Ernest S. Stoops papers

Ernest S. Stoops was born in 1927 in Adams Township, Hamilton County, Indiana to Walker Stoops and Zula Price Stoops.  His siblings were James Bernard (1922), Mary Esther (1923), Jeanette May (1927), and Vera Evelyn (1928).  He graduated from Sheridan high School in 1945 and Purdue University in 1949 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.  During his time as a student at Purdue, he was active in the Army ROTC, was a member of the Scabbard and Blade Military Honor Society, and organized the Purdue Military Ball on November 5, 1948.  He worked in the aircraft industry with stints at Douglas Aircraft, Northrop Aircraft, North American Aviation, Rockwell International Corporation and served as a Lt. in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.  He participated in the development of the Douglas A-4d Skyhawk, the Douglass F-4d Skyray, the Northrop QX-4 Target Drone, the North American A3j-a/ RA5C Vigilante, the Apollo Space Program, and the Rockwell HELLFIRE Missile Launcher.  Upon retiring in 1988, he continued to work on the side including part time for the Army at Huntsville, AL from 2001-2003 as a consultant for HELLFIRE. Source:  Stoops, Ernest S.  To Indiana---- Oliver Stoops 1833-1925

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