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  • Erich W. Wolf
  • Erich W. Wolf

    Foil: 63 Panel: 4 Column: 3 Line: 94

    Wall of Honor Level:
    Air and Space Friend

    Honored by:
    Erich Wolf

    I grew up in the Washington DC area, and from a young age I was fascinated with things that flew so seemingly effortlessly through the air. Although my balsa, paper and glue projects were not always successful, I was thrilled to have a hand-launched glider leave my running hand and take to the air. As I grew older, my projects grew in sophistication and successes. This motivated me to seek a career in aeronautics, which is now called aerospace.
    Out of College I hired on with General Dynamics Space Systems Division in San Diego in the engineering research and development, department, home of the Atlas Launch Vehicle. There I worked along side engineers who, had helped launch John Glenn on the USA's first sub-orbital flight around the world on the Atlas Launch Vehicle.

    I was very lucky to have worked personally on the design and analysis of the following programs. They were, for the most part, the firsts, of a kind.

    Centaur Upper stage development
    C-141 Empennage
    C-5 Empennage
    F-111 Wing High lift devices
    Space Shuttle Fuselage
    Convair 240 Rolls Royce Dart conversion
    Centaur adaptation for the Viking I & II missions to Mars.
    Various mission payload adapters for Atlas/Centaur
    McDonald YC-15 STOL experimental Military transport
    McDonald DC10 passenger jet
    Tomahawk Cruise Missile
    Titan I and Titan IV Centaur integration and launch operations

    I attended various public and parochial schools and graduated from Archbishop Carroll High in Washington, DC.

    University of Maryland at College Park was the institution where I earned my degree in Aeronautical Engineering. From the University of California, San Diego, I received the certification for the Executive Program for Scientists and Engineers. I'm also a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.

    When the Atlas Launch vehicle was sold to Martin Denver Division I spent, the last five years of my career in Colorado, working for Lockheed-Martin before returning to San Diego to retire.

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    Foil: 63

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