Utsch, Albert

German-American design engineer for McDonnell on the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft.

Born in Berlin, Germany, 2 March 1902. Educated as an engineer, he arrived in the United States aboard the SS Cleveland on 28 July 1926. He married his wife Hilde in 1929, and by 1930 was working in the aviation industry in Hartford, Connecticut, often though having to stay in Queens, New York, as a boarder. After a stint with various airplane companies in California, Utsch became one of the first 13 employees of the McDonnell Aircraft Company, beginning work in November 1939 as an airframe designer. He stayed with McDonnell for the rest of his career, obtaining patents in the 1940's for mechanical design details of the company's innovative aircraft, and playing a key role in the design of the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. After retirement in the late 1960's, he and his wife alternated between homes in Missouri and Florida.