E.E. Gustafson

United States of America

 

E.E. "Tug" Gustafson was an AHS founder and industry pioneer. A former marketing director at Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies, Tug began his career as an early barnstormer flying open cockpit biplanes.  He later served in a special pilot training section for the Army Air Corps during WWII and served in the sales and marketing department of Bell Helicopter in Buffalo, New York.

Within the vertical flight industry, he became a legend known for his pioneering efforts to expand the use of helicopters to oil, logging, construction, agriculture, mineral exploration, and heavy-lift industries as well as for use in the military. His creativity in developing new helicopter applications earned him the Larry Bell award in 1977.

Gustafson died August 7, 1994, at Bridgeport Hospital near his home in Massachusetts.  He was 79. 

AHS Update: Vertiflite July/August 1994