Bob Kress Explained

Bob Kress (1929–2007) was an American aircraft engineer.

He is specially known for being engineering manager for the project of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. He joined Grumman in 1951.

He worked on the:

• F9F Cougar
• XF10F Jaguar swing wing experimental fighter
• F11F-1 Tiger
• proposed STOL ASW flying boats
• OV-1 Mohawk Observation Aircraft
• design of STOL and VTOL aircraft
• F-111B TFX
• LM Systems Simulation for the lunar module
• LM Guidance Navigation and Control.
• From the F-14A's inception until 1971, he was the program's engineering manager, after which he was appointed F-14 deputy development program manager.

He can be seen describing the development of the now-retired F-14 into a maneuvering dogfighter on Modern Marvels: F14 DVD, and F-14D Tomcat vs. F/A18 E/F Super Hornet Two experts say the Super Hornet isn't so super By Bob Kress and Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

He is credited with the idea of a computer controlled wing sweep mechanism that could be used in combat maneuvering.