HISTORY
Jack W. Laister, Jr. first became actively
engaged in aircraft at
Roosevelt High School in
1926 while in the seventh
grade. That year the newly
formed Aviation Club started
to build a full-sized
glider. During
his
senior year,
he
built
his own
glider and won
his
first competition with it in
1933. While at Lawrence
Tech.,
he
designed and built one of
the first, if not the first,
two-place glider with dual
controls for pilot training.
He won the 1936
National Intercollegiate
Gliding Competition with
this glider.
He
also designed and built the
famous Yankee Doodle
sailplane that was selected
to represent the United
States at the 1939 Paris Air
Show.
With World War II underway,
Jack founded the
Laister-Kauffmann Aircraft
Corporation
(1941-1949) and was
recognized as the youngest
CEO of a major Air Corp
contractor during the war.
His aircraft
corporation employed over
4,000 workers directly and
over 1,000 employees at
sub-contractor shops. The
company developed and
produced
his
famous CG-10A "Trojan Horse.
This design is the standard
military cargo airlift
concept for our country and
most of the world's Super
Powers.
In 1952, Mr. Laister
developed the first
Multi-Socket Nut Runner, a
type of tool now used
throughout the world in the
manufacturing industry.
Jack's expertise in aviation
was shared as
he
worked for Pacific Airmotive
Corporation (1955-1957),
Rockwell Aero Commander
Division (1957-1960), and as
founder and CEO of Laister
Sailplanes Incorporated
(1965-1980).
Jack is recognized and
honored for
his
many contributions to
aviation.
His
life story was featured on
the General Electric Radio
Hour during WWII.
He
was inducted into the
National Soaring Hall of
Fame (1969) and received the
Soaring Society of America's
Outstanding Achievement
Award (1975).
He
co-designed the much
acclaimed Nugget LP-15
Sailplane with
his
son Bill. The Nugget won the
U.S. National Standard Class
15 Meter Competition in
1975. It is the only U.S.
built sailplane to win this
event. In 1993, the WWII
Combat Glider Pilots awarded
him their Michael C. Murphy
Service Award, their
highest, for
his
work in WWII.
Records of Mr. Laister's
contributions to the
aircraft industry are
contained in the National
Archives, the National Air &
Space Museum, and in Jane's
Publication: All the Worlds
Aircraft. Several museums
display and exhibit aircraft
built by Jack's companies,
including the War Museum at
St. Mere Eglese, France.
Jack enjoys seeing many of
his sailplane designs
still in use throughout the
world. Today,
he
remains active writing,
doing some engineering,
playing a little golf and
traveling.
Source:
ZoomInfo.com
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