Page 222 - MY STORY

LET’S GET TOGETHER - END ONE CHAPTER AND BEGIN
ANOTHER
One Day, Jim S, VP of Phantom Works in McAir called
me to his office across the street and asked, sort of

casually, if I had ever thought about combining forces
with the Aircraft company in our unique technical world.
The aircraft company organization had a similar, much

larger, LOT kind of organization with a somewhat
different structure we had evolved in the missile company.
I told him I did not think combining forces was all that

great an idea because the technical requirements for
missiles were substantially different than those for

manned fighter aircraft, and the larger size of the McAir
organization would likely “chew us up and spit us out.”

The results might create a diminution of capability when

it came to integrating our technology into advanced
missile systems. The missile company had only a few

thousand professionals, while McAir had tens of
thousands. I should have seen it coming!
In 1992 the McDonnell Douglas Corporation announced

a major shakeup. The Aircraft, Missile, Military
Spacecraft, and Applied Research labs would be
combined into one organization! — McDonnell Douglas

Aerospace (MDA).