John Favour, Boeing leader

Inside Boeing test laboratories, where the hardware in space vehicles and aircraft are analyzed for their ability to withstand vibration and shaking, one man's research made waves that reverberated throughout the aerospace industry.

John D. Favour, a retired Boeing engineer, died Wednesday (Dec. 20) at age 61 of a brain tumor diagnosed in September. His research, considered cutting edge when he developed his testing techniques more than 30 years ago, led to advancements in vibration analysis that are just as relevant today, said Lee Favour, his son.

Aerospace engineers analyze how well flight vehicle hardware will hold up under different vibration environments, ranging from air turbulence to the intense jarring that occurs when a rocket separates from its booster.

Mr. Favour earned notoriety for concluding that digital computers could be used to help simulate the various vibration environments. His research paper on the subject, which he presented in Leon, France, won an award in 1969. Mr. Favour did the research while working for Boeing under a NASA contract.

"Prior to that, testing was done in two different phases and this allowed testing to be done all at once," Lee Favour said. "It was a jump that hadn't been made and was quite important in its time."

Mr. Favour's name is peppered throughout a handbook that reviews the various techniques of shock and vibration testing. Industry engineers treat the book like a bible.

In 1979, Boeing recognized Mr. Favour as one of 10 employees who made technical contributions that advanced company goals.

When Mr. Favour retired from Boeing in 1995, he was the manager of the company's structures, environmental and material test labs. The labs he oversaw not only analyze effects of vibration, but also temperature.

"He was a very hands-on engineer," said Lee Favour, who also works at Boeing. "He loved to get into test programs and touch and feel the hardware to understand what was going on. He was always interested in being part of the actual test. When tests were done on airplanes, he wanted to talk to the pilots."

Lee Favour said his father wasn't afraid to voice his professional opinion but also considered the views of others. Mr. Favour's friend, Bob Shields, also a Boeing engineer, recalls polite discussions with his buddy, even though their political ideologies differed.

"He was the kind of person you could bounce ideas off of," Shields said. "He took his work very seriously but he was a guy who could laugh."

Shields and Mr. Favour went duck hunting together and were ready to travel to Wyoming for a deer hunt four months ago when Mr. Favour took ill.

"He faced his cancer bravely," Shields said. "He said he felt he had a good life, but this is a guy who had plans."

Mr. Favour, who was born and schooled in Wisconsin, lived in Bellevue with his wife, Caroline. He also is survived by two sons, Lee and Chris, and two grandchildren, all of Bellevue, as well as a mother and two siblings who live in Wisconsin.

A memorial service is 1 p.m. tomorrow at Green's Bellevue Funeral Home, 1215 145th Place S.E. Remembrances may be sent to the Arthritis Foundation of Washington.