Daniel Weitzenfeld, 90; Navy Innovator

Daniel Kehr Weitzenfeld, 90, a retired Navy rear admiral who was involved with the "angled deck" innovation on U.S. aircraft carriers, died of cardiopulmonary failure at the Jefferson, a retirement community in Arlington County. He was a former McLean resident.

Adm. Weitzenfeld was born in Chicago and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1939. He also attended the Naval Post Graduate School at Annapolis and received a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in the late 1940s.

He served aboard the cruiser Boise and the destroyer Craven before receiving his wings in 1942. He served with a bombing squadron in World War II and the Korean War.

As assistant director of the Ship Installations Division for the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics in the early 1950s, he helped with implementing the angled deck, a Royal Navy innovation that accommodated the higher landing speeds of jets. The configuration, also known as the "skewed deck," allowed for simultaneous launch and recovery.

Although the British received credit for the angled deck, Adm. Weitzenfeld claimed in a 2000 letter to the editor of Smithsonian Air & Space magazine that "the British had absolutely nothing to do with the American aircraft carriers' angled deck! Nothing!"

Adm. Weitzenfeld recalled that he persuaded his boss to allow him to paint an angled deck on the aircraft carrier Midway and had an air group make touch-and-go landings. "The fleet pilots indicated that the flying and landing part was outstanding," he said.

Adm. Weitzenfeld also was involved with the introduction of the steam catapult on aircraft carriers. He received a medal from Brazil for assisting the country's navy in renovating a British carrier, which became the Brazilian navy ship Minas Gerais.

Promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1967, he became vice commander of the Naval Air Systems Command in 1971 and retired in 1973. He received the Legion of Merit for his service from 1969 until 1973.

In retirement, Adm. Weitzenfeld was active as a lobbyist for Navy interests and as a volunteer for a number of Naval Academy activities. For a time he served as president of his academy alumni class.

A daughter, Christina Weitzenfeld, died in 1949.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Virginia Fallon Weitzenfeld of Arlington; five children, Jeanne Marie Brotman of Burke, George Reker Weitzenfeld of Vienna, Kathy Anne Rose of Minneapolis, William Fallon Weitzenfeld of Willis, Va., and Scott Kelly Cochrane Weitzenfeld of Memphis; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

-- Joe Holley