Tag Archives: Test Pilot

31 December 1938

December 31, 2024AviationAirliner, Boeing Aircraft Company, Boeing C-75 Stratoliner, Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner, Eddie Allen, Edmund Turney Allen, First Flight, NC19903, NX19901, s/n 1994, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Test Pilot, Wright Aeronautical Corporation, Wright Cyclone 9 GR-1820-G102Bryan Swopes

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner with all engines running, Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, circa 1939. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

31 December 1938: Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 made its first flight at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. The test pilot was Eddie Allen, with co-pilot Julius A. Barr.

The Model 307 was a four-engine commercial airliner that used the wings, tail surfaces, engines and landing gear of the production B-17B Flying Fortress heavy bomber. The fuselage was circular in cross section to allow for pressurization. It was the first pressurized airliner and because of its complexity, it was also the first airplane to include a flight engineer as a crew member.

Boeing 307 Stratoliner NX19901 with both propellers on right wing feathered. (Boeing)

The Associated Press news agency reported:

Test Of Big Craft Begins

SEATTLE, Dec. 31—(AP)—The world’s first plane, designed for flying in the sub-stratosphere, the new Boeing “Stratoliner”, performed “admirably” in a 42-minute first test flight in the rain today.

The big ship, with a wingspread of 107 feet, three inches, climbed to 4,000 feet, the ceiling, and cruised between here, Tacoma and Everett. Speed was held down to 175 miles an hour.

“The control and stability and the way it handled were very nice,” Edmund T. Allen, pilot, said. “She performed admirably.”

The 33-passenger ship was built to fly at altitudes of 20,000 feet.

No more tests are planned until next week. The supercharging equipment for high altitude flights will be installed later.

—Arizona Republic, Vol. IL, No. 228, Sunday, 1 January 1939, Page 2, Column 4

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 taking of at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

Giant ‘Stratoliner” Wheeled From Factory, On First Flight

SEATTLE, Dec. 31—(AP)—The newest thing in aviation—a giant, 33-passenger stratoliner named and built by Boeing Aircraft Company—met enthusiastic approval of its test pilot today after preliminary test runs.

Scarcely 24 hours after it left the factory, the newest Boeing plane tested its wings yesterday. Test Pilot Edmund T. Allen taxied the plane along the ground, gunned it a bit and flew it in the air a short time at an altitude from 15 to 30 feet.

Allen did not class the short hop as the ship’s maiden flight, which he said formally remained to be made, probably within a week.

He said the big ship, minus general airplane characteristics, would not require any super-airports as the demonstration showed it would be able to take off and land at any ordinary-sized field.

The stratoliner has four 1,100-horsepower motors which will enable it to cruise at an altitude of four miles at a speed of more than four miles a minute.

Most unusual feature of the silver colored plane is the shape of the cabin, which bears a distinct resemblance to a metal dirigible. The cabin is circular throughout its length of 74 feet, four inches.

The shape was adopted because of the necessity of sealing the cabin so passengers can enjoy low-level atmospheric conditions while soaring at high altitudes. The door, instead of opening outwards, is opened from the inside, so that the higher air pressure in the cabin will keep it sealed.

The stratoliner’s wings compare in design with the Boeing flying fortresses but because of the larger cabin, the wing span is 107 feet, three inches, greater than that of the bombers, the new plane’s height is 17 feet, three inches.

“Outside of scientific and engineering circles the substratosphere has been generally regarded as something far away and mystical, but now it is being brought ‘down to earth,’ C. L. Engtvedt, president of Boeing said.

“The stratoliner will fly below the true stratosphere, but above the heavy air belt that brews surface weather conditions. Here we get most of the benefits of the stratosphere without getting into complex problems of flight in the extremely rare atmosphere and low temperature of the true stratosphere,” he said.

Engtvedt predicted stratosphere type planes would lend a tremendous stimulus to the growth of air transportation.

The first three stratoliners are being built for pan-American airways. Six more are in the course of construction for buyers whose identity has not been announced.

—Eugene Register-Guard, Vol. 95, No. 1, January 1, 1939 at Page 3, Columns 5 and 6

On March 18, 1939, during its 19th test flight, the Stratoliner went into a spin, then a dive. It suffered structural failure of the wings and horizontal stabilizer when the flight crew attempted to recover. NX19901 was destroyed and all ten persons aboard were killed.¹

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

Boeing 307 Stratoliner NX19901, right rear quarter. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog #:01_00091289)

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Catalog # 01 00091288) — Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901. The engine cowlings have been removed. The inboard right engine is running. The arrangement of passenger windows differs on the right and left side of the fuselage. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)

The Boeing Model 307 was operated by a crew of five and could carry 33 passengers. It was 74 feet, 4 inches (22.657 meters) long with a wingspan of 107 feet, 3 inches (32.690 meters) and overall height of 20 feet, 9½ inches (6.337 meters). The wings had 4½° dihedral and 3½° angle of incidence. The empty weight was 29,900 pounds (13,562.4 kilograms) and loaded weight was 45,000 pounds (20,411.7 kilograms).

The cockpit of a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, photographed 12 March 1940. (Boeing)

Cutaway illustration of a Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner. (NASM SI-89-4024)

The airliner was powered by four air-cooled, geared and supercharged, 1,823.129-cubic-inch-displacement (29.875 liter) Wright Cyclone 9 GR-1820-G102 9-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.7:1, rated at 900 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m., and 1,100 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. for takeoff. These drove three-bladed Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic propellers through a 0.6875:1 gear reduction in order to match the engine’s effective power range with the propellers. The GR-1820-G102 was 4 feet, 0.12 inches (1.222 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.10 inches (1.400 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,275 pounds (578 kilograms).

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliners under construction. (SDASM Archives Catalog #: 00061653)

The maximum speed of the Model 307 was 241 miles per hour (388 kilometers per hour) at 6,000 feet (1,828.8 meters). Cruise speed was 215 miles per hour (346 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The service ceiling was 23,300 feet (7,101.8 meters).

Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 with all engines running. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Catalog # 01 00091291) — Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 with all engines running. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog #: 01_00091291)

A Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) Boeing 307 Stratoliner with cabin attendants. (TWA) — A Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) Boeing 307 Stratoliner with cabin attendants. (Trans World Airlines)

As a result of the crash of NX19901, production Stratoliners were fitted with a vertical fin similar to that of the B-17E Flying Fortress.

Pan American Airways’ Boeing 307 Stratoliner NC19903, photographed 18 March 1940. Note the new vertical fin. (Boeing via Goleta Air and Space Museum)

During World War II, TWA sold its Stratoliners to the United States government which designated them C-75 and placed them in transatlantic passenger service.

Boeing C-75 Stratoliner. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Catalog # 01 00091316) — Boeing C-75 Stratoliner “Comanche,” U.S. Army Air Corps serial number 42-88624, formerly TWA’s NC19905. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog # 01_00091316)

Two TWA stewardesses with a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, circa 1950. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)

In 1944, the 307s were returned to TWA and they were sent back to Boeing for modification and overhaul. The wings, engines and tail surfaces were replaced with those from the more advanced B-17G Flying Fortress. The last one in service was retired in 1951.

Of the ten Stratoliners built for Pan Am and TWA, only one remains. Fully restored by Boeing, NC19903 is at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution.

The only existing Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner, NC19903, Clipper Flying Cloud, at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. (Photo by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

¹ Please see This Day in Aviation for 18 March 1939 at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/18-march-1939/

John Leonard Swigert, Jr. (30 August 1931–27 December 1982)

December 27, 2024Aviation, Space FlightApollo 13, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Command Module Pilot, Fighter Pilot, Jack Swigert, John L. Swigert Jr., John Leonard Swigert Jr., NASA, Test PilotBryan Swopes

John L. Swigert, Jr., Astronaut, Command Module Pilot, Apollo XIII. (NASA)

John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., was born at Denver, Colorado, 30 August 1931, the first of three children of John Leonard Swigert, a physician, and Virginia Seep Swigert. Interested in aviation from an early age, he was a licensed Private Pilot at age 16. He graduated from Denver’s East High School in 1949.

Jack Swigert attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. He was a member of the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC), played on the varsity football team, and was a member of the C Club. He graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Following his graduation, Swigert was commissioned as a second lieutenant, United States Air Force Reserve.

Lieutenant Swigert flew fighters from bases in Japan and Korea, then after completing his active duty requirement, 2 October 1956, he transferred to the Air National Guard. He served with the Massachusetts ANG and Connecticut ANG.

Swigert earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in 1965, as well as a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Hartford at Hartford, Connecticut.

Captain John L. Swigert, Jr., United States Air Force, F-100 Super Sabre pilot, 118th Fighter Squadron, Connecticut Air National Guard. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas) — Captain John L. Swigert, Jr., United States Air Force, F-100A Super Sabre pilot, 118th Fighter Squadron, Connecticut Air National Guard. (U.S. Air Force via Jet Pilot Overseas)

While flying with the Air Guard, Swigert also worked for North American Aviation, Inc., as an engineering test pilot, and then for Pratt & Whitney.

He became one of 19 men selected as crewmembers of NASA’s Apollo Program 1965. He requested an assignment as pilot of the Apollo Command and Service Module.

Swigert was a member of the support team for the Apollo 7 mission, and was then selected as Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 13 backup crew, along with John Watts Young and Charles M. Duke, Jr. When the primary crew CMP, Ken Mattingly, was thought to have been exposed to measles, he was withdrawn from Apollo 13 and Jack Swigert took his place in the primary crew.

Apollo 13 was planned as the third lunar landing mission. The circumstances of its flight are well known. When disaster struck, all three astronauts performed an amazing feat as they had to improvise their safe return to Earth.

Swigert left NASA in 1977 and entered politics. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, representing the the 6th District of Colorado.

On the night of 27 December 1982, before he could be sworn into office, John Leonard Swigert, Jr., aerospace engineer, fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut and congressman, died from complications of cancer.

John L. Swigert, Jr. Memorial, bronze sculpture by Mark and George Lundeen, in the National Statuary Hall Collection, United States Capitol. Gift of the State of Colorado, 1997. (Architect of the Capitol)

27 December 1951

December 27, 2024AviationBob Hoover, Bu. No. 133756, F-86E-10-NA, Fighter, First Flight, North American Aviation Inc., North American Aviation NA-179, North American Aviation XFJ-2B Fury, Prisoner of War, Prototype, Robert Anderson Hoover, Test PilotBryan Swopes

North American Aviation XFJ-2B Fury prototype Bu. No. 133756 climbs out after takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport, 27 December 1951. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)

27 December 1951: The North American Aviation XFJ-2B Fury, Bu. No. 133756, made its first flight at Los Angeles International Airport with test pilot Robert Anderson Hoover at the controls.

The XFJ-2B was a prototype aircraft carrier-based fighter for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It was modified from a standard production U.S. Air Force F-86E-10-NA Sabre day fighter. The primary difference was the substitution of four 20 mm Colt Mark 12 autocannon for the six .50-caliber Browning M-3 machine guns of the F-86E. 150 rounds per gun were carried. The aircraft was flown to the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Armitage Field, China Lake, California, for armament testing.

The second and third prototypes were unarmed but fitted with an arrestor hook, catapult points, folding wings and a lengthened nose gear strut to increase the fighter’s static angle of attack for takeoff and landings. These two prototypes were used for aircraft carrier trials.

Production FJ-2 Fury fighters were built at North American’s Columbus, Ohio plant, along with F-86F Sabres for the Air Force.

Prototype North American Aviation XFJ-2B Fury, Bu. No. 133756, in flight, eastbound, just southwest of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Santa Monica Bay and the Santa Monica Mountains are in the background. (North American Aviation, Inc./Boeing) — Prototype North American Aviation XFJ-2B Fury Bu. No. 133756 in flight, eastbound, just southwest of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Santa Monica Bay and the Santa Monica Mountains are in the background. (North American Aviation, Inc./Boeing)

North American Aviation test pilot Robert A. ("Bob") Hoover with XFJ-2 Fury, Bu. No. 133754, the second prototype. (North American Aviation, Inc.) — North American Aviation test pilot Robert A. (“Bob”) Hoover with XFJ-2 Fury Bu. No. 133754, the second prototype. Note the extended landing gear strut. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

Robert A. Hoover was one of the world’s best known exhibition pilots. He was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. While flying a British Supermarine Spitfire with the 52nd Fighter Group based at Sicily, he was shot down, captured, and held as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I in Germany.

After 16 months in captivity, Hoover escaped, stole a Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and flew it to The Netherlands.

After the war, Bob Hoover trained as a test pilot at Wright Field, Ohio, and remained in the Air Force until 1948. He worked as a test pilot for the Allison Division of General Motors, and then went on to North American Aviation.

Bob Hoover was famous for flying aerobatic demonstrations around the world in his yellow P-51D Mustang and a twin-engine Shrike Commander, both built by North American Aviation.

Robert Anderson Hoover died 25 October 2016 at the age of 94 years.

Robert Anderson Hoover, Test Pilot, with North American Aviation F-100D-30-NA Super Sabre 55-3702A. (The Washington Post)

26 December 1956

December 26, 2024Aviation56-451, All-Weather Interceptor, Convair Division of General Dynamics, Convair F-106A Delta Dart, Dick Johnson, Edwards Air Force Base, F-106A-1-CO, First Flight, Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17, Richard Lowe Johnson, Test PilotBryan Swopes

Convair Chief Test Pilot Richard Lowe Johnson. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

26 December 1956: Convair’s Chief Test Pilot, Richard Lowe Johnson (1917–2002) made the first flight of the Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart, U.S. Air Force serial number 56-451, at Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California. It reached 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) and 0.8 Mach during the 20-minute flight, which had to be aborted due to mechanical problems.

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 makes its first flight at Edwards AFB 26 December 1956. (U.S. Air Force)

Built at the Convair Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California, the delta-winged interceptor was trucked to Edwards on 14 December and prepared for its first flight.

Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-451 was loaded on a trailer at the Convair plant in San Diego, California, 14 December 1956, to be transported to Edwards Air Force Base for its first flight. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, Catalog #: 00018591) — Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-451 was loaded on a trailer at the Convair plant in San Diego, California, 14 December 1956, to be transported to Edwards Air Force Base for its first flight. (SDASM)

The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1988, when it was withdrawn from service with the Air National Guard. It was a single-seat, single-engine delta-winged aircraft capable of speeds above Mach 2.

The airplane was a development of the earlier F-102A Delta Dagger, and was initially designated F-102B. However, so many changes were made that it was considered to be a new aircraft.

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 during a test flight near Edwards Air Force Base, California. It is marked with high-visibility orange paint. (U.S. Air Force)

The F-106A is 70 feet, 8.78 inches (21.559 meters) long with a wingspan of 38 feet, 3.5 inches (11.671 meters). The total area of the delta wing is 697.83 square feet (64.83 square meters). The angle of incidence was 0° and there was no dihedral. The leading edges were swept aft 60°. The top of the vertical fin was 20 feet, 3.3 inches (6.180 meters) high. The Delta Dart weighs 23,646 pounds (10,726 kilograms) empty, and has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 38,729 pounds (17,567 kilograms).

Convair F-106A Delta Dart three-view illustration with dimensions. (SDASM)

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451, at Edwards Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force via F-106DeltaDart.com)

The F-106 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 afterburning turbojet engine. The J75-P-17 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine with afterburner. It used a 15-stage compressor section (8 high- and 7 low-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2-low pressure stages). The J75-P-17 had a maximum continuous power rating of 14,100 pounds of thrust (62.72 kilonewtons), and military power rating of 16,100 pounds (71.62 kilonewtons) (30-minute limit). It produced a maximum of 24,500 pounds (108.98 kilonewtons) with afterburner (5-minute limit). The engine was 3 feet, 8.25 inches (1.124 meters) in diameter, 19 feet, 9.6 inches long (6.035 meters), and weighed 5,875 pounds (2,665 kilograms).

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force)

The interceptor has a cruise speed of 530 knots (610 miles per hour/982 kilometers per hour). and a maximum speed of 1,153 knots 1,327 miles per hour/2,135 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The F-106A had a service ceiling is 53,800 feet (16,398 meters) and a rate of climb of 48,900 feet per minute (248 meters per second). Its combat radius was 530 nautical miles (610 statute miles/982 kilometers) and the maximum ferry range was 1,843 nautical miles (2,121 statute miles/3,413 kilometers).

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (SDASM)

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 with a drag chute deployed to slow the airplane after landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (SDASM)

The Delta Dart was armed with four GAR-3A radar-homing, or -4A (AIM-4F, -4G) infrared-homing Falcon air-to-air guided missiles, and one MB-1 (AIM-2A) Genie unguided rocket with a 1.5 kiloton W-25 nuclear warhead. The missiles were carried in an internal weapons bay. In 1972, the General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon was added to the rear weapons bay with 650 rounds of ammunition. (The number of gun-equipped Delta Darts is uncertain.)

Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart 56-451 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force via F-106DeltaDart.com)

Convair built 342 F-106 interceptors. 277 were F-106As and the remainder were F-106B two-seat trainers.

56-451, the first F-106A to fly, was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in 1960. In 1989, it was transferred to Selfridge Air Museum, near Mount Clemens, Michigan, marked as 59-0082 of the 171st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard.

The first F-106, Convair F-106A-1-CO Delta Dart, 56-451, in the markings of the 171st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard, displayed at the Selfridge Military Air Museum, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mount Clemens, Michigan. (TSGT Robert Hanet/Air National Guard 121013-Z-NJ721-180)

Convair Chief Test Pilot Richard Lowe Johnson in the cockpit of an F-106A Delta Dart. (SDASM)

Richard Lowe Johnson ¹ was born at Cooperstown, North Dakota, 21 September 1917. He was the eighth of nine children of Swedish immigrants, John N. Johnson, a farmer, and Elna Kristina Helgesten Johnson, a seamstress.

Dick Johnson attended Oregon State College at Corvallis, Oregon, as a member of the Class of 1943. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) fraternity. Johnson was a pitcher for the college baseball team, and later, played for the Boston Red Sox “farm” (minor league) system.

On 18 June 1942, Johnson enlisted as a private in the Air Corps, United States Army. On 5 November, he was appointed an aviation cadet and assigned to flight training.

Aviation Cadet Johnson married Miss Juanita Blanche Carter, 17 April 1943, at Ocala, Florida. The civil ceremony was officiated by Judge D. R. Smith.

After completing flight training, on 1 October 1943, Richard L. Johnson was commissioned as a second lieutenant, Army of the United States (A.U.S.).

Lieutenant Johnson was assigned to the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, Twelfth Air Force, in North Africa, Corsica, and Italy, flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. He was promoted to first lieutenant, A.U.S., 9 August 1944, and just over three months later, 26 November 1944, to the rank of captain, A.U.S. On 14 May 1945, Captain Johnson was promoted to the rank of major, A.U.S. (Major Johnson was assigned a permanent rank of first lieutenant, Air Corps, United States Army, on 5 July 1946, with a date of rank retroactive to 21 September 1945.)

Republic P-47D-25-RE Thunderbolt 42-26421, assigned to the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter group, Twelfth Air Force. This airplane was purchased by the employees of Republic Aviation. (American Air Museum in Britain UPL 25505)

During World War II, Major Johnson flew 180 combat missions with the 66th Fighter Squadron. He is officially credited with one air-to-air victory, 1 July 1944. Johnson was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters (3 awards), and the Air Medal with twelve oak leaf clusters (thirteen awards).

In 1946, was assigned to the Air Materiel Command Engineering Test Pilot School at the Army Air Forces Technical Base, Dayton, Ohio (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). He was the second U.S. Air Force pilot to be publicly acknowledged for breaking the “sound barrier.”

A few weeks after arriving at Dayton, Major Johnson met Miss Alvina Conway Huester, the daughter of an officer in the U.S. Navy. Dick Johnson and his wife Juanita were divorced 8 January 1947, and he married Miss Huester in a ceremony in Henry County, Indiana, 10 January 1947. They would have three children, Kristie, Lisa and Richard.

Richard L. Johnson waves from the cockpit of the record-setting North American Aviation F-86A-1-NA Sabre, 47-611.

Dick Johnson set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Course,² flying the sixth production North American Aviation F-86A-1-NA Sabre, serial number 47-611, at Muroc Air Force Base, California (renamed Edwards AFB in 1949).

During the Korean War, Major Johnson was sent to the war zone to supervise field installations of improvements to the F-86 Sabre. He was “caught” flying “unauthorized” combat missions and was sent home.

Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger 52-7994. (U.S. Air Force)

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson resigned from the Air Force in 1953 to become the Chief Test Pilot for the Convair Division of General Dynamics. He made the first flights of the YF-102 Delta Dagger, 24 October 1953, and the F-106A Delta Dart, 26 December 1956. He also made the first flight of the General Dynamics F-111A on 21 December 1964.

In 1955, Johnson was one of the six founding members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Dick Johnson made the first flight of the General Dynamics F-111A, 63-9766, from Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas, 21 December 1964. (U.S. Air Force)

Dick Johnson was Chief Engineering Test Pilot for the General Dynamics F-111 “Aardvark.” In 1967, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots awarded Johnson its Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his work on the F-111 program. In 1977, Dick Johnson, then the Director of Flight and Quality Assurance at General Dynamics, retired.

In 1998, Dick Johnson was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor at Lancaster, California. His commemorative monument is located in front of the Lancaster Public Library on W. Lancaster Boulevard, just West of Cedar Avenue. ³

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Lowe Johnson, United States Air Force, (Retired), died 9 November 2002 at Fort Worth, Texas. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, on 7 January 2003.

Chief Test Pilot Dick Johnson in the cockpit of a Convair B-58A Hustler. (Courtesy if Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

¹ Several sources spell Johnson’s middle name as “Loe.”

² FAI Record File Number 9866

³ Various Internet sources repeat the statement that “Richard Johnson has been honored with. . . the Thompson Trophy, Mackay Trophy, Flying Tiger Trophy, Federation Aeronautique Internationale Gold Medal and Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. . . .” TDiA has checked the lists of awardees of each of the appropriate organizations and has not found any support for the statement.

26 December 1948

December 26, 2024AviationFighter, I.V. Federov, I.V. Sokolovsky, Ivan E. Fyodorov, Ivan Evgrafovich Federov, Klimov VK-1, Lavochkin La-176, Mach 1, NPO Lavochkin, Rolls-Royce Nene, Sound Barrier, Supersonic Flight, Test Pilot, Ива́н Евгра́фович ФёдоровBryan Swopes

The ç — The Lavochkin La-176 (NPO Lavochkin)

26 December 1948: Test pilot Ivan Evgrafovich Federov (Ива́н Евгра́фович Фёдоров ) became the first pilot in the Soviet Union to exceed Mach 1 when he flew the Lavochkin La-176 in a dive from 9,050 meters (29,692 feet) to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).

It was first thought that the La-176’s airspeed indicator had malfunctioned, but during subsequent testing conducted the first week of January 1949, Federov repeated the dive and six times reached Mach 1.02.

The La-176 was destroyed when its canopy failed during supersonic flight. Test pilot I.V. Sokolovsky was killed.

The La-176 was a single-seat, single-engine fighter, derived from the earlier La-168. The leading edge of its wings and tail surfaces were swept at 45°. The fighter was 36 feet (10.973 meters) long with a wingspan of 28 feet, 2 inches (8.585 meters). It had an empty weight of 3,111 kilograms (6,858.6 pounds) and loaded weight of 4,631 kilograms (10,210 pounds).

The La-176 was powered by a Klimov VK-1 centrifugal-flow turbojet, developed from the Rolls-Royce Nene. The British engines were reverse-engineered by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov and manufactured at Factory No. 45 in Moscow as the Klimov VK-1. The VK-1 used a single-stage centrifugal-flow compressor, 9 combustion chambers and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. It produced a maximum 26.5 kilonewtons of thrust (5,957 pounds of thrust). The VK-1 was 2.600 meters (8 feet, 6.4 inches) long, 1.300 meters (4 feet, 3.2 inches) in diameter, and weighed 872 kilograms (1,922 pounds).

The swept-wing jet had a maximum speed of 648 miles per hour (1,042.85 kilometers per hour) and a range of 621 miles (999.4 kilometers).

Armament consisted of one Nudelman N-37 30 mm cannon and two Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 23 mm cannon.

Colonel Ivan Evgrafovich Federov (23 February 1914–12 February 2011) was a Soviet Air Force fighter pilot who fought in the Spanish civil war (where he was known as Diablo Rojo, the Red Devil), the Russo-Finish War, World War II, China and Korea. He may have shot down as many as 135 enemy airplanes. He was personally awarded the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany, in 1941. His Soviet Awards include Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War 1st Degree, Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Degree, and Order of the Red Star.

Colonel Ivan Yegrafovich Federov, Soviet Air Force. Hero of the Soviet Union.