Fitzhugh L. "Fitz" Fulton, Jr. (June 6, 1925 – February 4, 2015), (

Lt Col Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel ...

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

), was a civilian research pilot at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

Dryden Flight Research Center The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. Its primary campus is located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California and is considered NASA's premier site for aeronautical res ...

Edwards, California Edwards (formerly, Muroc and Wherry Housing) is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located east-southeast of Mojave, about northeast of Lancaster, east of Rosamond, and south of California City at an elevation ...

, from August 1, 1966, until July 3, 1986, following 23 years of distinguished service as a pilot in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

Biography

Early life and education

Born June 6, 1925, in

Blakely, Georgia Blakely is a city and the county seat of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 5,068. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27. History Blakely w ...

, Fulton attended Auburn University, the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from the

Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, and accounting. The university offers s ...

Air Force service

Fulton flew 225 trips to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

C-54 The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

's during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

. He also flew 55

combat mission ''Combat Mission'' is the name of a successful series of computer wargames simulating tactical battles. The series has progressed through two distinct game engines. The original game engine, referred to as 'CMx1' by the developer, Battlefront.co ...

s in the

Douglas B-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major C ...

over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

during

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross and five

Air Medals The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

for these missions. Fulton completed the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School in 1952, and served as a test pilot with the Air Force. He was a project pilot on the

B-58 The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...

supersonic bomber program and set an international altitude record of 85,360 feet with the aircraft carrying a payload of 5,000 kilograms (11,023 pounds) in 1962. He received the 1962

Harmon International Aviation Trophy The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut (balloon or dirigible). A fourth trophy, the "National Trophy," was awarded from 1926 through 1938 to t ...

for his work on the program. Fulton was also assigned as the Air Force pilot on the B-52 launch aircraft for the X-15 research aircraft and other air-launched vehicles. During his earlier Air Force career Fulton received three Distinguished Flying Cross medals for his test pilot work. He flew the

XB-70 The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North Ame ...

prototype

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

bomber on both NASA-USAF tests and NASA research flights during the late 1960s, attaining speeds exceeding

Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...

3. He was also a project pilot on the

YF-12A The Lockheed YF-12 was an American Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a potenti ...

and YF-12C research program from April 14, 1969, until September 25, 1978. The planes were flown at speeds and altitudes in excess of 2,000 mph and 70,000 feet to acquire flight data for the development of future aircraft. Fulton retired from the USAF in 1966 after a 23-year career. At the time, he was Chief of Bomber Transport Test Operations Division at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...

NASA test pilot

Fulton was the project pilot on all early tests of the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) used to air launch the Space Shuttle prototype ''Enterprise'' in the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) at Dryden in 1977. During these flights, the SCA carried Enterprise to an altitude of about 25,000 feet, where it was separated from the 747 and flown to a landing by the Shuttle test crew in five flights. Several uncrewed and crewed captive flights preceded the free flights. For his work in the ALT program, Fulton received the

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, aer ...

. He also received the Exceptional Service Medal again in 1983 for flying the 747 SCA during the European tour of the Space Shuttle Enterprise. After orbital flights began in 1981, Fulton continued to fly the SCA during ferry missions returning Orbiters to the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

Florida. During his career at Dryden, Fulton was project pilot on NASA's

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

, B-50, and

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...

bombers launch aircraft used to air launch a variety of piloted and unpiloted research aircraft, including the

X-1 X1, X-1 or X-one may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Bell X-1, the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in controlled level flight Automobiles * BMW X1, a 2009–present German subcompact luxury SUV * Geely Yuanjing X1, a 2017–202 ...

, X-2,

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed ...

s, and M-2,

HL-10 The Northrop HL-10 was one of five US heavyweight lifting body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC—later Dryden Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of ...

, and X-24 rocket airplanes. He was also project pilot on the Laminar Flow Control Leading Edge research program using a specially modified C-140 JetStar. Fulton was the project pilot for the FAA/NASA

Controlled Impact Demonstration The Controlled Impact Demonstration (or colloquially the Crash In the Desert) was a joint project between NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that intentionally crashed a remotely controlled Boeing 720 aircraft to acquire d ...

program during 1984. It culminated on December 1, 1984, when he remotely flew an unpiloted, heavily instrumented

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was i ...

to a prepared impact point on Rogers Dry Lake to test the flammability of anti-misting jet fuel in a crash situation. He was named a Fellow of the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and suggest ...

, and in 1977 received the Society's

Iven C. Kincheloe Award The Iven C. Kincheloe Award recognizes outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing. It was established in 1958 by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in memory of test pilot and Korean War ace Iven C. Kincheloe, Uni ...

as Test Pilot of the Year for his work on the ALT program. At the time of his NASA retirement in 1986, Fulton had over 16,000 flying hours in 235 types of aircraft.

Scaled composites

After retiring from NASA, Fulton hired on as the Flight Operations Director and Chief Research Pilot for

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the rec ...

Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develo ...

. There, he flew the

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...

s on the Advanced Technology Tactical Transport and the

Scaled Composites Triumph The Scaled Composites Triumph was a twin-engine, business jet prototype designed and built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites for Beechcraft. It was known officially as the Model 143, and internally at Scaled as the "Tuna". The aircraft is a thre ...

twin engine executive jet.

Personal life

He was married to Erma Fulton and they had three children. He left Florida and moved to the Antelope Valley to work at Edwards AFB. He died on February 4, 2015, of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, at age 89.

Awards

Aerospace Walk of Honor The Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California, USA, honors test pilots who have contributed to aviation and space research and development. The Aerospace Walk of Honor awards were established in 1990 by the City of Lancaster "to recogniz ...

(1991) * Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School "Distinguished Alumnus" * Distinguished Flying Cross (four awards) *

(five awards) *

(1962) *

(two awards) *

Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame The Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame recognizes aviation pioneers and contributors associated with the state of Georgia. The museum was created in 1989 by Governor Joe Frank Harris signing House Bill 110. The law called for a 15-member board to overs ...

(1995) *

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

(1999) *

SETP The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and suggest ...

(1977) *

Philip J. Klass Philip Julian Klass (November 8, 1919 – August 9, 2005) was an American journalist, and UFO researcher, known for his skepticism regarding UFOs. In the ufological and skeptical communities, Klass inspires polarized appraisals. He has be ...

Award for Lifetime Achievement (2003) *

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

inductee (2014)Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .

References

NASA bioAWOH bioNational Museum of the USAF bio

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Fitz 1925 births 2015 deaths Auburn University alumni University of Florida alumni Golden Gate University alumni American test pilots Aviators from Georgia (U.S. state) Harmon Trophy winners Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Air Force colonels United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War American Korean War bomber pilots U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni People from Blakely, Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Recipients of the Air Medal American aviation record holders