John H. Griffith was a

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

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

, one of the pilots of the

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by B ...

. Griffith grew up in

Homewood, Illinois Homewood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,463 at the 2020 census. The village sits just a few miles south of Chicago proper. It is bordered by Chicago Heights and Flossmoor to the south, Hazel Crest ...

. He joined the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in November 1941, and served in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He flew 189 missions in the

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

fighter and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and four

Air Medal 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 establi ...

s. Following the war, he attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, studying

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. He then joined the NACA's

Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center within the cities of Brook Park, Ohio, Brook Park and Cleveland between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks, with a s ...

. At Lewis he was involved in tests of

ramjet A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around and can operate up to . Ramjets can be particularly appropriat ...

aircraft. In August, 1949, Griffith became a research pilot at the Muroc Flight Test Unit (now Dryden Flight Research Center). He flew the experimental aircraft the Bell X-1 (nine flights),

X-4 Bantam The Northrop X-4 Bantam is a prototype small twinjet aircraft manufactured by Northrop Corporation in 1948. It had no horizontal tail surfaces, depending instead on combined elevator and aileron control surfaces (called elevons) for control in p ...

(three flights), Douglas Skystreak (fifteen flights), and

Douglas Skyrocket The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) is a rocket and jet-powered research supersonic aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the ( 17 December) 50th anniversary of po ...

(nine flights). On May 26, 1950, he piloted the X-1 #2 to its highest speed of Mach 1.20. He was the first NACA pilot to fly the X-4. Griffith left the NACA in 1950 to fly for private companies — Chance Vought,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

, and for Westinghouse. At Vought, in 1951, he was the Senior Experimental Pilot on the

F7U Cutlass The Vought F7U Cutlass is a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer Chance Vought. It was the first tailless production fighter in the United States as well as the Nav ...

. At Westinghouse, he became the Chief Engineering Test Pilot. He later worked for the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, assisting in the development of a never-completed

supersonic transport The ogive.html" ;"title="Concorde supersonic transport had an ogive">ogival delta wing, a slender fuselage and four underslung Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 engines. file:Tu-144.jpg, The Tupolev Tu-144 was the first SST to enter service and th ...

plane. He subsequently returned to United Airlines as a flight instructor, until retiring to

Penn Valley, California Penn Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Nevada County, California. The population was 1,621 at the 2010 census, up from 1,387 at the 2000 census. The large Lake Wildwood master-planned community, although a separate CDP, has a Penn Va ...

. Griffith is one of the 2006 inductees into the

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

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 ...

John H. Griffith died October 21, 2011, at the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Grass Valley, California, from pneumonia and a dissected aorta. He was 90 years old.

References

External links

* *
The Union - Obituary
*''City of Lancaster Outlook'', August 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, John H. 1910s births 2011 deaths Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) American people of Welsh descent American test pilots United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Recipients of the Air Medal People from Homewood, Illinois Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics alumni Military personnel from Illinois