J.L. Velazquez; Aeronautical Design Engineer

J.L. Velazquez, 81, aeronautical design engineer with Lockheed’s top-secret “Skunk Works.” A native of Douglas, Ariz., he was educated at Caltech and served on an aircraft carrier in the Navy during World War II. He designed for Douglas, North American, Piaseki, Weber and Hughes as well as Lockheed, reluctantly retiring when he turned 75. Velazquez, who had a private pilot’s license, was nationally lauded by Aviation Week magazine for his work on vertical takeoff and landing craft. After his retirement, Velazquez continued to work in his home laboratory on what he called his “project,” a perpetual motion apparatus that resembled a flying saucer. On April 21 in Burbank of heart and kidney failure.