Retired Brig. Gen. Gustav E. Lundquist, who served as a test pilot before and after World War II and ended his Air Force career in 1969 as commander of Arnold Engineering Development Center, died Feb. 5 in San Antonio. He was 88. Lundquist entered the service as an aviation cadet in 1940 and graduated from test pilot school in 1942, flying prototypes out of Wright Field, Ohio. He flew P-51s out of England but was shot down over Germany and interred as a POW for almost a year. He returned to Wright Field, where he led the fighter test section and flew the F-80, winning the Thompson Trophy air race in 1946. He also served as one of three test pilots for the X-1 rocket plane. Lundquist subsequently served in a variety of senior staff and command positions, primarily in research, development, and engineering, and took command of AEDC in August 1967.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
