Charles R. Ahern

Born: March 26, 1919. Died: July 17, 1992.

EDUCATION:
-BS in Electrical Engineering, Washington State University - January 1943
-MIT - Officer'?’s Radar School (Harbor Bldg) - Radar Techniques, Radar Astronomy, --Problems of High Power Radar Design
-Brookings Institution ?– Conference for Federal Science Executives

MEMBER:
-Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE)

Upon receiving his degree from Washington State University, Mr. Ahern joined the Radiation Laboratory MIT as a staff member where he performed research and development on microwave radar components and systems both in the US and the UK. After WWII, he worked for Philco in the development of the APS-30 series of naval airborne radars. In the mid to late forties he performed R&D on guidance and control systems for a series of naval missiles including surface-to-air, antiship, and ASW types at the Naval Research Laboratory and the National Bureau of Standards. From 1950 until his retirement in 1980, he served as a senior defensive systems specialist at the CIA and was widely known in the international electronics intelligence community and received several commendations for his work.

He showed an interest in airplanes at an early age. In 1941, he earned a private pilot license in the state of Washington.

In retirement he was active in the D.C. Radio Control Club and served as President in 1985. He was particularly active in monitoring the frequency channels for the club. He served on a committee that was instrumental in establishing frequency channels that were set aside by the FCC for use by radio controlled models. He also wrote articles for the monthly DCRC Newsletter.

He devoted two years (1988 and 1989) building a radio control model of a 1911 AVRO. The model was entered in the 1989 and 1990 Scale Contest in Bealeton, Virginia and was awarded 3rd Place in "?“Giant Scale?”." In 1990 his AVRO model was also noted as the ?“"Most Impressive Model?”."

After his death in 1992, his widow donated the model to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.