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Lieutenant Colonel John "Jack" E. Allavie was the project pilot for "Hurry - Hurry" which was designed to determine take off procedures and problems associated with "in-line" and formation take offs at maximum weights. He was the B-52 launch pilot for the first flights of the X-15 rocket plane.
The results from project "Hurry – Hurry" were crucial to national security because the U.S. government and the Air Force knew that, in the event of a nuclear attack, a response would have to be launched within ten minutes.
After graduating in 1955 from the Empire Test Pilot School in Farnborough, England, he moved to Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Operations. In 1958, he was one of only two pilots assigned to the B-52/X-15 flight test program, completing 60 flights by 1962. Later, he flew the B-58 for escape capsule system tests. These tests were conducted from 70 knots on the runway to Mach 2 at 46,000 feet.
Allavie was the only military pilot on the United States Supersonic Transport (SST) source selection team in 1964, followed by a role as a member of the USAF Aerospace Plane Evaluation Team.
In 1966 he retired from the Air Force and joined Flight Test Operations at Douglas Aircraft Company as an experimental test pilot, initially assigned to military test programs followed by flight testing of the DC-8, DC-9, MD-80 and DC-10/KC-10. Allavie is a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He has logged 18,000 hours flying more than 120 different aircraft. Jack Allavie passed away in August 2006.
Colonel Anderson is a combat veteran of WWII serving two tours in the European Theatre of Operations. Flying with the 363rd Fighter Squadron, part of the legendary 357th Fighter Group; Colonel Anderson ended the war as a triple ace with 16 and 1/4 confirmed aerial victories. As a test pilot at Edwards AFB, Colonel Anderson flew the unique F-84 "parasite" fighter in tests with successful launches and retrevals to the B-36 mothership. For further information on Bud and on how to order his autobiography "To Fly and Fight", please visit his official website at cebudanderson.com .
Harry Archer joined RAF in 1950 and once he gained his wings he flew squadron tours on Meteors and Canberras and went on to instruct on Meteors.
Archer graduated from the Empire Test Pilots School in 1957 and served at Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down between1958-1960. Harry flew projects on the Avro Shackleton, Blackburn Beverley, V-bombers, Canberra PR9 (first flight), Edgar Percival EP9 (first flight), and Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer. In 1960 Archer was selected as the first RAF exchange test pilot to serve at the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards AFB, California. Archer participated in the T-38, T-39, C-130, and B-52/X-15 programs flight test programs and flew the NB-52 launch plane on 18 of the 199 successful X-15 launches. During his tour at Edwards Archer became a very close friend of fellow B-52 launch pilot Jack Allavie and indeed, it was Allavie that checked Harry out in the Convair B-58 Hustler.
After rotating back to the UK Archer subsequently commanded 100 Squadron RAF on Victor B2s and later, commanded RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall. Group Captain Archer retired from the RAF in 1980 after flying 7000 hours in about 170 types.
General Ascani is a combat veteran of WWII where he flew B-17's for the 815th and 816th Bombardment Squadron's (part of the 483rd Bombardment Group). A test pilot at Wright-Patterson AFB and Muroc (later Edwards AFB), Ascani was one of the men who selected then Captain Chuck Yeager to fly the Bell X-1 program. As a test pilot, Ascani flew such experimental types as the X-1, X-4, X-5, XF-92A, XB-42, XB-45 tornado, XB-46, XB-48, YB-49 Flying Wing and XB-51. Read the full biography of General Ascani , complete with many photographs.
Jacqueline Auriol is France's most distinguished aviatrix. Born 5 November 1917 in Challans, France, she is the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder and timber importer. After graduating from the university in Nantes, she studied art at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. In 1938, she married Paul Auriol, son of Vincent Auriol, a prominent leader in the Socialist party. During World War II, Madame Auriol, by that time the mother of two sons, evaded Gestapo agents and assisted the French Resistance. After the war ended, Vincent Auriol became President of France, and Paul Auriol served as his father's press secretary. Madame Auriol soon became immersed in the social activities of the Palais Elysee. She took up flying in 1947, earned her tourist license the following year, and started stunt flying.
In July 1949, Madame Auriol was severely injured when a seaplane, in which she was a passenger, crashed into the Seine. Over the next two years, she underwent 22 operations to rebuild her face. But she did not give up flying. Between her last two operations in the United States, she earned her helicopter rating in only four weeks at the Bell Aircraft factory in New York. In 1950, Madame Auriol gained her military license and qualified at the Flight Test Centre at Bretigny, France, as the world's first woman test pilot.
On 11 May 1951, she set a new women's speed record in a British Vampire jet, flying 508.8 mph and besting Jacqueline Cochran's previous record, set in a P-51. This began a friendly rivalry between the two ladies, and they traded the women's world speed record for over a decade. Madame Auriol went on to beat her own record on 21 December 1952 in the Mistral. Flying a Mystere IV on 3 August 1953, she became the second woman to break the sound barrier. She then reclaimed the speed title from Miss Cochran on 31 May 1955, this time in the Mystere IVN. The title of "fastest woman" returned to Madame Auriol two more times: on 22 June 1962 in the Mirage IIIC and on 14 June 1963 in the Mirage IIIR. Later, she was one of the first pilots to fly the supersonic Concorde. Madame Auriol was awarded the 1952,1953, and 1955 Harmon International Trophies, the Paul Tissander Diploma in 1953, the 1963 Gold Air Medal, La Grande Medaille de L'Aero Club de France in 1963, and the Legion d'Honneur for her record-setting achievements. After leaving the Flight Test Centre, Madame Auriol worked with the Ministere de la Cooperation, using remote sensing techniques to gather information for agricultural development. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization presented her with the Ceres Medal for her significant contributions.
A veteran of Korea with the 3rd Bomb Wing and Vietnam with the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, Charlie Bock flew 103 combat missions. During his military career he was trained as a test pilot and later as a military astronaut-designee. He was twice assigned to Flight Test Operations at Edwards AFB.
He joined the YF-12/SR-71 Test Force in 1965. As Operations Officer on the Blackbird Test Program, he piloted stability, control and performance flights, which surpassed Mach 3 and 80,000 feet. He successfully participated in the extension of the operational envelope of the SR-71.
Bock retired from the Air Force in 1973 to take a position with Rockwell International Corp. as chief test pilot for the B-1 bomber program. In December 1974, he piloted the first flight of the bomber. He was responsible for all aircrew training and had a major influence in the formulation of the B-1 flight test program priorities and objectives.
He retired from Rockwell in 1981, and from 1984 to 1987 was a consultant to Northrop Crop. on the B-2 Stealth bomber. During his flying career, Bock logged over 10,000 hours in more than 70 types of aircraft.
Born in Iowa in 1925, he received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1949. Bock was also a graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School, the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, the Air Command and Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
A fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, he received the Society’s Ray E. Tenhoff Award and the Iven C. Kincheloe Award. Bock has also been honored by the Legion of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, six air Medals and the Aerospace Walk of Honor (1994).
Fred Bretcher enlisted in the Army Air Corps in May 1941 as a Flying Cadet. He was in the first class to graduate from flight training (42A) after Pearl Harbour. Of the class of approximately 200, Bretcher was one of only three graduates assigned to the Wright Field Flight Test Section and became part of the first class of the "Test Pilot School". Most of the education was by flying as co-pilot with experienced pilots. Bretcher flew everything the Army Air Force had in their inventory; including the P-36, B-17, B-24, C-54 and XB-19. While on temporary duty from Wright Field, Bretcher flew P-40, P-47 and P-51 combat missions in the European Theatre of Operations and visited the Royal Air Force to fly the Spitfire, Tempest and Lancaster.
Upon his return to Wright Field in 1944, Bretcher was assigned to the B-29 and then the B-32 program. He was promoted at that time to the rank of Major and became the Chief of the Bomber Flight Test Section. He also did quite a bit of test work at Muroc Army Airfield (now known as Edwards AFB). While there, he had his first experience flying the jet powered YP-59, YP-80A and the N9-M Flying Wing.
Bretcher joined Northrop as a test pilot in 1946 and built up his experience in the cockpit of the N9-M. He flew as co-pilot on the first flight of the XB-35, as pilot or co-pilot on the next two B-35's, as co-pilot on the first flight of the YB-49 and pilot of the first flight of the YRB-49 (with J.J. Quinn as co-pilot). He flew the first flight and Phase I tests of the XF-89 Scorpion and was co-pilot on the first flights of the N-23 and YC-125.
In 1950, he was transferred to Holloman AFB, New Mexico to head the flight portion of the Snark Missile Program. Bretcher retired from Northrop in 1952 and sadly passed away in 2003. In the photograph below, Bretcher can be seen at far right in sweat soaked clothes after the first flight of the XB-35.
Bill Bridgeman was born in 1916 and grew up in southern California - photographs document him clowning around at Point Mugu in 1942. He flew B-24 bombers for the US Navy during World War II in Squadron VB-109 under Buzz Miller. His crew sunk the Japanese submarine RO-117, with 55 men aboard, on 17 June 1944. After the war he stayed in the Pacific, flying for several airlines. He obtained a bachelor of science degree from the University of California and became a test pilot for Douglas Aircraft in 1949. This led to pioneering flights on the D-558-2 rocketplane and X-3 Stiletto in the 1950's. He was listed as an astronaut candidate for the US Air Force's Man In Space Soonest program in 1958 (NASA was created instead and given responsibility for putting the first man into space).
Bridgeman was briefly famous, setting altitude records, and appeared on a cover of Life magazine in 1951 as the latest "The Fastest Man Alive". He later left Douglas and flew flying boats on the run from Long Beach to Catalina Island off Los Angeles. Alone on one of these flights, he crashed into the ocean, on 29 September 1968, and was killed instantly. At the time of his death Bridgeman was 53 years old and had flown 14,000 hours, 3,000 of them in the Grumman G-21 he was flying. Because he was such a superb pilot, many felt the crash in clear weather may have been due to a heart attack. The cause was never determined and his body was never recovered.
After receiving primary and secondary civilian pilot training, Stan Butchart enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 1942. Upon his completion of flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas, he joined torpedo-bomber Air Group VT-51 and flew the Grumman-General Motors TBM Avenger from the aircraft carrier San Jacinto in the South Pacific during World War II. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Presidential Unit Citation among other service medals. Butchart joined the NACA's High-Speed Flight Research Station as a research pilot on May 10, 1951. During his career as a research pilot, Butchart flew a great variety of research and air-launch aircraft including the D-558-I, D-558-II, B-29 (plus its Navy version, the P2B), X-4, X-5, KC-135, CV-880, CV-990, B-47, B-52, B-747, F-100A, F-101, F-102, F-104, PA-30 Twin Comanche, JetStar, F-111, R4D, B-720, and B-47. Although previously a single-engine pilot, he became the Center's principal multi-engine pilot during a period of air-launches in which the pilot of the air-launch aircraft (B-29 or P2B) basically directed the operations. It was he who called for the chase planes before each drop, directed the positioning of fire rescue vehicles, and released the experimental aircraft after ensuring that all was ready for the drop. As pilot of the B-29 and P2B, Butchart launched the X-1A once, the X-1B 13 times, the X-1E 22 times, and the D-558-II 102 times. In addition, he towed the M2-F1 lightweight lifting body 14 times behind an R4D (Navy version of the C-47 and the DC-3). Among other awards, Butchart received the NACA Exceptional Service Medal for his decisions and actions when the X-1A exploded while attached to the B-29 launch aircraft on August 8, 1955. During his career, he wrote several technical reports and presented a number of research papers. He became one of 65 charter members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He later was elected a Fellow of the Society and became its President in 1980. Read the full NASA biography of Stan Butchart .
General Cardenas is a combat veteran of WWII where he flew B-24's for the 506th Bombardment Squadron (part of the 44th Bombardment Group). A test pilot at Wright-Patterson AFB and Muroc (later Edwards AFB), Cardenas flew the B-29 launch aircraft that carried the Bell X-1 rocket powered research airplane which then Captain Chuck Yeager flew beyond the sound barrier on October 14th, 1947 and was principal pilot on the Northrop YB-49 "Flying Wing" program. Read the full biography of General Cardenas .
Marion E. Carl's aviation career was marked by pre-eminent accomplishments. A WWII Fighter Ace, he was among the first Marines to fly a jet and served as the Commander of the Navy's first jet fighter squadron (VMF 122). Carl was the first Marine to be designated a helicopter pilot and was the first military pilot to use a full pressure suit. Carl set the world speed record of 650.6 moh in 1947 in the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak at Muroc. He also set a world altitude record of 83,235 feet in the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket in 1953. Carl served as Chief Test Pilot for all carrier type aircraft for four years. He performed experimental test flights in 30 different "X" model, propeller and jet aircraft. Carl flew 260 different types and models of aircraft and when he retired in 1973 he had 14,000 flying hours in his form 5. Aircraft tested by Carl include, XF-8F, XBTK, XBT2C, XBTC, XF-15C, XBTM, XHOS, XFJ, XFD, XF-7U, XF-8B, XF-3D, XHO3S, XF-4D, F-7F Series, ME-262, HNS, F-2G, F-8F, F-6U, F-2H, AF, FJ, P-59, P-80, D-558-I, D-558-II and the F-9F Series. Carl received Naval Air Test Pilot Training at the Naval Air Test Center. He has been honored with the Octave Chanute Award, Naval Carrier Aviation Test Pilot's Hall of Honor, Naval Aviation Hall of Honor, two Navy Crosses, five Distinguished Flying Crosses for significant avhievement in experimental test flying, fourteen Air Medals, four Legion of Merit Awards and the City of Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor in 1992. Sadly Marion Carl was slain on June 28th, 1998 in his Roseburg home while defending his wife, Edna, from a shotgun-wielding burglar. He was 82.
Robert A. Champine was a research pilot with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from December 1947 to 1979, when he retired as Langley Research Center's senior research pilot. He began his career with the NACA at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia (as Langley Research Center was then called). He transferred to the NACA's High-Speed Flight Research Station in the Mojave Desert of California in October 1948, where he flew the X-1 and D-558-I and -II research airplanes. On December 2, 1948, Bob became the 6th man and 3rd civilian to break the mysterious sound barrier. He exceeded Mach 1 on NACA flight 23 checking handling qualities and pressure distribution on the XS-1 #2, after having been dropped from the B-29 mother ship, above the Rogers Dry Lake in California. On August 4, 1949, NACA flight 32, he again exceeded Mach 1 performing rolls, pullups, sideslips, and check of stabilizer effectiveness. This was his 13th and last flight in the XS-1. He flew the first NACA research flight of the D-558-I #3 (Skystreak) on April 22, 1949, and the first NACA research flight of the D-558-II #2 (Skyrocket) on May 24, 1949, beginning the supersonic research program for these aircraft on June l, 1949. Please read the full NASA biography of Bob Champine and the memoirs of Bob Champine. Sadly Bob Champine passed away in 2004.
Colonel Chilstrom is a combat veteran of WWII flying 80 missions in the North African campaign during 1943. Flying with the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, Colonel Chilstrom flew the A-36 on dive bomband strafing missions and won the DFC and Eight Air Medals. After rotating back to the USA, Chilstrom was assigned to Wright Field, Dayton Ohio as a test pilot. Chilstrom flew flight test evaluations of the captured ME-109, FW-190 & ME-262. On February 17, 1945 Colonel Chilstrom was the first US pilot to have a major accident in the Bell P-59 (America's first jet aircraft) when he lost power on takeoff. In 1946, Chilstrom partcipated in the first jet air race at the National Air Races in Cleveland, OH.The winner of that race was Captain Gustav E. Lundquist. In September 1946, Chilstrom became Chief pilot of the Fighter Test Division at Wright Field and under his charge were some of the most famous test pilots in US history including, Pete Everest, Dick Johnson, Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover. In 1948 Chilstrom flew the Phase II tests of the XP-86 program at Muroc AFB, CA. Chilstrom was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1958 and that year was assigned as the Project Manager of the North American XF-108 Rapier at Wright Field. The XF-108 was to have been a Mach 3 long range interceptor but this program got sadly cancelled to save the sister XB-70 program due to a budget funding shortfall. Colonel Chilstrom retired from the USAF in 1964 after 26 years service and after 22 years of working for civilian defence contractors retired in 1986 to Palm Beach, FL.
Colonel Joe Cotton is a combat veteran of WWII where he flew bombing missions from bases in England. A test pilot at Wright Field and later Edwards AFB, Colonel Cotton flew as co-pilot of the first flight of the North American XB-70 Valkyrie prototype Mach 3 bomber along with North American chief test pilot Alvin S. White. Colonel Cotton made 19 flights as pilot and 43 flights as co-pilot in the XB-70. Colonel Cotton also flew the NB-52 launch aircraft for many of the X-15 missions including "Pete" Knight's maximum speed flight on October 3rd, 1967. I am honored to have met Colonel Cotton and treasure his friendship. To read more about Colonel Cotton's career click here .
Al Crews was born in El Dorado, Arkansas on March 23rd, 1929. Crews graduated from the University of Southern Louisiana in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering. ; He earned a Masters of Science in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Institute of Technology in 1959. Al Crews is a retired astronaut and Colonel in United States Air Force and is married with three children. Crews was selected as a military astronaut designee in the second group of X-20 Dynasoar astronauts on April 20th, 1962 and was assigned as a Dynasoar pilot on September 20th, 1962. The Dynasoar program was cancelled in 1963. On November 12th, 1965, Crews was selected as an astronaut for the USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program; Group 1 in 1965. After cancellation of MOL in 1969, Crews transferred to NASA Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. He remained at NASA as a pilot until his retirement at age 65.
Scott Crossfield served with the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot and instructor pilot during WWII. As a test pilot for the NACA, Scott Crossfield tested the X-1, X-4, X-5, XF-92A, D-558-I and D-558-II. The first person to fly at twice the speed of sound on November 20th, 1953 in the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket. Crossfield left the NACA to join North American Aviation where he played a key role in the design, developement and testing of the X-15 rocket powered hypersonic research airplane. Read the biography of Scott Crossfield which is hosted on the Edwards AFB website. Sadly Scott Crossfield perished when his single-engine plane crashed in Georgia on April 19. He was 84.
This was the first manned captive flight (the X-15 was not launched) of the X-15 which remained mated to the NB-52 throughout. The NB-52 pilots that day were Charlie Bock and Jack Allavie.
Bill Dana graduated from the U.S. military Academy at West Point in 1952 and served four years in the U.S. Air Force. He joined NASA after earning a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from USC in 1958. As a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB he was a project pilot on the rocket powered Hypersonic X-15 and flew it 16 times, reaching a top speed of 3,897 mph with a peak aaltitude of 310,000 feet (nearly 59 miles). Dana was the final pilot to fly the X-15 on its 199th free flight on October 24th, 1968. On this flight he reached a top speed of 3716mph (Mach 5.38) and peak altitude of 255,000 feet or 48 miles. Dana then began work as a project pilot on the Manned Lifting Body flight test program. Dana flew the M2-F1, M2-F2, Northrop HL-10 and the Martin-Marietta X-24B craft for 31 flights in all. These test programs produced critical data that helped in the design of the USA's Space Shuttle. Read Bill Dana's biography and learn more about his career.
Born in Seattle, Washington on June 15, 1932, Enevoldson attended several colleges. He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and his M.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1963. Enevoldson was a jet fighter pilot in the USAF, and as an exchange officer with the Royal Air Force attended the Empire Test Pilot's School in Farnborough, England. Following graduation, he served as a test pilot on the Hunter, Lightning and Javelin British fighter aircraft from 1966 to 1967.
Einar Enevoldson was a civilian research pilot for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California from 1968 until 1986. He was involved in many research programs, including those with experimental wings, propulsion and digital computer flight control systems. Among the NASA aircraft that he flew were the F-111, F-14, F-8 DFBW and SCW, YF-12A, the oblique wing AD-1, Controlled Deep Stall Sailplane, sub-scale F-15 RPV spin research vehicle and the X-24B Lifting Body. In 1974 Enevoldson was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, for his contributions as NASA Project Pilot on the F-111 Supercritical Wing Program and on the F-15 Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle. In 1980 he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for contributions as project pilot on F-14 stall and spin resistance tests. Enevoldson retired from NASA in 1986.
General Everest is a combat veteran of WWII where he fought in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations where he commanded the 17th Fighter Squadron of the 5th Fighter Group at Chinkiang, China. As a test pilot, Everest tested the X-1, X-1B, X-2, X-3, X-4 and X-5 (the only pilot to do so) and in doing so set a world altitude record in the X-1 and followed that up with a speed record in the X-2 (Mach 2.87). He is the only X-2 pilot who lived to see retirement after the demise of Bell Chief Test Pilot Skip Zieger who was killed when the X-2 exploded over Lake Ontario in 1953; the fatal crash of the X-2 which claimed the life of Capt. Mel Apt and the death of Iven Kincheloe when he was killed when ejecting from his F-104 Starfighter. Read the Air Force biography of General Everest
Gordon Fullerton is the chief pilot at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center facility at Edwards AFB,CA. As a test pilot at, Fullerton has over 13,000 hours of flying time, piloting 114 different types of aircraft, including full qualification in the T-33, T-34, T-37, T-39, F-86, F-101, F-106, F-111, F-14, X-29, KC-135, C-140, B-47. Since joining Dryden as a research pilot, Fullerton has piloted nearly all the research and support aircraft flown at the facility and currently flies the T-38, F-18, F-15, B-52, the NASA/Conair 990, 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and the DC-8. Assigned to evaluate the flying qualities of the Russian Tu-144 supersonic transport during two flights in 1998, he reached a speed of Mach 2 and became one of only two non-Russian pilots to fly that aircraft. Gordon Fullerton is a former NASA astronaut After primary and basic flight school he was trained as an F-86 interceptor pilot, and later became a B-47 bomber pilot at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. In 1964 he was chosen to attend the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School (now the Air Force Test Pilot School), Edwards AFB, CA. Upon graduation he was assigned as a test pilot with the Bomber Operations Division at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. In 1966, Fullerton was selected for and served as a flight crew member for the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program until its termination in 1969. After assignment to the NASA Johnson Space Center, as an astronaut Fullerton served on the support crews for the Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 lunar missions. In 1977, Fullerton was assigned to one of the two two-man flight crews which piloted the Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Test Program at Dryden that same year and was pilot of the Enterprise on its first free flight along with Commander Fred W. Haise. Fullerton was the pilot on the eight-day STS-3 Space Shuttle orbital flight test mission March 22-30, 1982. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center, FL., the mission exposed the orbiter Columbia to extremes in thermal stress and tested the 50-foot Remote Manipulator System used to grapple and maneuver payloads to orbit. STS-3 landed at Northrup Strip, White Sands, NM, because Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB was wet due to heavy seasonal rains. Fullerton was commander of the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center, FL, on July 29, 1985. This mission, with the orbiter Challenger was the first pallet-only Spacelab mission and the first to operate the Spacelab Instrument Pointing System (IPS). It carried 13 major experiments in the fields of astronomy, solar physics, ionospheric science, life science, and a super fluid helium experiment. The mission ended August 6, 1985, with a landing at Dryden. Click here to read Colonel Fullerton's NASA Dryden biography.
The man who easily holds the record for the longest test piloting career at Edwards is Lt. Col. Fitz Fulton, USAF (Ret). Apart from a year in the Korean conflict and another for university studies, he was engaged in flight test at Edwards continuously from 1950 to 1986, first for the Air Force and then for NASA. In addition to flying as launch pilot for such programs as the X-1, X-2, the Lifting Bodies and, ultimately, the Space Shuttle approach and landing tests with the unpowered Enterprise 1977, he served as project pilot for such aircraft as the B-47, B-52, B-57, B-66, the Mach 2 B-58 and the triple sonic XB-70. From 1970-79, he flew the Mach 3 YF-12 in an extensive series of supersonic research tests for NASA. During a distinguished career, he amassed more than 16,000 flying hours in over 235 different aircraft. Read Fitz Fulton's Edwards AFB biography.
Jerauld Richard "Jerry" is a retired Air Force Colonel and decorated Vietnam War veteran who spent much of his career as a fighter and test pilot.
Colonel Gentry, a Washington area resident since 1982, was born in Oklahoma. He was a 1957 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and took his commission in the Air Force. He received a master's degree in aerospace systems management from the University of Southern California. He graduated from Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1964, before beginning a seven-year tour at the Air Force Flight Test Center as a test pilot. During that tour, he became chief Air Force pilot with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in a joint project that led to the space shuttle program and flew many of the experimental "lifting bodies" including the M2-F1, M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10 and X-24A. In 1971, he went to Thailand and flew more than 200 missions in the F-4D Phantom fighter. Later, he was a leader in the Air Force's lightweight fighter program that led to the development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. He then served at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where he was a "Red Flag" aerial combat training commander. He later took command of the first tactical fighter wing to receive the new F-16 fighter. In 1983, he became deputy chief of staff for research, development and acquisitions at Air Force headquarters. After retiring from active duty in 1985, he founded the Alexandria aerospace and defense consulting firm of Gentry and Associates Inc. and remained its head until his untimely death on March 3, 2003 of a heart attack.
Colonel Gentry, a command pilot, had flown more than 40 types of aircraft, logging more than 4,700 flying hours. He was a recipient of the Octave Chanute Award and the Harmon International and Ivan E. Kincheloe trophies. His Air Force decorations included the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, two awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, three awards of the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Medal with two silver and three bronze oak-leaf clusters.
Robert J. Gilliland, the first man to fly the SR-71 Blackbird, has logged more experimental supersonic flight test time above Mach 2 and Mach 3 than any other pilot.
A sailor in World War II and a 1949 Naval Academy graduate, Gilliland joined the newly formed United States Air Force. After flying P-47 Thunderbolts and F-84 Thunderjets in Germany, he flew F-84s during a combat tour in Korea in 1952. His first test flight was measuring the wing loads of the Thunderjet. When he finished, he analyzed the flight saying, "The wing didn't come off, so I felt pretty good."
As a fighter test pilot in 1953 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, he flew most of the aircraft in the Air Force inventory. Later, he joined Lockheed as a civilian test pilot flying the F-104 Starfighter.
In 1962, Gilliland began to test the fastest and highest flying airplanes, including the A-11/A-12, YF-12A and the SR-71. He made the first flight of the SR-71 on December 22, 1964, taking the aircraft to Mach 1.5 and 50,000 feet altitude. He served as the principal test pilot for the SR-71's development program.
He logged over 6,500 hours in many different aircraft, including the F-104, F-80, F-84, F-86, T-6, P-47, YF-12A and SR-71.
A Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Gilliland was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1964 for his work on the Blackbird program. He was named an Eagle by the Air Force Flight Test Historical Foundation in 1998 and received the Godfrey L. Cabot Award in 2001. He is a trustee of the Association of Naval Aviation.
Bob Gilliland was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1926 and splits his time between Tennessee and Burbank, California. He has a son and a daughter.
He speaks fondly of the lifelong flying friendships he formed at Edwards Air Force Base and promises the test pilot of the future that there will always be opportunities on the cutting edge of flight test in spite of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The United States will always have a need for pilots who are challenged by the inherent danger of the work. Does the danger bother him? "The work is exciting. You may get killed. So what!" he responded.
"Slick" Goodlin is a combat veteran of WWII where he served with the Royal Air Force (on detatchment from the Royal Canadian Air Force) flying the Supermarine Spitfire. Goodlin joined the Bell Aircraft Corporation in late 1943 as an engineering test pilot. After the tragic death of Jack Woolams in August 1946; Goodlin was selected to fly the Bell X-1. Goodlin flew his first glide flight on October 11th, 1946 and went on to make the first powered flight of the X-1 on April 11th, 1947 at Muroc AFB, CA. A naturaly gifted "stick and rudder man", had the Air Force not taken over the program Goodlin would surely have went on to make the worlds first supersonic flight. Read Slick's NASA biography.
John Griffith is a former combat veteran of WWII; flying 189 missions in the P-40 in the Pacific Theatre of Operations in the Army Air Corps. Griffith left the service in 1946. Griffith joined the NACA's Muroc Flight Test Unit in September 1949 and went on to fly the Bell X-1 nine times, the Northrop X-4 Bantam seven times, the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak fifteen times and the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket nine times. John Griffith made his fastest flight in the X-1 on May 26, 1950 achieving a maximum mach number of 1.20 in X-1 #2 (6063). Griffith left the NACA in 1950 to join Chance-Vought testing their F-7U Cutlass. Click here to read John Griffith's NASA DFRC biography.
Richard J. Harer is a veteran of WWII flying 31 combat missions in the ETO. After graduating from the USAF Test Pilot School in 1949 & 1951 he was assigned to the AFFTC at Edwards AFB on June 14th, 1951 as Experimental Flight Test Officeer, Fighter Operations Branch, Flight Test Operations Lab and was assigned as test pilot for the Phase IV performance flight testing of the Repbublic F-84F fighter-bomber. Harer took part in the 1954 Bendix race and made one flight in the Bell X-1B on November 4th, 1954. Harer was flying a Lockheed F-94C on a routine test flight on December 22nd, 1954 when he experienced engine trouble and attempted a wheels-up landing on Rogers Dry Lake. The aircraft caught fire upone crash-landing and Harer was stuck in the burning cockpit. Chase pilot Captain Milburn "Mel" Apt immediately landed next to the crashed airplane and pulled Harer from the burning wreckage, saving his life. Harer's injuries included a broken back, third degree burns and a compound fracture of both legs. Unfortunately Captain Harer's legs had to be amputated due to the severity of the injury.
Bob Hoover is a combat veteran of WWII, serving in the Eurpoean Theatre of Operations. After WWII, Hoover was assigned to Wright Field and was personally selected by Colonel Al Boyd to be the backup and high chase pilot for the X-1 program. Hoover never got to fly the X-1 due to breaking both of his legs in a bail out of a Republic F-84 Thunderjet. Hoover left the Air Force to take up a position with North American Aviation as a test pilot. Bob Hoover is perhaps better known for his legendary displays at airshows around the world where he wowed audiences with his displays in the Sabreliner, P-51D "Ole Yeller" and in his Shrike Aero Commander. Sadly, Hoover does not have a biography page on the world wide web but I would recommend purchasing and reading his autobiography Forever Flying .
A pioneer of the "jet age," A.M. "Tex" Johnston is one of America's foremost test pilots. His love of aviation began in 1925, at age 11. In a pasture near his hometown of Emporia, Kansas, he took his first flight in a Hisso-Standard biplane. At age 16, he taught himself to fly and invested his after-school earnings in further flying lessons. Following high school in 1932, Johnston reluctantly enrolled in a teacher's college, but his parents soon helped him transfer to the Spartan School of Aeronautics. First he studied airplane mechanics, but then took up a limited commercial pilot's course. By age 19, he had not only trained as an aircraft and engine mechanic, but had earned his pilot's license. He worked in Inman's Flying Circus and built time flying in a variety of aircraft. Next, he bought a Command-Aire biplane and barnstormed around the country. Marrying in 1935, he enrolled in Kansas State University, earned an instructor pilot rating, and taught in the new Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program. After Pearl Harbor, he became a civilian ferry pilot for the Army Air Force. In late 1942, Johnston declined a commission and went to work for Bell Aircraft testing the P-39 Airacobra. After testing a captured Luftwaffe fighter, he moved to Bell's experimental flight test division. He flew Bell's XP-63 King Cobra and also did contract tests on other corporations' fighters until 1943. At Muroc Dry Lake, California, Johnston tested Bell's top-secret jet, the XP-59 Airacomet. In 1946, he modified a war-surplus P-39 and reached speeds of 430 mph while winning the Thompson Trophy at the National Air Races. He also set a new world speed record for closed-course air racing. Next, Johnston supervised Bell's tests of the rocket-powered X(S)-1 until 1947. He then worked on Bell's helicopter program until mid-1948. The whine of jet engines beckoned, and a tip from USAF Colonel Al Boyd sent Johnston to Boeing. He became senior experimental test pilot on the XB-47Stratojet at Wichita. In 1951, he moved to Seattle to become project pilot for Boeing's YB-52 Stratofortress. He made the first flight in the YB-52, a record 3 hours and 8 minutes, on 15 April 1952. Later he flew as copilot for General LeMay in the first production aircraft. In 1954, Johnston made the first flight of Model 367-80. The aircraft led to the KC-135 Stratotanker and the 707 airliner. In the early 1960's, Johnston was Assistant Program Manager for Boeing's X-20 Dyna Soar, a precursor to the Space Shuttle. After Secretary of Defense McNamara canceled the Dyna Soar, he worked 4 years as Director, Boeing Atlantic Test Center, then went into business for himself. Tex Johnston passed away in 1998 from natural causes.
During Colonel Kittinger's military career in the USAF (1949-1978) he held a variety of assignments from Fighter Pilot to Experimental Test Pilot, to staff assignments to Squadron Commander of an F-4 squadron to Vice Commander of an F-4 Fighter Wing. On 1 May 1972, during his third combat tour, he was shot down in an F-4 in aerial combat near Hanoi and was a POW there until released in March 1973. Colonel Kittinger is perhaps best known for the world records he has set (and still holds) in a hot-air balloon; Highest Parachute Jump - 102,800 ft. 16 Aug 1960, Longest Parachute Freefall - 4 min. 36 sec. 16 Aug 1960, First man to exceed the Speed of Sound without an aircraft or space vehicle. (714 mph during freefall) 16 Aug 1960, Most High Altitude Balloon Flights (5) Man High I, 96,000 ft.; Excelsior I, 76,000 ft.; Excelsior II, 75,000 ft.; Excelsior III, 102,800 ft.; and Stargazer, 86,000 ft. For a full biography on Colonel Kittinger click here. Other interesting articles can be found at Centenial of Flight and Air Commando.
Senator Knight spent 32 years in the U.S. Air Force flying and testing more than 100 aircraft types. In 1964, Pete Knight was selected to fly the North American X-15 which he flew to a worlds record of 4,520mph (Mach 6.74) on October 3rd, 1967. After his tour as a test pilot at Edwards AFB, Knight went on to serve a combat tour in South-East Asia where he completed 253 combat sorties. Knight retired from the Air Force in 1982, his final posting was Vice Commander of Edwards Air Force Base. Senator Knight was elected to the California State Senate in 1996, a position he held until his untimely death on Friday May 7th, 2004. Read Pete Knight's biography on the Edwards AFB website. I had the pleasure of meeting Senator Knight in October 2003 at the GoE. Although relatively short in physical stature he was a giant of a man.
Tony LeVier is one of aviation history's pioneer test pilots. His role in the advancement of aviation spanned a flying career of more than 50 years. LeVier began flying in 1928, at age 15, and by 1932 received his commercial license. He began barnstorming, flying charters, instructing and air racing. LeVier first made a name for himself by winning the 1938 Greve Trophy Race and the 1938 Pacific International Air Race. World War II brought new flying opportunities. After the war, LeVier went on to work with Douglas Aircraft, Midcontinent Airlines and General Motors. He began a career with Lockheed Aircraft in April 1941. At first, he ferried Lockheed Hudson bombers built for the Royal Air Force, but he soon worked his way into the engineering flight test department and remained there for 32 years. LeVier conducted the most extensive compressibility dive program that had ever been accomplished, and not only improved the P-38 Lightning, but also helped to pave the way for future high speed and supersonic flight.
LeVier's skill in the P-38 led to an assignment as a special research test pilot in the Eighth and Ninth Fighter Command in England. To improve the combat effectiveness of the P-38, he conducted lectures, flight tests and demonstration flights at all Eighth Air Force P-38 fighter bases. He then returned to Lockheed and helped America enter the jet age. On June 10, 1944, LeVier took off from Muroc Field in the XP-80A "Gray Ghost," the predecessor to America's first production jet aircraft. He went on to make "first flights" in 19 other aircraft including the T-33, F-94, XF-104 and U-2. During his flying career, he flew more than 250 different aircraft, but his contributions to aviation were not limited to test flying.
As an inventor, LeVier made many significant improvements in aircraft systems. He designed the master caution warning light system, the automatic wing stores release, the first practical afterburner ignition system, the "hot microphone" intercom system and the placement of the trim switch on top of the control stick. After 10 years as Lockheed's chief engineering test pilot, he became Lockheed's director of flying operations - a position he held until shortly before his retirement in 1974. LeVier was an active aviation consultant and a founding member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. In 1978, LeVier's contributions to aviation were honored when he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. LeVier died Feb. 6, 1998 at the age of 84. His memory lives on with the SETP Tony LeVier Flight Test Safety Award.
Robert Little joined McDonnell Douglas in 1948 as a flight test engineer and test pilot after flying 68 combat missions in P-51 Mustangs during WWII. Little holds the distinction of being the first to pilot four McDonnell Douglas jet fighters that went on to successful production runs: the F3H-1 Demon in 1953; the F-101A in 1954; the F-101B Voodoo in 1957 and the F-4 Phantom II in 1958. Little stepped out of the cockpit and into the McDonnell Douglas corporate office in 1960 when he became the F-4 program manager. In 1964, he was promoted to director of sales and then Vice President of marketing in 1968. Eventually he was elected to the company's board of directors. Little is a fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and ws awarded the prestigious James H. Doolittle Award for outstanding professional accomplishment in aerospace. Bob Little was honored by the Flight Test Historical Foundation in October 2003. To see a photograph of Bob Little preparing for the first flight of the F-4 click here .
Mike Love was assigned as a project pilot on the joint NASA-USAF X-24B Lifting Body flight test program at the NASA Flight Research Center. He made a total of 12 flights in the plane from October 4, 1973 until July 15, 1975. Love flew it to a speed of Mach 1.76 on October 25, 1974, a record for the X-24B. Love attended the USAF Test Pilot School and remained as an instructor there from 1969 through 1971. He was a test pilot at Edwards when assigned to fly to the X-24B. Love was a combat veteran of Vietnam and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf clusters. Love perished while attempting an emergency landing in an RF-4C on March 1, 1976.
Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1919, Gustave Lundquist graduated from Lane Technical High in 1937 and Wright Junior College in 1939, both in Chicago, Ill. He attended the University of Illinois before beginning his military career in May 1940 as an aviation cadet. Upon completion of flying training at Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas, he served from February to December 1941 as a flying instructor at Randolph and Goodfellow fields, Texas, and at Craig Field, Alabama. He was then assigned as squadron operations officer at Napier Field, Alabama. After graduating from experimental test pilot school in 1942, he served at Wright Field, Ohio as an experimental test pilot and later chief test pilot until 1944. During this time he conducted prototype testing of many of the aircraft eventually used in combat operations in World War II. During June and July 1944 he flew with the 353d Fighter Group in England. His Mustang, P-51, airplane was shot down over enemy territory in July 1944 and he was a prisoner of war in Germany until May 1945. General Lundquist returned to Wright Field, Ohio, in June 1945 as chief of the Fighter Test Section. He attended Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from October 1945 to February 1946, and again returned to Wright Field as chief of the Fighter Test Section and to continue his work as an experimental test pilot. In September 1946 General Lundquist competed in the Cleveland Air Races and won the Thompson Trophy race in an F-80 Shooting Star. He left Wright Field in September 1946 to attend the University of Illinois, earning a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in February 1948. Returning to Wright Field after graduation, he directed and served as one of the three experimental test pilots for the X-1 program, the rocket powered research aircraft which was first to fly faster than the speed of sound. Assigned to the Canal Zone from August 1948 to November 1949, General Lundquist served as director of the Flight Test Section, Panama Air Depot, Curundu Heights, and later as maintenance officer, Headquarters 23d Fighter Group at Howard Air Force Base. In November 1949 the General was assigned to the Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, as chief of the Aircraft Maintenance Training Section. He left the Pentagon in September 1950 to become a graduate student at North Carolina State College, where he received a master of science degree in nuclear engineering in May 1952. General Lundquist was then assigned to the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C., and became chief of Weapons Projects Section in September 1953. He served in this capacity until July 1955 when he was assigned to England as director of the U.S. Air Force Engineering Liaison Office, which was responsible for the exchange of research and development information with the Royal Air Force. He returned to the United States in July 1958 and was assigned to Headquarters Air Research & Development Command in Washington, D.C., as deputy director of air weapons. In August 1960 he became a student at the National War College, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. Upon graduation in June 1961, he became professor and head of the Department of Physics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In August 1963 General Lundquist left the Air Force Academy to become deputy for engineering and technology for the Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, L.G. Hanscom Field, Massachusetts, a post held until September 1965. During this period, he also served on the National Range Implementation Group. General Lundquist next served as deputy commander of the Rome Air Development Center, Air Force Systems Command, Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y., from September 1965 to June 1966. In June 1966 General Lundquist assumed command of the Systems Engineering Group, Research and Technology Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and also served as deputy commander of the Research & Technology Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He became commander of the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AFSC), in August 1967. General Lundquists military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart.
I created the above montage-print in honour of Corky Meyer and Bob Smyth; two of Grumman's most legendary test pilots.
On November 9th, 1962 Jack McKay was piloting the X-15. After launching from the B-52 mothership at 45,000 feet and lighting the XLR-99 rocket engine, McKay was radioed by Pete Knight, who was the flight communicator in the NASA control room, to check his throttle position. McKay verified it was at the full throttle position and was advised by Knight that the engine was only putting out 30 percent thrust. Knight radioed for a Mud Lake landing and McKay began a preplanned series of actions to make an emergency landing. He shutdown the engine and set up the turning pattern to Mud Lake, jettisoning the anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen propellants along the way. The strut of the left main landing gear failed on touchdown turning the aircraft sideways and then rolling it upside down and trapping McKay in his seat with his head next to the lakebed surface. Prior to rolling over McKay had the forethought to jettison the canopy. The emergency crew that was pre-stationed at the site immediately moved into action. The Air Force helicopter hovered over the X-15 blowing away the pungent fumes of the anhydrous ammonia still venting from the aircraft while the ground crew was able to dig a hole in the lakebed to provide enough clearance to extract McKay from the cockpit. McKay flew the X-15 again, but he was an inch shorter due to crushed vertebra. Mckay died on April 27, 1975; due in part to the injuries he suffered in the accident of November 9th, 1962.
The above cover was cancelled on date of flight (April 28th, 1964). On this flight Jack McKay reached a maximum speed of 3273mph/Mach 4.80 and an altitude of 92,600 feet. The NB-52 pilots were Charlie Bock and Guy Townsend.
General Powell was born in 1935, in Port Arthur, Texas. He earned a bachelor of science degree in military science from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1959 and a master's degree from Auburn University in 1975. He completed the Air War College in 1975. Upon graduation from the academy he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. General Powell completed pilot training at Spence Air Base, Ga., and Vance Air Force Base, Okla., and received his pilot wings in July 1960. He then received advanced fighter training in F-100s, and from June 1961 to January 1964 flew F-104s at George Air Force Base, Calif. He was subsequently assigned to the 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan. During this assignment General Powell flew 104 combat missions over Southeast Asia in F-105s. The general completed the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in 1968, and remained there as a test pilot involved in a variety of test programs, including the F-4E (slats), F-15 and made 3 flights each in the Martin Marietta X-24A and Northrop M2-F3 "lifting body" research vehicles. In August 1973 General Powell became executive officer to the commander of 7th Air Force and the U.S. Support Activity at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. After graduating from the Air War College in July 1975, he transferred to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., where he served initially as the ACEVAL-AIMVAL test planner, then as commander of the 422nd Fighter Weapons Squadron (operational test). From August 1977 to January 1980 the general served as director of fighter and reconnaissance requirements at Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. He then became commander of the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. From January 1982 to May 1983 General Powell served as assistant director for operational initiatives and joint matters in the Directorate of Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. In June 1983 he transferred to Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe as inspector general and later served as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1985 he became the first commander of the 316th Air Division and commander of the Kaiserslautern Military Community. The general was assigned as deputy commander for research, development and acquisition, Armament Division, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in July 1986. He assumed his present duties in June 1987. The general is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours. His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal and Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. General Powell retired from the USAF on February 1st, 1990.
Colonel Jack Ridley was born on June 16th, 1915 in Garvin, Oklahoma. In school, the young Oklahoman had a natural taste for mathematics and even in early life he showed an unmistakable aptitude for studying and analyzing the way that machines worked. Following high school, he entered the ROTC. program at the University of Oklahoma where he received his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1939. The world into which he graduated was uncertain, at best. Europe was a field of battle once again; Hitler’s blitzkrieg on Poland was about to teach the world a new concept of war, and England and France were to declare war on Germany before the end of the year. By the summer of 1941, the Battle of Britain had been fought and the United States was desperately building up its long-neglected armed forces to prepare for the world conflict which many thought was inevitable. In July of that year, the young engineer received a commission in the U.S. Army field artillery and began a military career which would continue for the rest of his life. The science of flight soon attracted him, however, and it was not long before he transferred to the Army Air Forces. Lieutenant Ridley was sent to the Flying Training School at Kelly Army Air Base in Texas, where he earned his pilot wings in May 1942.
The Air Corps had great need for engineering-trained pilots and, instead of being sent into an operational combat unit, Ridley was ordered to the Consolidated Vultee plant in Fort Worth, Texas, where his initial assignment was to conduct acceptance tests on four-engined B-24 Liberator bombers. Soon thereafter, he was named as engineering liaison officer on both the B-24 and B-32 programs. Even at that early date, the Air Corps was developing the mighty six-engined B-36 intercontinental bomber, later to become the mainstay of the postwar Strategic Air Command, and Ridley found himself assigned to that program as well.
Two years later, after the tide of battle had turned to the Allies favor, Ridley was sent off to add education to his experience. The technological revolution spawned by the war had demonstrated that the postwar Air Forces success would be dependent upon having a corps of officers with first-rate technical training. After attending the Army Air Forces School of Engineering at Wright Field (later renamed the Air Force Institute of Technology), Ridley was sent to the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California where he received his Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in July 1945.
With the war virtually over, the young officer was sent to Wright Field, Ohio, and assigned to the Air Materiel Command’s Flight Test Division. The conflict just ending had seen the greatest advances in the history of aeronautics: the piston engine reached its peak of development, jet propulsion was overturning all previous concepts of airplane design, and planes were flying higher and faster than ever before. The scientific and engineering staff at Wright Field had played a pivotal role in all of these developments and, clearly, this was the supreme location for an ambitious young would-be engineering test pilot. The science of training test pilots had been advancing as well, however, and before he could be put to work Ridley had to go through the Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School. In the spring of 1946, he graduated with Class 46A.
The long years of preparation would soon pay off handsomely. Even as Ridley was attending the Flight Performance School, the revolutionary X-1 rocket research airplane was making its initial unpowered check flights and, within a year, the AAF (soon to achieve independence as the United States Air Force) would assume control of the supersonic research program. Col. Albert Boyd, the legendary chief of the Flight Test Division and his deputy Colonel Fred J. Ascani had the critical responsibility for selecting the project team that would attempt the world’s first supersonic flight. In the spring of 1947, Boyd & Ascani appraised the roster of 125 test pilots and finally selected three volunteers who were considered very junior in terms of their flight test experience: Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, 1st Lt. Robert A. "Bob" Hoover, and Ridley. He named Yeager and Hoover as primary and backup pilot respectively, and Ridley as project engineer. Boyd realized that Ridley';s laid back demeanor and Oklahoma drawl masked a highly disciplined, razor sharp mind and he believed that, with his test piloting experience and his unique ability to translate esoteric concepts into everyday terms, he would be able to provide Yeager and Hoover with all of the engineering expertise they would need.
Ridley's task was to analyze all of the technical data that was generated during the X-1 flights as it proceeded toward the unexplored region of supersonic flight. Studying the phenomena which the research plane encountered as it passed through the transonic region, he translated all of the information into pilot terminology for Yeager so that the flight program could be carried forward expeditiously, yet with safety.
For all of his technical accomplishments during the high speed research program, however, the youthful-appearing engineer is most fondly remembered by the team for improvising a vital piece of equipment at the last minute. Two days before taking the X-1 on its first supersonic flight, Chuck Yeager broke two ribs in a horseback riding accident. With the aid of an understanding civilian doctor, he was able to conceal his condition from everyone but Ridley. Without the full use of his right arm, however, it would be impossible to seal himself into the tiny X-1 cockpit. With great common sense, Ridley quietly provided a length of broom handle which saved the day. Using the leverage provided by the broom handle, Yeager closed the hatch without difficulty. The rest, they say is history!
Still youthful, Ridley was promoted to full colonel in 1956 and became a member of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group. Then, flying as a passenger in a C-47 over Japan on March 12, 1957, Col. Ridley died at the age of 42 when the transport crashed into a snow-covered mountainside northwest of Tokyo.
In 1980, the Ridley Mission Control Center at Edwards Air Force Base was dedicated in Jack Ridley’s honor.
Jackie Ridley's autograph is surely one of the rarest test pilot signatures and certainly nigh on impossible to obtain. The above photograph was a most generous gift from my dear friend Maj. Gen. Fred J. Ascani and I am honoured to be able to display it here on my website.
General Rushworth received his pilot wings in September 1944 and is a combat veteran of WWII flying in the China-Burma-India theatre of operations, where he flew the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. General Rushworth was released from active duty in 1946 and was recalled in 1951 to the 49th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Dow AFB, Maine flying the F-80C. In July 1956, General Rushworth was sent to the US Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School graduating in January 1957. As a test pilot at Edwards AFB, General Rushworth flew the following; F-101, F-102, F-104, F-105, F-106 and many other jet fighter aircraft. General Rushworth is perhaps best known as pilot of the X-15 experimental research airplane, flying the X-15 for a record 34 times. General Rushworth (on his 14th flight) made the third “astro” flight on June 27, 1963 when he flew the X-15 to an altitude of 285000ft or 53.9 miles. The maxium speed attained on any of General Rushworth’s flights was during his 17th flight on December 5, 1963 when a speed of 4017mph or Mach 6.08. He is rated a command pilot astronaut and has more than 6,500 flying hours in more than 50 different aircraft. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters and Air Force Commendation Medal. He also wears the National Aeronautical and Space Administration Exceptional Service Medal. General Rushworth retired from the USAF on June 1, 1981. Sadly General Rushworth died on March 18, 1993. For General Rushworths full Air Force biography Click here.
Louis W. "Lou" Schalk is best known for piloting the first flight of the Lockheed A-12, first of the Blackbird family of Mach 3.0+ aircraft and for his work as chief test pilot for Lockheed Advanced Development Company. He began and ended his flight test career with the same philosophy. He would fly every aircraft he could get into. After Schalk graduated from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School in 1954, he was assigned to Fighter Operations at Edwards Air Force Base, where his teachers included Chuck Yeager and Pete Everest.
He was a USAF test pilot from 1954 to 1957. After completing the Phase II tests on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Schalk left the Air Force to join Lockheed Aircraft as a test pilot. In 1959, he joined the Lockheed Advanced Development Company "Skunk Works" and became its chief test pilot. He played a major role in the design of the cockpit of the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71 Blackbird and then flew the first thirteen flights on the A-12, beginning in 1962. He made the first four Blackbird flights exceeding Mach 3.0, with a top speed of Mach 3.287 (2,287 miles per hour). Much of this flight testing was performed at altitudes as high as 90,000 feet. Schalk performed over 100 hours of flight test on the Lockheed Electra, America's first turbo-prop commercial airliner, conducting structural integrity tests. He also tested the performance and stability of the North American F-86H Sabre and the stability and systems on the McDonnel F-101A Voodoo. A 1954 graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School, Schalk has flown over 5,000 hours in 70 different aircraft including the Lockheed Electra, A-11, F-104, F-86, YF-12, F-100, F-101, F-102, RAF Hunter and Javelin Aircraft.
Schalk has been honored with the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1964, was named an Eagle by the Flight Test Historical Foundation in 1996 and was selected for the Aerospace Walk of Honor. Lou Schalk was born May 29, 1926 in Alden, Iowa. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Arts and Engineering. Schalk's advice to test pilots of the future is to follow his own philosophy. "Fly all the planes you are permitted to fly," he says. "You will learn from each plane and the test pilot who checks you out.". Lou Schalk passed away in April 2002.
Colonel Russell E. Schleeh tested nearly every bomber from America's war-winning B-17 Flying Fortress to its strategic workhorse, the B-52 Stratofortress, during his 20 years in the United States Air Force. Schleeh learned to fly in 1940 under the Civilian Pilot Training Program while working as an apprentice aircraft mechanic. As an aviation cadet in 1941, he sought fighters, but found his niche in bombers.
A 1947 graduate of the Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School, Schleeh was the Chief of Bomber and of Fighter Flight Test at Wright Field, Ohio. He also tested in-flight refueling systems, including rigid tow, two B-29s nose to tail, probe and drogue with the B-47, B-36 and KC-97 and the flying boom with the B-47, B-52, KC-97 and KC-135. He led the 4017th B-52 Combat Crew Training Squadron, preparing the Strategic Air Command's B-52 and KC-135 crews, and was Director of Safety, 15th Air Force, for 5 years. In the late 1940s, Schleeh took over the flight testing of the YB-49 Flying Wing at Edwards Air Force Base.
He ultimately flew over 8,000 hours in more than 30 different aircraft including the B-17, B-24, A-20, YB-49, B-45, B-47, F-86, P-51, Spitfire, XB-28, XB-19, XB-36, XP-58, XP-87 and Me109. Retiring from the Air Force in 1962, he joined Douglas Aircraft Company as Deputy Directory of Military Marketing.
Born on May 19th, 1939, in Cle Elum, Washington. Dick Scobee enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1957, trained as a reciprocating engine mechanic, and was subsequently stationed at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. While there, he attended night school and acquired 2 years of college credit which led to his selection for the Airman's Education and Commissioning Program. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor of science degree in Aerospace Engineering. He received his commission in 1965 and, after receiving his wings in 1966, completed a number of assignments including a combat tour in Vietnam. He returned to the United States and attended the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Since graduating in 1972, he has participated in test programs for which he has flown such varied aircraft as the Boeing 747, the X-24B, the transonic aircraft technology (TACT) F-lll, and the C-5.
Scobee was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, he completed a one year training and evaluation period, making him eligible for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flightcrews. In addition to astronaut duties, Mr. Scobee is an Instructor Pilot on the NASA Boeing 747 Shuttle carrier airplane. He flew as pilot of STS-41C which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 6, 1984. Crewmembers included spacecraft commander, Captain Robert L. Crippen, and three mission specialists, Mr. Terry J. Hart, Dr. G. D. "Pinky" Nelson, and Dr. J. D. A. "Ox" van Hoften. During this mission the crew successfully deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF); retrieved the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite, repaired the orbiting Challenger on board, and replaced it in orbit using the robot arm called the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The mission also included flight testing of Manned Maneuvering Units (MMUs) in two extravehicular activities (EVAs); operation of the Cinema 360 and IMAX Camera Systems, and a Bee Hive Honeycomb Structures student experiment. Mission duration was 7 days before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on April 13, 1984. With the completion of this flight, he logged a total of 168 hours in space.
Mr. Scobee was spacecraft commander on STS 51-L which was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 11:38:00 EST on January 28, 1986. The crew on board the Orbiter Challenger included the pilot, Commander M. J. Smith (USN) (pilot), three mission specialists, Dr. R. E. McNair, Lieutenant Colonel E. S. Onizuka (USAF),and Dr. J. A. Resnik, as well as two civilian payload specialists, Mr. G. B. Jarvis and Mrs. S. C. McAuliffe. The STS-51L crew died on January 28, 1986 after Challenger exploded 1 minute13 seconds after launch.
Bob Smith was born on December 11, 1928 in Washington, D.C. The seeds of flight were sown when he was about 10 years old by Bob’s uncle, who was a pioneer Naval Aviator. Uncle George Luckett was the 18th pilot of the United States Navy. Those seeds germinated with the news of the competition between the Air Force giant B-36 bomber and the Navy flying boats, during Bob’s second year of college and he enlisted as an Air Force Aviation Cadet, for pilot training. He trained for a year, first in the advanced trainer of WW II, propeller driven T-6 Texan, where his desire to fly the big bombers was pushed far in the background by the excitement of aerobatics and ‘dog-fighting’, so he earned selection to advanced training in one of the first classes for jet pilots flying the first truly operational jet fighter, the F-80A, Shooting Star. He graduated the day of the beginning of the Korean War.
Bob shipped to the 4th Fighter Wing in Korea, where he flew air-to-air combat in opposition to the Mig-15 jets flown by Russian and Chinese pilots. He was soon joined in the 335th squadron by those same two buddies, John Honaker and Billy Dobbs. Together they amassed a fine combat victory record, however only Bob would enjoy the results for very long as both died in aircraft disasters within a year. Bob’s first aerial combat encounter made him the wingman of the world’s third Jet Ace, but then pitted him against four Migs with their cannon working effectively in an all-out effort to destroy his wounded airplane, alone and over 200 miles from home base. His subsequent fights in the span of 100 missions resulted in successes and failures, before returning home to a squadron in the Air Defense Command, where he joined a team in a competition of aerial gunnery for the national title. That team was led by his commander in Korea and jet Ace ‘Bones’ Marshall. It was during that tour that he made a decision to finish college and get a degree in aeronautical engineering in hopes of becoming an Air Force Test Pilot.
Two years later, as a new engineer, he entered the Test Pilot School resulting in assignment to test flying at the Air Proving Ground Command. There he began to add to the more than 50 different types of military airplanes he would fly. That tour of duty included some unusual flying events and close calls during some of the greatest air demonstrations ever presented to the public. He details his challenges, his successes and his goofs, some of which were in the extreme. Among them was his opportunity to fly solo in the formation of the Air Force Thunderbird Team and be invited to join them as one of the team members. That honor was squelched when a powerful officer, decided that Smith’s education and experience would lend more in developing t