Allen H. Schoen, 81, headed V-22 Osprey development team

Allen H. Schoen, 81, of Kissimmee, Fla., a leading aeronautical engineer whose team at Boeing Vertol invented a propulsion system for the V-22 Osprey, allowing an airplane to take off and land vertically for the first time, died Thursday, March 8, of complications of renal failure at his home.

Mr. Schoen had lived in  West Deptford while employed for 32 years by Boeing in Ridley Township. In retirement, he and his family divided their time between Kissimmee and Brewster, Mass.

He was born in Yonkers, N.Y., and graduated from public school there. Blessed with a brilliant mind, inquisitive spirit, and industrious work habits, he sailed through his classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and immediately landed a job as an aeronautical engineer at McDonnell Douglas in California.

Mr. Schoen joined Boeing Helicopters in 1966. He worked in the areas of technology and product design.

In 1980, the failure of the Iran hostage rescue mission highlighted the need for a new type of aircraft that could land and take off vertically like a helicopter, then level out in flight like a plane. The Navy and Marine Corps asked aeronautical companies to team up and submit proposals. Boeing and Bell Helicopter accepted the challenge and began work on the project.

In 1982, Mr. Schoen was named technology manager of the V-22 development project, and in 1986, he was appointed the project's deputy technical director. In 1989, he became director of preliminary design, according to a Boeing Co. history.

"Al was the first senior manager I reported to at Boeing," said John Bondi, now Boeing's senior manager for flight controls and mechanical systems, V-22 program. "He was very influential in overseeing the propulsion and aerodynamic development of the V-22 Osprey."

Mr. Schoen's development team included John J. Schneider, David Bevan, Harold Rosenstein, and David R. Woodley.

The propulsion system made the Osprey "capable of landing or taking off vertically, having its flight directional axis horizontal when grounded." When airborne, two streams of turbo-fanned air controlled lift and propulsion, as well as pitch, roll and yaw, according to a summary on file with the U.S. Office of Patents and Trademarks in Washington.

In 1989, the year Mr. Schoen retired, a prototype of the invention flew successfully. In 1990, another trial flight was flawless. But the Osprey crashed in 1991 and 1992, dealing the project a setback. For a while, it lost support from officials on Capitol Hill.

Though retired, Mr. Schoen continued to follow the Osprey's fortunes. "He stayed engaged in it till the very end," said his wife, Lauria Trahan Schoen.

"Fortunately, new technologies were available that enabled us to improve the V-22 when support for it picked up again," Mr. Schoen was quoted as saying on an industry website. "We have simplified the design and made it stronger in the process. Now, assembling an Osprey is just like putting a Fisher-Price kit together on Christmas Eve."

In 2000, there were two more crashes killing 23 Marines, and again changes were made. In June 2005, the V-22 finally cleared its testing phase.

In 1995, Mr. Schoen was named the winner of the Paul E. Haueter Award by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) for his contributions to the development of a vertical takeoff and landing airplane.

"Schoen devoted more than 30 years in both aerospace engineering and engineering management to development of hybrid aircraft designs, culminating in development of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft ," the society said in making the award.

Mr. Schoen was an associate fellow of the Aerospace Industries Association of America and an Honorary Fellow of AHS, in which he held several regional and national leadership posts. He also served on several advisory boards for NASA.

An industrious man who always had a project underway, he enjoyed landscaping, furniture making, and bird carving.  He created several koi ponds at his homes, of which he was very proud.  He loved cooking, photography, gardening, and working on his computer.  Fascinated by family history, he self-published a genealogy book featuring old documents and photos.

Mr. Schoen married Patricia O'Madigan in 1958, and the couple raised three children in West Deptford. They divorced. She died earlier.

He married Lauria Trahan in 2001. The couple traveled widely, returning to homes that Mr. Schoen built in Kissimmee and Brewster.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by children Theresa Boustead, James Schoen, Karen Simpson; children of his current wife, Therese Kerman, Michelle Fasshauer, Denise Greene, and David Trahan; and 11 grandchildren.

An open house will be held at his home in Florida on Sunday, March 25.