Born: United States of America
Primarily active in: United States of America
Agnew E. Larsen never finished high school, but from 1917 to 1918 he was chief draftsman for the Thomas Morse Aircraft Corp.; in 1923 he joined Harold Pitcairn as chief engineer of Pitcairn Aviation, designing many well known fixed wing aircraft, the most famous of which was probably the Pitcairn Mailwing series. He later became vice president and chief engineer of the Autogiro Company of America. In 1950 he became affiliated with the Kellett Aircraft Co. At the time of his death, he was a consultant for the Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia.
Among his honors was the Collier Trophy awarded to him with Pitcairn in 1931.
On August 16, 1969, both the Society and the rotary-wing industry lost one of its oldest and best-known members, for it was on this date that Larsen, long known to members of this organization, died in Willow Grove, PA. He was 72.
Obituaries (pg-28) : Vertiflite October 1969