Jones enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1927, but dropped out a year later to pursue his dream of flying. He joined Charles Fower’s flying circus where he traded chores for flying lessons.
In 1934, he took a more practical approach: he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics — the forerunner of NASA — in Langley, Va., and in 1946 transferred to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. His primary contribution to flight were his designs, starting in 1944, for swept-back wings, which are used now on most jet planes from fighters to passenger transports.
When he retired in 1981, Jones received the Congressional Excalibur Award for his contributions to aeronautical science. He also received the Langley Award from the Smithsonian Institution, joining the likes of the Wright brothers and Charles Lindberg. Jones died August 11 in California. He was 89.