Hibbard taught me that it is much better to lead people, not to drive them. Drive yourself if you must. But not anybody else.

I imposed on Real the requirement that he try to design the helicopter so that it could be serviced with six simple tools—any six of his choice. This was more a challenge than an arbitrary decision. I think most good designers want to keep things simple, but sometimes, for the sheer engineering delight of creating, things become unnecessarily complex and cumbersome.

Despite the best of intentions, the Army had at the time ten different test centers and bases involved in the procurement of new weapon systems. And when you have that many representatives involved in design and development, with no single person in charge to represent the customer, the Skunk Works concept cannot work.

It is absolutely imperative that the customer have a small, highly-concentrated project office as a counterpart to the Skunk Works manager and his team. It is not a concept easily adopted after years of working within the system. There has to be an all-out commitment, or the method will not work.

BEFORE ALTHEA DIED, SHE URGED ME TO REMARRY. She did not want me to be lonely. I endured it for awhile—fortunately this was a period of demanding work for me—but I knew I could not continue to live that way. Much as I love my work and always have—perhaps more than most people—I also believe life should be shared to be really meaningful and be balanced with the pure pleasure of recreation. My secretary at the time was a pretty, petite redhead.

Later, there was also the uncomfortable and not uncomplicated necessity to remove a piece of bamboo I’d accidentally driven into my lower colon.

It may seem traitorous from an aircraft designer, but I see a diminished role for the manned military aircraft and more reliance on remotely piloted vehicles and missiles. When you can put 20Gs of maneuverability in a missile while a man can pull only 9Gs at most—nine times the gravity of his own weight; when you can provide a missile with the search capability to find its target; and when television and other relay links from a high-flying U-2 or space satellite can give rapid readout in real time to a man at controls in Washington, why send a man over enemy territory at all?