Edward Henry Heinemann was born in Saginaw, Michigan on 14 March 1908, he moved to California in 1914, where he began work with the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1926 as a draftsman. He served as project engineer before becoming Chief Engineer in 1936 and Vice President for Military Aircraft in 1958. In 1960, he joined Guidance Technology as Executive Vice President and in 1961 became Corporate Vice President Engineering for General Dynamics, a position from which he retired in 1973.Heinemann was responsible either totally or in part for the design and development of more than 20 outstanding military aircraft. To name but a few, the SBD Dauntless dive bomber of World War II fame of which 4982 were built; the A-20 and a A-26 light bombers of which over 8000 were built; the A-1 Skyraider; the F4D Skyray; the supersonic research aircraft D-558 Skystreak; and his crowning achievement, the outstanding A-4D Skyhawk.
He died on 26 November 1991 at the age of 83.
