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Death NoticeWalter Raymond Gustafson14 February 1915 - 28 September 2005 Published on 29 November 2005 Current comments and reminiscences on Gustafson:Walter Raymond Gustafson, 90, died September 28, 2005. He was born in Salina, Kansas and was a 55-year resident of Furlong,Pennsylvania. He held Masters degrees in mathematics, physics and chemistry from Kansas State University. In 1941 he became part of the team of scientists at MIT's Radiation Laboratory. In 1944 the Lab was charged with developing an Airborne Early Warning (AEW) radar system that could be carried aloft in airplanes. Mr. Gustafson was put in charge of that project, which took place on top of Mt. Cadillac off the coast of Maine. A prototype AEW system was built and flown in August 1944 on a modified TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. Tests proved successful, and the Navy ordered production of the TBM-3W, the first AEW aircraft to enter service. Some 36 of the planes were eventually constructed. The AEW system developed at Mt. Cadillac was the forerunner of all AEW systems in use in the world today. After the war Mr. Gustafson went to work at the Naval Research Laboratory Field Station in Boston. There he and other staff continued their work on airborne early warning systems. In 1949 this group transferred to the Naval Air Modification Unit at Johnsville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which became Johnsville Naval Air Development Center (NADC). Mr. Gustafson's position at Johnsville was head of the Data Handling Branch, first in the Aviation Electronic and Electrical Laboratory (AEEL), then in the Systems Division, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Laboratory. The lab was charged with the development of techniques to integrate the sensor data of airborne anti-submarine warfare missions (magnetic, electromagnetic, acoustic and visual data) into a usable display that could be used by a tactical coordinator on an ASW aircraft. Working with him from the beginning of this project were engineers William McMillen, Leo Shore and jim Rounding. Under Mr. Gustafson's leadership, over the next several years the team designed and developed the ASQ-44 Integrated Display System for anti-submarine warfare, of which the Tactical Coordinator (TACO) concept was an integral part. This concept is in use in ASW aircraft to this day. In 1961 the lab at Johnsville began the largest US Navy airborne systems program in history. Called the ANEW program, it led to the first digital integrated system for anti-submarine warfare, first installed in the P-3C aircraft. Mr. Gustafson was head of the Data Processing and Display Division of the ANEW program. He was also involved, before his retirement in 1973, in may other Navy aircraft and shipborne programs and inter-service system programs on airships, conventional and exotic aircraft and ships. These included the M-3 and S-2G airships and the P-2, P5M, S-2 and S-3 aircrafts. Research and developmet programs were sponsored and conducted under his leadership that involved printing on unconventional media, scan conversion, high speed electronic cathode ray tubes, plasma, lasers and liquid crystal displays. He was the holder of many singular and joint U.S. government patents. Mr. Gustafson was a lifelong bibliophile and book collector. He amassed a library of close to 25,000 volumes on many subjects, and from 1969 to 1981 operated a used book business in Lahaska, Pennsylvania.He is survived by 5 children, all of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, by 5 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. He was preceded in death by his wife, Maryellen Fink Gustafson. Survivors may be contacted at: Gustafson, 1294 Swamp Road, Furlong, Pennsylvania 18925. |