Joe Henry Engle is an American pilot, aeronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was the commander of two Space Shuttle missions including STS-2 in 1981, the program's second orbital flight. He also flew two flights in the Shuttle program's 1977 Approach and Landing Tests. Engle is one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA, and the last surviving test pilot of the aircraft. After Richard H. Truly died in 2024, Engle is now the last surviving crew member of STS-2.
The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new aerospace weapon systems and also other aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. This school was established on 9 September 1944 as the Flight Test Training Unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton, Ohio. To take advantage of the uncongested skies, usually superb flying weather, and the lack of developed zones in the event of crashing, the test pilot school was officially moved to its present location at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California on 4 February 1951.
Donald Ray McMonagle is a former astronaut and a veteran of three shuttle flights. He became the Manager, Launch Integration, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 15, 1997. In this capacity he was responsible for final shuttle preparation, launch execution, and return of the orbiter to KSC following landings at any other location. He was chair of the Mission Management Team, and was the final authority for launch decision.
Richard Alan "Rick" Searfoss was an American aviator who was United States Air Force colonel, NASA astronaut and test pilot.
Brigadier General Frank Kendall "Pete" Everest Jr. was a U.S. Air Force officer who is best remembered as an aeroengineer and test pilot during the 1950s.
Eugene Peyton Deatrick Jr. was a United States Air Force colonel, test pilot, and combat veteran. He is best recognized for his role in the rescue of United States Navy Lieutenant Dieter Dengler during the Vietnam War. The rescue was recounted in the Werner Herzog films Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Rescue Dawn and the national bestseller Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War by author Bruce Henderson.
George J. Marrett is a former United States Air Force officer, combat veteran, and test pilot. He is the author of many aviation-related books and articles.
Robert L. "Silver Fox" Stephens was a United States Air Force test pilot who set several speed and altitude records while testing the Lockheed YF-12 and SR-71.
Fred J. Ascani was an American major general and test pilot of the United States Air Force. He was one of the "Men of Mach 1" and was considered the father of systems engineering at Wright Field.
Richard Earl "Dick" Lawyer was a USAF astronaut, test pilot, and combat veteran. Although he trained for the USAF Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL), the program was cancelled before any of the MOL crews reached space.
James Martin Taylor was a United States Air Force astronaut and test pilot. Although he trained for the USAF Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL), the program was cancelled before any of the MOL crews reached space.
David Paul Cooley was a Lockheed test pilot and retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer, responsible for developmental flight testing of the F-117 Nighthawk. He was killed while flying a test mission in an F-22 Raptor jet fighter over the high desert of Southern California.
Jerauld Richard "Jerry" Gentry was a United States Air Force (USAF) test pilot and Vietnam combat veteran. As chief USAF pilot of the Lifting Body Research Program, he helped validate the concept of flying a wingless vehicle back to Earth from space and landing it like an aircraft—an approach used by the Space Shuttle and to a greater degree by vehicles such as the Lockheed Martin X-33 and NASA X-38. Gentry completed thirty lifting body flights including the first flight of the Martin-Marietta X-24A and the second flight of the Northrop HL-10.
Kenneth Oscar Chilstrom was a United States Air Force officer, combat veteran, test pilot, and author. He was the first USAF pilot to fly the XP-86 Sabre, chief of fighter test at Wright Field, commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, and program manager for the XF-108 Rapier. Chilstrom was a pilot in the first jet air race and delivered the first air mail by jet. He flew over eighty combat missions in the Italian Campaign of World War II and tested over twenty foreign models of German and Japanese fighters and bombers to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
James E. Brown III is an aerospace executive, test pilot instructor, and former United States Air Force officer. As of 2021, he is the president of the National Test Pilot School located in Mojave, California.
Hispanics in the United States Air Force can trace their tradition of service back to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the military aviation arm of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II. The USAAF was the predecessor of the United States Air Force, which was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947, under the National Security Act of 1947. In the U.S., the term Hispanic categorizes any citizen or resident of the United States, of any racial background, of any country, and of any religion, who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or is of non-Hispanic origin but has an ancestor from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America, or some other Hispanic origin. The three largest Hispanic groups in the United States are the Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated Hispanic population of the United States is over 50 million, or 16% of the U.S. population, and Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic minority. The 2010 U.S. census estimate of over 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico, thereby making the people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or race minority as of July 1, 2005.
Steven M. Rainey is a test pilot and retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer. As of 2022, he is a test pilot for Stratolaunch Systems working on the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch aircraft. Previously, he was Lockheed Martin's chief F-22 test pilot, Boeing's lead F-22 test pilot, and commander of the USAF 411th Flight Test Squadron. He is noted for a number of achievements while flight testing the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. He was the first USAF pilot to fly the aircraft, the first pilot to perform aerial refueling in the F-22, and the first pilot to fly cross-country in the Raptor.
The Onizuka Prop Wash Award recognizes the student at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School who contributed most to class spirit and morale. The honoree from each class is selected by his or her fellow students rather than by school faculty. The award is named in memory of TPS graduate Ellison Onizuka who perished in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.
Colonel Noel Zamot is a retired United States Air Force officer who was the first Hispanic Commandant of the Air Force's elite Test Pilot School. Zamot is a former combat and test aviator with over 1900 hours in B-52, B-1B, B-2A, F-16D and over 20 other aircraft. He created the first system for testing complex military systems in contested cyberspace for the United States. Zamot is also the founder of Corvus Analytics, a consulting firm which helps its clients to design and develop cyber resiliency for complex systems.
