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Gerhard Neumann (October 8, 1917 – November 2, 1997) was a German-American aviation engineer and executive for General Electric's aircraft engine division (which today is called GE Aerospace). Born and raised in Germany, he went to China shortly before World War II where he became an aircraft mechanic for the United States Army Air Forces. He was naturalised as an American citizen by an Act of Congress, and went on to a career in the aerospace manufacturing industry.
A few months later, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On 3 September, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, and all Germans in Hong Kong were rounded up and interned in La Salle College, Kowloon, a Christian Brothers High School for boys. Neumann was interned in the school together with some 100 Germans for several months. The British in Hong Kong considered any German citizen a potential fifth column and revoked his passport. No embassy would talk to him.
Neumann had a chance meeting with W. Langhorne Bond of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). The company arranged for Neumann to enter China without a passport. He flew to Kunming, capital of the remote Yunnan province, and there he contacted the Chinese Air Force. He worked as an auto mechanic until the Pearl Harbor attack, when he accepted an offer from Colonel Claire Lee Chennault, who had established the Chinese Air Force with Soong Mei-ling, to work in support of that Air Force.
As the war with Japan progressed, the Chinese Air Force became the American Volunteer Group (AVG), nicknamed the "Flying Tigers." Neumann was part of the Headquarters Squadron as a Propeller Specialist. While with the Flying Tigers, Neumann was nicknamed "Herman the German". When the AVG was replaced by the U.S. Army Air Forces, Neumann was inducted into the USAAF in July 1942 although he was not yet a U.S. citizen. He helped the effort against the Japanese in many important ways. He led dangerous supply convoys, performed all types of mechanical repairs on P-40 aircraft, translated to and from Chinese, assembled a working enemy Zero fighter from crash parts to assess its flight characteristics (the other such Zero was the Akutan Zero), and even directed bombing attacks from the ground while disguised as a Chinese coolie.
Eventually Neumann was dispatched to Washington, D.C. to brief William Donovan, head of the OSS, where he met his future wife Clarice. Yet for all of Neumann's heroism in China, as a German he was still considered an enemy alien. It took an act of the United States Congress to correct this. After the war, he was finally permitted to work for Douglas Aircraft Research.
In the year that followed, the Chinese Civil War was raging and the Communist People's Liberation Army was taking over China. The Neumanns had no choice but to attempt to return to the United States. They chose an unusual route. Instead of flying or sailing across the Pacific, Clarice suggested that they drive over the Asian continent towards North Africa. Thus began their incredible and quite dangerous journey to the Mediterranean Sea, via Siam (now Thailand), Burma, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. Most border crossings were dangerous, because by 1948 most countries in Asia were undergoing political turmoil. Finally, after a journey of many thousands of miles on poor roads by Willys MB, Neumann, Clarice and their dog Mr. Chips arrived in Tel Aviv during the first Arab-Israeli war and were able to travel conventionally to New York City.
A major success for GE was his guiding the design and development of the huge high-bypass turbofan jet engines (or simply called "fanjets") that now power the largest commercial and military cargo aircraft. These include the TF39, CF6, and (in 50/50 collaboration with SNECMA) the CFM56.
In 1987, Neumann was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
The Gerhard Neumann Museum in Niederalteich, Bavaria, honors his contributions to aviation. Gerhard Neumann Museum
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Aeronautics and Astronautic Department's Neumann Hangar facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is named in his honor.
His autobiography "Herman the German: Just Lucky I Guess" chronicles his life.
GE Aerospace, located in Evendale, Ohio, is on 1 Neumann Way. This facility at one point housed over 4.5 million square feet under one roof.
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