Autobiography of Ralph Raymond Beal, Jr.
(Copyright©1998 by Ralph Beal. All Rights Reserved.)
Chapter Five-JPL
By 1953 the most advanced supersonic wind tunnel in the world was nearing completion at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since my specialty involved supersonic testing, and with missiles being added to airplanes for military purposes, I was urged by Bill Howard, who I had previously worked with at Douglas Aircraft Company and Frank Goddard, whose position was Manager, Supersonic Aerodynamics Division at JPL, to join their team. So, after working at Douglas Aircraft for eleven years, with a final salary of $513 per month, I accepted a position as Supervisor, Wind Tunnel Test Projects Group of the Wind Tunnel Section on March 15, 1953, and moved into the Wind Tunnel Building 79 at JPL with Harris (Bud) Shurmeier, Section Manager, as my immediate supervisor. My starting pay was $560 a month, and they made it salaried because we were working 60 to 72 hours a week and they only had to pay me for 40.
For three years I commuted from our house in Encino, sharing rides with C. A. Gilbert in his MG TC and wearing out a 1950 Chevrolet Powerglide sedan. Finally, in December 1955 we sold the Encino house for about $20,000 and in January 1956 we bought the house at 5130 Solliden Lane in La Canada for the shocking price of $23,250, with a $13,100 mortgage at 5.4% and a payment of $89.10 for 20 years, which was paid off in 1976.
I worked through the line of the Caltech Management Club and became President in 1958-59, which was a very interesting and challenging position. I also served on the Board of Directors of the Caltech/JPL Credit Union for several years.
My career at JPL involved a considerable amount of moving, with my position in April 1960 being Supervisor, Test Projects Section, at which time I was promoted to Division Staff, under Bill Howard, my old friend.
In September, 1964 I was transferred to the Facilities and Fabrication Services Office under Brian Sparks and was appointed Project Manager of the multi-million dollar upgrade and modification of the 25-foot Space Simulator. The Simulator has been in use in that configuration since that time, with a re-modification completed during 1992-94, and with my old Masonic friend, Mel Wilson as Project Manager.
In April, 1966 I was made Manager of the Technical Facilities Section of the Facilities Office, responsible for the planning, design and construction of all technical facilities and laboratories at JPL, Table Mountain and Edwards Test Center. That arrangement continued until January, 1974 when Dalton Bergan retired and his similar function for all non-technical office building planning, design and construction and Laboratory Master Planning were added to my duties as Manager, Facilities Planning and Construction, covering all major projects. In May, 1974 this office was upgraded to Division level, and my title was changed to Manager, Facilities Office.
In January, 1976 Brian Sparks, my close friend and mentor retired, and a scramble for his replacement as Assistant Laboratory Director and Facilities Manager was up for grabs, with me and Clancy Levoe as final candidates for the position as Facilities Manager. Top management selected Clancy Levoe over me, and I continued in the reduced position of Manager, Facilities Planning and Construction until he relieved me of those duties and appointed me to his staff in January, 1978. My responsibilities and duties were again drastically reduced and remained unsatisfactory to me until my retirement on March 15, 1982, after exactly 29 years at JPL.