19 Facts About Paul Blasingame

Benjamin Paul Blasingame was a United States Air Force officer and engineer who played an important role in the development of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and inertial navigation systems.

In 1959 Paul Blasingame, resigned his commission and joined the AC Spark Plug division of General Motors, which later became Delco Electronics.

Paul Blasingame helped develop the inertial navigation system for the Titan II ICBM, which became the Delco Carousel navigation system, and found use in the Boeing 747, C-5A Galaxy, C-141 Starlifter and KC-135 tanker.

Benjamin Paul Blasingame was born in State College, Pennsylvania, on 1 August 1919.

Paul Blasingame graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1940, having majored in mechanical engineering.

Paul Blasingame participated in the college's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.

Paul Blasingame received a regular commission in the United States Army Signal Corps in January 1942.

Paul Blasingame remained in the Army after the war, working in engineering positions, and he joined the United States Air Force on its formation in September 1947.

Schriever was authorized to pick key members of his staff, and Paul Blasingame was one of his original four choices.

Paul Blasingame became the project's Chief Guidance and Control Project Officer.

Paul Blasingame resigned his commission in the USAF in 1959, and took a job at AC Spark Plug in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he became the director of engineering, and later the manager.

Paul Blasingame contributed to the development of its inertial navigation system, which became the Delco Carousel, and found civilian use in the Boeing 747, and USAF use in the C-5A Galaxy, the C-141 Starlifter and the KC-135 tanker.

Paul Blasingame told the committee that the guidance and navigation systems were ready.

Paul Blasingame moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he managed its operations, and worked on the development of helicopters.

Paul Blasingame was a board member of Cottage Hospital, a trustee of the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the chairman of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Alliance of Business.

Paul Blasingame married Ella Mae Perry in 1942; they had four children.

Paul Blasingame died in 1991, and he later married Margaret A Timmons, who died in 2015.

Paul Blasingame then moved to Kalispell, Montana, to be with his family, and he died there on 13 November 2015.

Paul Blasingame's papers are in the University Archives at Virginia Tech.