Edmund Hughes Ed Johnstone

He was born near the end of The Golden Age of Aviation. At a very young age, Edmund knew he wanted to spend his life working with and enjoying airplanes. He attended Purdue University where he started a flying club (that has since merged with another club) and is still active today. In 1957 Edmund graduated from Purdue with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. During his senior year of college, while in Cincinnati, Ohio for an internship, Edmund discovered an abandoned 1932 Franklin Sport biplane deteriorating in a floodplain. He purchased the plane and spent the next seven years restoring it.

In 1965, Edmund married Marcia Deuel. They settled in Elkhart, Indiana and began operating a flight school. Ed and Marcia had four daughters.

At one point, Ed made the decision to close the flight school and went on to have an extensive career as an Aeronautical Stress Analyst and later a Designated Engineering Representative for the FAA which took him to areas all over the country. Throughout his life Edmund was always working on projects to make airplanes safer. He spent time working with his former professor designing and testing projects in Purdue's wind tunnel. One of those projects led to a patent on wingtips relating to reducing wind turbulence. Though marketing was left to other individuals, the wingtips you see on today's commercial airplanes were derived from his research. Later he built his own wind tunnel to continue testing his designs and theories. Edmund designed, built and modified his own single seater plane, "The Hapursuit" which he used to further test his innovations. He was also a life long member of local and national chapters of the Experimental Association of Aviation.

In 1989 Edmund and his family moved to San Antonio where he lived until his passing. Edmund was a quiet man who mentored and influenced many individuals throughout his life. He was a creative engineer, often finding unique solutions to engineering challenges. In his free time Ed enjoyed reading, music, ballroom dancing and walking. Ed was well respected among his colleagues for his knowledge, his ethics and his friendship. He was loved and admired by his family and will be greatly missed.

Edmund was preceded in death by his parents, Edmund and Mary Johnstone and his sister and brother-in-law, Mary Johnstone Burton and John Burton.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Marcia Deuel Johnstone, his daughters; Wendy (Ty) Sibbitt, Megan (Kevin) Smith, Amy (Keith) Stubbs, and Jennifer Johnstone, nine grandchildren; Jack, Ryan and Nicholas Sibbitt, Alexander, Joshua and Katharine Smith, Evelyn, Charlie and Finley Stubbs and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, we invite memorial contributions to be made to:

"In Memory of Edmund H. Johnstone for EAA Youth Education" and sent to

Experimental Aircraft Association, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903

At this time a memorial service has not been set but, will likely be planned for late spring or early summer 2017. As the family is not in contact with all of Edmund's colleagues, if you would like to receive information regarding a memorial service, please email us at [email protected]