Peter Geoffrey Porter

I was born in 1940, in the middle of an air raid. This probably is one of the reasons I am so interested in WW2. My father was shot down during a raid on Duisberg in 1942 and spent the rest of the war in the Great Escape Camp, Stalagluft III. I passed the eleven plus in England and ended up going to Erith Grammar School until my father was posted back to Germany with the RAF in 1955, While in Germany I went to Windsor School BFES until taking my 'O' Levels in 1956. I then went to serve a five year apprenticeship with Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft in Coventry. While there I met my wife, Margaret, and we got married in 1961. (We will be having our 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2011, one bash in England and a second one back in the States). I spent the next two years studying for a Masters Degree at the College of Aeronautics in Cranfield and ended up working there from 1964 to 1966 conducting laminar flow research via a modifies Lincoln Bomber.I then emigrated to California to work on the Boeing 747 design at Northrop Aircraft. At the end of the 747 contract I spent a short time in Saint Louis working on the F-15 at McDonnel Douglas, returning to Northrop to work on the A-9. While at Northrop I also worked on the F-18 and did some time in their Structures Research Department. I took an early retirement in 1995 and am now happily retired. Margaret and I have two children, Melanie and Ian, both born in England. Melanie works for a computer hardware company while Ian is now back in England pursuing a career as an actor. He got his degree in Fine Arts at Long Beach State in 1984, got a small speaking part in "Saving Private Ryan", and is now acting on stage, screen, TV and commercials in Europe. I have managed to write a few books while in retirement but I also run a couple of Web Sites; a Home Page at www.trasksdad.com and the Web Page for RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program, a local volunteer organization at www.rsvpsb.org.