Herman Richard Salmon (July 11, 1913 – June 22, 1980), nicknamed "Fish", was a barnstormer,

air racer Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a pre ...

, and

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 the

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-u ...

Biography

Early life

Salmon was born in 1913 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

-born engineer Harry Britton Salmon and his wife Bertha Wilhelmine ''née'' Wagner.

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His first flight in an aircraft was at the age of 14; by 18 he was a licensed pilot. During the 1930s he flew as a barnstormer, parachute stuntman and race pilot. By 1940 he was living in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his first wife Evelyn.

Lockheed

He started work at Lockheed in 1940 ferrying Hudsons to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. In 1945, he was transferred to the engineering test piloting division by

Tony LeVier Anthony W. LeVier (February 14, 1913 – February 6, 1998) was an American air racer and test pilot for the Lockheed Corporation from the 1940s to the 1970s. Early life Born Anthony Puck in Duluth, Minnesota, his father died while he was still ...

, who was the new head of the department. As engineering test pilot, he spin tested the

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

and dive tested the

P-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...

, the

XF-90 The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a United States Air Force requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort. The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo. Lockheed received a contract for two prototype X ...

penetration fighter prototype, and the F-94C Starfire. He certification tested two of the models of the

Constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

for the Civil Aeronautics Administration. He made the first flights of such aircraft as the L-188 Electra,

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. It is based on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner by Lockheed; it is e ...

, YF-104A Starfighter, and the XFV-1

tailsitter A tail-sitter, or tailsitter, is a type of VTOL aircraft that takes off and lands on its tail, then tilts horizontally for forward flight. Originating in the 1920s with the inventor Nikola Tesla, the first aircraft to adopt a tail-sitter configu ...

, which was named in his honor. He succeeded Tony LeVier as chief engineering test pilot, until he retired from Lockheed in 1978.

The Goodyear Trophy air races, 1947-1949

A new class of air racing was introduced at the 1947

National Air Races The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, sponsored for three years by the Goodyear corporation. The first year Herman achieved a third place flying a

Cosmic Wind Cosmic wind is a powerful cosmic stream of charged particles that can push interstellar dust clouds of low density into intergalactic space. Although it easily pushes low density gas and dust clouds, it cannot easily push high density clouds. As ...

plane with a speed of 158.8 mph (256 km/h). The Cosmic Wind was designed and built by a group of Lockheed employees, including Tony LeVier. In 1948 Herman finished first, and in 1949 fifth.

Later years

In 1968, Salmon was the recipient of the coveted Kitty Hawk Memorial Award for distinguished achievement as a test pilot. Salmon continued to teach flight crew and ferry aircraft. In 1974 he flew as a passenger on the maiden flight of the then-recently restored

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

piloted and owned by Dwight Brooks. In 1980, he was killed in

Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The aircraft was colloquially referred to as the Super Connie. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC ...

N74CA that he was ferrying to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, when it crashed on take off from Bakalar municipal airport in Columbus, Indiana. Also killed in the crash were flight engineer Leland J. Sanders and a passenger. Five others survived the crash including Salmon's son and copilot, Randall. Herman Salmon had logged about 17,250

flight hours Flight time or block time is an aviation term referring to the total amount of time spent piloting aircraft, and serves as the primary measure of a pilot's experience. Flight time is defined by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as ...

. In 1994, he was inducted into the

Aerospace Walk of Honor The Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California, US, 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 recognize ...

Herman R. Salmon Technical Publications Award

Since 1971 the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, of which Salmon was a Fellow, has made an annual award ''"to recognize the most outstanding technical paper published in Cockpit magazine".'' The selection criteria include: * ''Contribution to flight testing'' * ''Contribution to the exchange of information between test pilots that would not otherwise be generally available''.

References

* LeVier, Tony, with John Guenther, ''Pilot''. 1954 (reprinted 1990). * Pace, Steve, ''Lockheed Skunk Works''. Motorbooks: Osceola WI, 1992.

External links

* : a documentary on Salmon
Biography from Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame

City of Lancaster, Aerospace Walk of Honor, 1994 Honorees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Herman 1913 births 1980 deaths Accidental deaths in Indiana American test pilots Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Lockheed people Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1980