Elmen C. Quesinberry

Earlier this year I wrote a belated tribute to a well-known pioneer in strapdown . Now I must write another tribute, even more belated, to a pioneer who was less well-known — but with a legacy equal to any other whose work helped mine to come alive.

Over three decades (Feb 1961 to Nov 1993) I was a full-time employee of Westinghouse (division names varied from AirArm to DESC to …) — but what I want to express here is first of all a salute to many of the people whose paths crossed with mine. That word “many” is no exaggeration; one recollection that stands out occurred during a chance conversation with Tim Gunn, at about lunch hour, near the cafeteria. Over and over again, seemingly everyone-&-their-brother walking by, was saying “Hi” to me. Tim was flabbergasted at how many people I knew, whether they were from the shop (in some of those cases, from barbershop quartet or other music activities, sports, ... ) or — in many other cases — from one department or another of engineering.

In recollection it is crystal clear that, during that time period, I was privileged to work with many of the best. That includes names like Joe Dorman, Jim Mims,  … And when position/velocity/acceleration gains had to be set for track at lock-on over 7 octaves of range with 16-bit words, George Axelby and John Stuelpnagel helped show the way — and who could forget the Schafer/Leedom/Weigle triumvirate or, from TIR, Bill Hopwood or, from software, names like Heasley + Landry + Kahn + Clark (who as a techie was among the best, as was another from his group — working with me on A12 when John crossed into management) — plus others, too numerous to mention. Many of the latter names are more obscure, it is realized; in some ways that’s the most important part of this effort, to give credit where credit is overdue.  One of the best program manners was named Willett, again not among the most famous within Westinghouse.  Of all the best-and-brightest named &/or unnamed here though, no one stands higher in my memory than Elmen C. Quesinberry. His contribution to Westinghouse’s collection of achievements over time is realized by only very few. I guess what’s important is that he realized it himself; he earned every bit of his salary, and much more.

This revisit-of-history isn’t intended to imply that all was sunshine + roses; in fact, we encountered much major opposition. No need to go into detail here, but many had peripheral (or less) understanding. I made my peace with those long ago and have no desire to retract it. For doubters, flight-validated results appear elsewhere on this site. Enough said; of central importance here is the lasting legacy of a truly great engineer. Elmen C. Quesinberry, a true Christian gentlemen, was an outstanding engineer whose collaboration gave me benefits unsurpassed by any other over three decades at Westinghouse.