W. L. "Lou" Everett (November 28, 1924 – April 27, 1965) was a

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 ...

fighter pilot 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 ...

Early life

Lou Everett was born on November 28, 1924, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He graduated from high school at seventeen 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 ...

, and wanted to fly fighter aircraft for the United States Navy. Because he was too young for the Navy Cadet program, he enlisted in the Army. Within a few months, he transferred to the

and began training as a fighter pilot assigned to fly the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

. Stationed in Florida, he was awaiting assignment to go overseas when the war ended. Everett joined the

Mississippi Air National Guard The Mississippi Air National Guard (MS ANG), commonly known as the Mississippi Air Guard, is the aerial militia of the State of Mississippi, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Mississippi Ar ...

, attended

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded ...

, and continued to fly by

crop dusting Aerial application, or crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known a ...

and instructing at a local air school. While attending Millsaps, he married Betty June Coleman and soon after the couple moved to Starkville, Mississippi, where Lou enrolled in the Aero Physics Department at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. In December 1950, the Mississippi Air National Guard was called to active duty because of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Shortly thereafter, Everett was called to serve in Korea, where he flew AT-6 Texans on forward air control missions.

Test pilot career

Everett returned to the United States to resume his education at Mississippi State. He graduated in 1954 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and joined Chance-Vought in California as an engineer. In 1955, he was hired by

Ryan Aeronautical Company The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California, in 1934. It became part of Teledyne in 1969, and of Northrop Grumman when the latter company purchased Ryan in 1999. Ryan built several historically and tec ...

as their second test pilot for the

X-13 Vertijet The Ryan X-13 Vertijet (company designation Model 69) is an experimental Tail-sitter, tail-sitting VTOL, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft built by Ryan Aeronautical and flown in the United States in the 1950s. The main objective ...

, joining Ryan’s Chief Test Pilot, Pete Girard. The X-13 was the world’s first pure jet

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust- ...

aircraft, and Girard and Everett were the only pilots to fly it. As a result of their research work on the X-13, the two men received awards from the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

. During this time, Everett became one of the original 17 members 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 sugges ...

. During the test phase of Ryan’s VZ-3 Vertiplane, Girard resigned from test piloting, and Everett became Ryan’s Chief Engineering Experimental Test Pilot. He continued testing the Vertiplane and began testing (a maiden flight: May 23, 1961; ''Flight'' magazine) the Flex-Wing; a Rogallo-wing aircraft which evolved into the XV-8 Fleep. On May 23, 1961, flying the Flex-Wing, he became the first man to leave the ground in a powered Rogallo. The next project was the XV-5 Vertifan, jointly developed by Ryan and General Electric, and first flown by Everett. The Vertifan employed the lift fan concept to achieve vertical flight, diverting jet thrust to spin louvered fans in the wings and nose. On April 27, 1965, the two Vertifan prototypes made their public debut during a press demonstration at Edwards. One was to fly horizontally in front of the grandstand, while the other would convert from horizontal to vertical flight and descend. Everett was in the plane scheduled to descend. Flying at and an altitude of , he prepared to transition from conventional to fan mode, but the Vertifan unexpectedly pitched nose down. Everett radioed "I've got to get out!" and ejected, but the

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...

failed and his parachute caught on the plane’s high tail. He went down with the plane and was killed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Everett, Lou 1924 births 1965 deaths American test pilots Aviators from New York (state) Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Burials at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery Mississippi State University alumni People from Brooklyn Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1965 Victims of flight test accidents Accidental deaths in California