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Pilot, James H. Doolittle Dies
Retired Lt. General James H. Doolittle-MIT alumnus, Life
Member Emeritus of the MIT Corporation, a pioneer in the science
of aviation and a record-setting pilot who led the first World
War II bombing raid on Japan-died Monday (Sept. 27, 1993)
at the age of 96.
Gen. Doolittle died at his son's home in Pebble Beach, CA.
He had suffered a stroke earlier in the month.
His career included a period away from the military as vice
president and director of Shell Oil Company. But even as a
businessman he worked to improve airplanes and flying techniques.
"His great achievements in peace and war will always
be remembered by a grateful nation," said Howard W. Johnson,
former chairman of the MIT Corporation. "But we at MIT
are equally in debt to General Doolittle for his diligent
service to the Institute. We have benefited hugely from his
leadership, generosity and counsel. As we told him in a birthday
tribute just two years ago, he may have been a native son
of California, but he was truly an adopted son of MIT.
"Once when he was asked to sum up his philosophy, he
said it was simply a matter of trying to leave the earth a
better place than he found it. He certainly did that, and
he did it with grace and good humor. The Doolittle grin was
almost as famous as his flying exploits. While we are deeply
saddened, we are grateful for his valuable service to MIT
and for the immense pleasure of knowing him as a friend."
Gen. Doolittle first came to MIT in the fall of 1923 as an
Army lieutenant, under a special program, to study advanced
aeronautical engineering, the first such university course
in the country. When he received the Master of Science and
Doctor of Aeronautical Engineering degrees in June of 1925,
there were not 100 men in the world who held comparable advanced
degrees.
His doctoral dissertation, "Wind Velocity Gradient and
Its Effect on Flying Characteristics," disproved the
popular theory held by many pilots of the day that they could
tell wind direction and the level of the plane by instinct
even when they could not see the ground or the horizon. Applying
classroom theory to test flights in the worst possible weather,
he determined that there was no accurate way for a pilot to
know how the wind was blowing or the attitude of the plane
unless he had visual aids or instruments.
These were believed to be the first studies in aeronautics
to combine directly data from the university laboratory with
data from the flights of a test pilot.
The accomplishment was one of his many pioneering feats,
among them blind flying. He was the first person to take off,
fly and land an airplane entirely by instruments.
For his research accomplishments at MIT, the Army, which
at that time was responsible for military flying, awarded
Doolittle an Oak Leaf Cluster to add to the Distinguished
Flying Cross he already had received. By the end of his career
in the US Air Force, he would hold the Medal of Honor, the
nation's highest military award, for the Tokyo raid.
His studies at MIT marked the beginning of a lifelong association
with the Institute. He was appointed to the MIT Corporation
as an Alumni Term Member in 1953, was made Life Member in
1958 and Life Member Emeritus in 1967.
He returned to MIT many times and served on several visiting
committees.
These included Aeronautics and Astronautics from 1948 to
1957 and again from 1962 to 1967; Chemical Engineering from
1953 to 1954; Civil Engineering from 1961 to 1965; Mechanical
Engineering from 1957 to 1958; Membership from 1959 to 1961,
and Sponsored Research from 1957 to 1962. He was chairman
of three of those committees and he also was a member of the
Charles Stark, Draper Professorship Sponsoring Committee.
Gen. Doolittle was born in Alameda, CA., in 1896. He enrolled
in the University of California School of Mines with the intention
of becoming a mining engineer, but left in his senior year
when the United States entered the first World War.
Even then interested in flying, he reported to the School
of Military Aeronautics at the University of California and
soloed after only six hours of instruction.
Doolittle Raiders - Capt. Marc
A. Mitscher, skipper of the Hornet aircraft carrier, presents
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, leader of the Tokyo Raid, with a
medal once given to a U.S. Navy officer by Japan. This medal
was wired to a 500-pound bomb for return to Japan "with
interest." " (U.S. Air Force photo)
It was the beginning of a career in flying that would include
a succession of aviation records, including a coast-to-coast
flight in 1922 in less than 24 hours. It culminated with the
raid over Tokyo on April 18, 1942, by 16 B-25 bombers that
flew off the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet. While the
raid did not inflict major damage, it put the Japanese on
notice that their cities were in reach of US air power.
His legendary career has been described in the book, The
Amazing Mr. Doolittle, by Quentin Reynolds. The movie, "Thirty
Seconds Over Tokyo," told the story of the famous raid.
In later years, Gen. Doolittle had made his home in Santa
Monica, CA., with his late wife, Josephine. His two sons,
the late James H. Doolittle, Jr., and John P. Doolittle, who
survives him, were both Air Force officers.
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