March Field Air Museum will be hosting its first annual Kelly Johnson month in August. The month-long series of talks will focus on the career of one of the most famous aircraft designers in modern history, Kelly Johnson. Kelly Johnson, who died in 1990, played a leading role in the design of over 40 aircraft. Several of his aircraft designs received the prestigious Collier Trophy, resulting with Johnson acquiring a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design engineers in the history of aviation. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight, Aviation Week & Space Technology ranked Johnson 8th on its list of the top 100 "most important, most interesting, and most influential people" in the first century of aerospace. During WWII he designed the P-38 lightning and later America’s first operational jet fighter, the P-80. He later designed the Constellation which revolutionized commercial aviation. By 1955 Johnson led a secret division of engineers dubbed Skunk Works at Lockheed. They designed the world first dedicated spy plane, the U-2, and his greatest achievement the SR-71 Blackbird which is still the world’s fastest aircraft fifty years after its first flight. March Field Air Museum is home to one of only twenty “Blackbirds” on display in the world. Four distinguished speakers will highlight the accomplishments of Kelly Johnson in series of Saturday lectures at 1pm in the Yeager Family Library: * Aug. 8: Ken Wright, P-38 Lightning. * Aug. 15: SMSgt Mike Relja, SR-71 Crew Chief. * Aug. 22: Pete Law, Skunk Works Engineer. * Aug. 29: Col. Jim Shelton, SR-71 Pilot. The talks are free with paid museum admission. Prices are $10 for adults 12 and up, $5 for children ages 5 to 11 years, under five years of age are free. March Field Air Museum is AAM Accredited Museum and is located at 22550 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside.

Air Museum to Host Kelly Johnson Month