the goal of studying mechanical engineering. However, he lasted only one semester before flunking out. Having to find a way to support a wife and daughter, he joined the US Air Force as an E-1. He served as a flight engineer on Convair B-36 bombers. After his four-year enlistment in the USAF, Raisbeck returned in 1958 to Purdue University. To help cover the costs of tuition and living expenses, he signed up for active reserve duty with the 434th Troop Carrier Wing at Bakalar AFB, Columbus, Indiana, as a flight engineer on Fairchild C-119s. He graduated in 1961 with a degree in aeronautical engineering, science and mathematics. Raisbeck moved to Seattle, Washington and joined Boeing as a research aerodynamicist in 1961. His first boss was Louis "Bernie" Gratzer, head of Boeing's aerodynamics research group. (Gratzer would, after retirement, join forces with Joe Clark at Aviation Partners Inc., developing their blended winglets.) While at Boeing, Raisbeck and a team of engineers and flight crew designed and flight-tested an internally blown trailing edge flap system on the prototype 707, 367-80, known as the Dash 80. The Dash 80 first flew in December 1963, and soon demonstrated flight at speeds as slow as 60 knots, at gross weights exceeding 150,000 lbs. Raisbeck's later assignments at Boeing included liaison with the aeronautical laboratories at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and as a designer and program manager in preliminary design at Boeing. Raisbeck had not used any of his allowed vacation time while working at Boeing. He eventually was forced by the payroll department to use his accumulated vacation time. While on vacation, he went to work for Robertson Aircraft, a Seattle-based small business that specialized in developing and certifying STOL kits for single- and twin-engine Cessna and Piper aircraft. In 1969 Raisbeck left Boeing to work full-time at Robertson Aircraft, where he soon became chairman, CEO, president and chief engineer. At Robertson, Raisbeck participated in the development and construction of the University of Kansas Redhawk, a modified Cessna 177 Cardinal and the Advanced Technology Light Twin, a modified Piper PA-34 Seneca, both under contract to