A Short Eulogy for a Tall Man

David Ewart in 2012.

The last of a small group of Canadian and British engineers and scientists, active in postwar Canadian aviation development, who moved south to participate in the early US space program and over time became silent repositories of much of our recent history, are slowly passing from the scene.

The latest to pass was David Dunlap Ewart. Author and editor Robert Godwin passed along the details late last week:

Henderson, NV – David Dunlop Ewart 85, died on Sunday Jan 20, 2013 at home from heart failure. He leaves behind his wife Sally Ewart and Stepson Mayo Sharpe as well as close friends Martine Jorden, Arin Mahoney and Shirley Coates.

David worked on Military aircraft as an apprentice during World War ll in London England and received his bachelor's degree from Trinity College at Cambridge in Mechanical Engineering His dorm room was not too far from where Isaac Newton's room was located. He eventually went on to serve with the Canadian Royal Air force from 1950-1953, after which he worked on The AVRO CF-105 jet aircraft.

In 1959 David joined NASA, part of a group of ex-Avro engineers hired when the CF-105 program was cancelled, where he worked on project Mercury and the Apollo spacecraft program in Downey California. He served as resident manager of Skylab at McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach California.

In 1973 he became Chief Systems engineer for the space shuttle program. His success can be directly attributed to his work ethic and natural mechanical ability as well as being able to work with other excellent engineers.

Services were held at Bunker funeral home in Las Vegas on Saturday January 26, 2013 by family and friends.