By Alan Smith

Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, a true genius of high performance aircraft design.Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson was, without a doubt one of the most, if not the most prolific and ingenious aircraft designer in the worlds of both civil and military aviation. During his 50 years at Lockheed (now Lockheed-Martin) Aircraft Corporation, Johnson single-handedly designed and built ten high performance aircraft and participated in the design and building of 11 others. His own designs included the twin-engine P-38, which was the first 400 mph fighter, the XP-80, the first Air Force jet fighter, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft. The XP-80 was designed and built in just 143 days!