David Ellis, a retired aeronautical engineer who loved flying, died Oct. 26, 2010. He was 75.
Born into a family of aviation pioneers, Ellis learned to fly early, soloing and acquiring private and commercial licenses as soon as he was of age. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1957, and a master’s in aeronautical engineering from Princeton in 1962.
After teaching at Colorado from 1962 to 1964, he returned to Princeton for further graduate study. In a career change away from full-time academia, from 1967 to 1977 he was manager of Flight Dynamics Research at Princeton’s Forrestal Research Center, and spent 2,000 hours in the air over Princeton.
Then from 1977 to 1988, Ellis was manager of advanced design at Cessna (where he brought out the highly-regarded T303 Crusader), and was an adjunct associate professor of aerospace engineering at Wichita State University (WSU). From 1988 to 1990, he was a tenured associate professor at Kansas, and vice president of engineering at Commander Aircraft. From 1991 to 2000, Ellis was director of research and development in charge of 14 research laboratories at the National Institute for Aviation at WSU.
Edwin W. Aiken’66 *69 wrote of Ellis, his mentor from graduate school, “He was a great teacher, a wonderful pilot, and a true gentleman.”
Ellis is survived by Eunice, his wife of 49 years; two children; and four grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.