Mark Swingle:
CLASS OF 1977
Naples Central High SchoolClass of 1977
Naples, NY
Mark's Story
I spent the first 19 years of my life living in Naples. My parents (Nancy & James) were also born and raised there and graduated from Naples Central in the fifties, My mother was from Italy Valley and my dad lived in the village of Naples from birth until they migrated to Texas in the summer of 1977 with my two sisters (Mary Ellen and Pamela). The relatives on my fathers side date back to the early 1700's as residents of the Naples Valley. My life in Naples started in an apartment above French's Hardware Store on Main Street and ended in a large victorian house on north main street across the street from Bob's-N-Ruth's Restaurant. It's some kind of wine tasting place now. Of course I attended Naples Central High School where I excelled in math and science and played soccer, tennis, and swam. I had many friends in school, and I still keep in close touch with some...Jim Singleton, Tom Barber, David Kratoville, and Fred Arden. I graduated in the spring of 1977 and then enrolled at Alfred University as a mathematics major. I attended Alfred for 1 year and then transferred to The University of Texas as an Aerospace Engineering major. I earned my Bachelors of Science in AE and graduated with the number one ranking in the class and with honors (Cum Laude). I am a lifetime member of Tau Beta Pi (Engineering) and Sigma Gamma Tau ( Aerospace Engineering) Honor Societies and recieved several honors while attending college in Texas. I attended graduate school as an Engineering Mechanics major, but left graduate school just short of finishing my masters to become the lead structural analyst for the Vought Coporation on the USAF B-2 Bomber in 1988. I was head structural analyst on the original flight test program for the B-2 at Edwards Air Force Base in Lancaster, CA. I worked for Vought Aircraft for the first 19 years of my career and was based out of Dallas, Texas. However, I traveled, lived, and worked in many cities during my time at Vought including Palmdale (CA), Huntington Beach (CA), Seattle (WA), St. Louis (Mo), and Savannah (GA). While at Vought I recieved several honors and was lead structural analyst on five new airframe designs including the Boeing 767-400, Boeing 777-200, USAF B-2 Bomber, USN A-12 Avenger, and the Gulfstream V business jet....Expand for more
I was mentored by some of the most skiled and famous stress engineers in the industry, and my crowning achievement at Vought was as lead Structures Designer on the GV wing. I was lead engineer over the design of the wing for the premier business jet in the world and my name is on several US patents regarding the forming of advaced composite and metallic materials. In 1999 I left Vought to take a position as manager of the structural analysis department at L-3 Communications in central Texas. I worked there unitl 2007 and was responsible for the structural integrity and for the modifications of several billion dollars worth of military and commercial aircraft at any one time. These aircraft include USAF C-130s, Boeing 737 business jets, Airbus A340 Head of State Aircraft, Boeing 747s, USAF AB-139 Helicopters, and US Navy and Customs P-3 Orions. I left L-3 in 2007 to become Chief of Structures for Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY on the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter. I lived in Ithaca, NY from 2007 to 2009 until the program was cancelled by President Obama. I returned to L-3 in Texas in 2009 where I am the Designated Engineering Representative for the US Navy on the P-3 Orion Rewinging Program, and lead stress analyst on two new Boeing 747-8 aircraft heavy modification programs for 2 spearate foreign government heads of state.
My wife, son, and daughter are all native Texans and graduates of the University of North Texas. My wife is a social worker, my daughter is a high school teacher, and my son is an engineer like myself who also works at L-3 as a flight simulation engineer. Both of my children are very bright, hardworking, and successful and that's what I'm most proud of.
I'm an avid bow hunter and fisherman, and I hunt at my farm in Naples (Garlinghouse area) and my land in central texas. I have two homes in Texas...one in East Texas and one in North Texas, but live most of the time at my apartment in Central Texas...near my job. I usually get back to Naples at least twice a year to see my Uncle Gideon and Aunt Barbara Hanggi and to hunt turkey and deer. I hope to get back more often after retirement...if I ever do retire. I love being an engineer and I do love my mathematics more than anything else. At least that's what people tell me.
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