J2mcL Planeurs - Fiche biographique n° 295

Activité(s)	Pilote & Concepteur & Constructeur
Biographie	Eugene (Gene) Whigham (age 82) passed away February 13, 2005, in San Diego, CA. During his life he designed, built, and flew seven sailplanes. Gene competed in some regional and national competitions and earned his Silver Badge (#282) in 1957 and Gold (#125) in 1962. He was currently flying a motorglider, a design which he had modified and built from a kit. He was a flight test engineer for Convair in San Diego for many years. Aircraft for which he had responsibility include the Sea Dart, the Guppy, and several production commercial transports. Geneús first design, the Whigham GW-1, flew in 1959 and had a max L/D of 29 at 55 mph. Other designs followed with various configurations including one with v-tail and another with flaps. His final design, the GW-7 flew in 1987 and had a maximum L/D of 39. Further information on these designs is available in the SSA Sailplane Directory. Gene will be missed by his fellow pilots in the San Diego area and lovers of soaring everywhere.
Sources bibliographiques
Autres sources	Soaring Society of America http://www.ssa.org/myhome.asp?mbr=5811273455&show=blog&archive=4/1/2005
Planeurs associés	Bonnet-Clément BC-1 Whigham GW-1
Liens sur la Toile

Fiche n° 295 [Dernière mise à jour : 2010-01-27]