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Oral History – George Ludwig
(Continued)
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Dr.
Ludwig, would you please provide some comments about your background when
you began first working on satellite electronics at the University of Iowa?
In 1946, I graduated from high school and went immediately into the Air Force. I enlisted – the draft was hot on my tail at the moment, and I decided I might as well go ahead and get that
over with. I went through the basic training, and then some clerical training,
and was assigned to Fort Slocum, New York, just outside New York City. A year after I enlisted,
Aviation Cadets opened up, and I applied and was accepted. There I flew T6 planes in
primary and basic, and then B25 planes in advanced flight training. I got my wings and my second lieutenant bars in July 1948. I served then in the Air Force for 4-1/2 more years, flying a
variety of planes, including C82s, C54s, a little bit
in the SA16 amphibian, and quite a bit in B29 bombers. Then at the end of
1952, when my term was up, I decided that, instead of re-enlisting, I had to get serious about College. I hadn’t had any
of that yet.
Had
you developed an interest in aviation early on, in high school?
Well, yes, in high school I had two hobbies. One
was airplanes – I read a lot of the airplane magazines and made a lot of
models. And electronics - I learned about
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Oral History – George
Ludwig
(Continued)
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electronics in high school. In the
little tiny community of Tiffin, Iowa, where I grew up, I became available for fixing minor
appliances – radios and so on.
Then in the Air Force, I did go through Electronics Officer training, which included training on all of the radar equipment on the
various current aircraft. After that, I served
part of my time with combined duties – pilot and Electronics Officer, and eventually, Communications
Officer. By the time I got out, I was a captain. As I mentioned, I felt in 1952 that I had to get out and go to the University. The town where I grew up was just eight miles outside of Iowa City, where the
University of Iowa was located. It was only natural
that I go there.
Did you major in Physics?
Yes, physics was my field, without any question or qualification in
my mind. I had a very lucky break, right after I returned from the
Air Force. My Dad had a radio program every
morning. It was billed as a farm editor program, but
he interviewed people from all over. He had interviewed Van Allen, Les Meredith, and Lee Blodgett upon their
return from an expedition in the
summer of 1952.
Go
To Ludwig Oral History, Page 4
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