MAKING AVIATION HISTORY : SIMI DESIGNERS TO BE HONORED FOR SOLAR FLYING WING.

Byline: JEAN RUSSELL VOGEL

Ray Morgan and Bob Curtin are flying high on the strength of their solar-electric flying wing.

Built by AeroVironment Inc. in Simi Valley, the pilotless Pathfinder made its mark in aviation history in September when the aircraft soared above wind and weather at 50,500 feet over Edwards Air Force Base.

The editors of Aviation Week & Space Technology will honor Morgan, vice president of AeroVironment, and Curtin, Pathfinder program manager, as 1995 Aerospace Laureates in ceremonies April 24 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Fitting the definition of a flying wing, the Pathfinder is 100 feet wide, 8 feet long and weighs 400 pounds. It is the latest in a series of innovative, ultraefficient aircraft produced by AeroVironment since its founding 25 years ago by Paul MacCready of Pasadena. The Smithsonian Institution has acquired five of the history-making aircraft.

A Simi Valley resident since 1975, Morgan joined the AeroVironment staff in 1981 after 11 years with Lockheed, including 1-1/2 years in the ``Skunk Works.''

``To build a practical aircraft with a nonpolluting, renewable energy source'' was Morgan's definition of his career goal in making the change.

Morgan recalled that ``power'' was the topic for a term paper he researched in seventh grade in his native North Carolina. It was then he learned that fossil fuels could not last forever.

In 1969, after earning a degree in aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, Morgan headed west to find work in his field. Now he says he's glad to put his engineering expertise to work in support of his environmental awareness and ``to make a living as well.''

The two laureates have been business associates since the 1970s when Curtin's father, also named Bob, and Morgan became friends at Lockheed. About 15 years ago, while the younger Bob was still a Royal High School student, Morgan hired him as a part-time assistant.

``I had no ideas of the talent or capacity for hard work of that teen-ager,'' Morgan now confides. Curtin believes that his childhood fondness for building model planes helped forge his early connection with AeroVironment, as that hobby seemed characteristic of many of the staff.

The teen-ager quickly progressed from his minimum-wage duties to participating in the building and eventually the testing of the Pathfinder in its earlier identity as Halsol. Simultaneously, Curtin was completing his studies at Cal State University Northridge, earning a master's degree in physics.

Curtin said his wife, Bonnie, and his father will accompany him to Washington, D.C. Bonnie Curtin is eager to revisit the national capital that she remembers from an early childhood trip. The trio will spend a week there. There will also be a reunion with Bob Curtin's sister who lives in Maryland.

Kay Morgan will accompany her husband to the ceremony. Ray Morgan will be busy earlier in the week, preparing and giving testimony before the House of Representatives' subcommittee on space and aeronautics.

As the AeroVironment staff continues to learn from study of the Pathfinder, currently in sections, Morgan said the company is looking forward to creating the aircraft's proposed successor, a 200-foot solar-electric wing called Helios.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) AeroVironment Inc.'s Ray Morgan, left, and Bob Curtin will be honored for their solar-electric flying wing at the Smithsonian Institution.

(2--color) The pilotless Pathfinder has reached an altitude of 50,500 feet.

Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News