Re: useless info

Posted by Mike O'Handley On 2016/9/28 12:29:38

Not only could someone with an eighth grade education eventually buy two Packards, they could sometimes do quite well without ever formally attending college.

Jesse Vincent, Packard's Engineering Vice President during WWII, who'd designed Packard's twin-six and Liberty engines, and later the twelve cylinder engine that powered PT boats, and who'd won a gold cup in marine racing in a boat powered by one of his designs, dropped out of school at the 8th grade.

According to The Packard Story by Turnquist, Vincent got his engineering education working in machine shops and through correspondence courses. He joined Packard in 1912 and by the 1920's was chief engineer. Vincent and his staff developed sixes, straight eights, V-eights, V-twelves, horizontal twelves and twenty-four cylinder W engines.

With the way companies rely on diplomas today, if he were a kid today and dropped out of the 8th grade to work in a machine shop and take correspondence courses, he'd probably be sweeping floors in the machine shop and working at Mickey D's part time to make ends meet.