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Watson, Margery, 1926-1992

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1926 - 1992

Biographical Note: Margery Watson

Margery Watson worked as a draftperson on the design team for the P-51 Mustang during World War II.

Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1926 and grew up in Pasadena, California. While attending the Pasadena Polytechnical Institute in 1943, she was hired to be a draftsperson at North American Aviation (NAA) in Inglewood, California. She worked with the design team headed by Edgar Schmued, test pilots and ground crew involved in the development of the P-51 Mustang during World War II. Her specialty was the numerous modifications to the P-51 radiator scoop, her favorite drafting tool being the french curve. She and the design team added their new designs and performed tests on a prototype P-51 nicknamed "Baby," her favorite aircraft of her time at NAA.

Watson left NAA in 1945 when she married United States Marine Edward Fuchs. She passed away in San Francisco, California in 1992.

Biographical information derived from collection materials and from "Margery Watson, 1926-1992." Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/118391691/person/290172871457/story. Accessed October 10, 2019.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Margery Watson World War II Photographs

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2017-01-05
Contents of the Collection The Margery Watson World War II Photographs is a small collection comprised of 31 photographs either taken or gathered by Margery Watson while she was employed at North American Aviation in Inglewood, California as a draftsperson between 1943-1945. The photographs are primarily small black-and-white snapshots that document NAA personnel adding a Merlin engine and performing engine tests on the prototype P-51 nicknamed "Baby" for United States Army Air Force ground crews. Some of the...
Dates: Circa 1940s

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