William C. "Bill" Dietz, who led the proposal and flight test effort for the YF-16, died 31 July in Fort Worth, Texas. He was eighty-seven. Dietz was a nationally recognized aeronautical engineer, contributing to the design of military aircraft and missiles over a career that spanned fifty-three years. After graduating from the Aeronautical University of Chicago, Illinois, he joined Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, California, in 1940. His initial work was on the PBY Catalina seaplane, followed by increasingly responsible roles on the PB2Y, PB4Y, B-24, B-32, B-36, B-58, F-111, F-16, and F-22 programs. In April 1972, he was promoted to vice president of F-16 Engineering, responsible for directing the engineering effort for the full-scale development and production program.
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William C. Dietz