“What better could you ask than to get paid for doing what you love?” – Harry Gann PHOTOS: (Clockwise from far top left) Blue Angels flying the Delta formation. HARRY GANN Harry S. Gann. BOEING ARCHIVES Photo taken from the aft cockpit of Blue Angel No. 7, a two- seat TA-4J Skyhawk; two specially marked F-4J Phantoms—the aircraft in the foreground is shown in a special bicentennial paint scheme to celebrate the 200th birthday of the United States; Blue Angel A-4Fs taxiing out for an air show. HARRY GANN Wor standing on the tarmac at of Southern California. 1974 until switching to Boeing’s F/A-18flying the highly maneuverable DouglasA-4 Skyhawk, which the team flew fromnot stop Gann from earning a degree inmechanical engineering from the Universityhether in the back seat of anA-4 Skyhawk flying inverted an air show, if there were aircraft around, In college he co-authored a book on Hornet in 1986. Harry S. Gann was taking pictures. air racing. It would not be his last book. In 1979, Gann was named an Honorary Author, aviation historian and Douglas Gann worked for several small aviation Blue Angel. Aircraft engineer, Gann also was a master companies before landing a job at North His pictures of the Blue Angels, as aerial photographer. He did it so well the American Aviation. In 1954, he moved to well as other Navy, Marine and Air Force U.S. Navy’s crack aerial demonstration Douglas Aircraft, in El Segundo, Calif., aircraft, can be found in countless aviation team, the Blue Angels, made him an where he worked as a designer on control books, magazines and periodicals. honorary member, and the U.S. Marines surfaces for the A4D Skyhawk, A3D Sky- Gann retired from what was then made him an honorary Marine aviator. warrior, F4D Skyray and F5D Skylancer. McDonnell Douglas in September 1992. Along the way, Gann documented and In 1964, after having worked for Douglas Five years later, Adm. Jay Johnson, then helped preserve both Douglas and aviation for 10 years as a designer, his career path chief of U.S. Naval Operations, designated history with his air-to-air photography and took a new focus. Douglas management the famed photographer as Honorary Naval by collecting and preserving important had discovered his interest in and knowl- Aviator No. 24. Gann joined two Douglas documents, artifacts and data for this edge of aviation history and photography, colleagues, Ed Heinemann and R.G. Smith, Boeing heritage company. and Gann’s talents were put to another who had been similarly honored by the Navy. “What better could you ask than to use. The company tasked him to research Smith was a widely regarded aviation artist. get paid for doing what you love?” Gann and provide intelligence on competitive Heinemann designed the A-4 and many once asked. products for Douglas sales groups, both other Douglas combat aircraft. (See stories And he loved taking pictures—of military and commercial. in the October 2010 and January 2012 airplanes. Gann’s personal collection of more issues of Frontiers.) Growing up in Phoenix, Gann spent than 15,000 photo negatives, design Gann died in October 2000 at his home weekends visiting local airports photo- details, performance records and other in Huntington Beach, Calif. Three Navy graphing aircraft. He began collecting aviation statistics led to the establishment F/A-18s flew a missing-man formation and trading photographs, negatives, of a formal Douglas archive. In 1989, he over Riverside National Cemetery during magazines, books and other aircraft data. was named company historian. his memorial service. n During World War II, he served in In addition to his duties at Douglas, patricia.m.mcginnis@boeing.com the U.S. Army and was badly wounded Gann had a long association with the by a land mine during the Battle of the Navy’s Blue Angels and became the Bulge in Europe. Although his injuries team’s unofficial photographer. Many required postwar rehabilitation, they did of his photos featured the Blue Angels BOEING FRONTIERS / DECEMBER 2012–JANUARY 2013 13
Frontiers December 2012/January 2013 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above