Richard Lowe Johnson (September 21, 1917 - November 9, 2002) is best known for being chief

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

for Convair, a division of the American defence contractor General Dynamics, and as a founding member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1955.

Biography

Johnson was born in Cooperstown, North Dakota, and educated at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

. In 1942, Johnson enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and served as a

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

pilot with the 57th Group's, 66th Fighter Squadron, in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He completed 180 combat missions and was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and fourteen Air Medals. Johnson graduated from the Air Materiel Command Engineering Test Pilot School in 1946. The F-86A set its first official world speed record of 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h) on September 15, 1948, at Muroc Dry Lake flown by Major Richard L. Johnson, USAF. Johnson remained in the US Air Force until 1953, having reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died of brain cancer on November 9, 2002, and was buried with full military honors at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Decorations

Silver Star * Legion of Merit ribbon

Legion of Merit * Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon

Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 oak leaf clusters * Air Medal ribbon

Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters

Other awards

* Ivan C. Kincheloe Award in 1967, for the General Dynamics F-111 test program.

References

External links

Code One Magazine - obituaryBiography
American aviators United States Air Force officers Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 1917 births 2002 deaths People from Griggs County, North Dakota Oregon State University alumni Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Recipients of the Air Medal American test pilots United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers American aviation record holders U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni {{USAF-bio-stub