dick, johnson, test, pilot, richard, lowe, johnson, september, 1917, november, 2002, best, known, being, chief, test, pilot, convair, division, american, defence, contractor, general, dynamics, founding, member, society, experimental, test, pilots, 1955, conte. Richard Lowe Johnson September 21 1917 November 9 2002 is best known for being chief test pilot for Convair 1 a division of the American defence contractor General Dynamics and as a founding member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1955 2 Contents 1 Biography 2 Decorations 3 Other awards 4 References 5 External linksBiography editJohnson was born in Cooperstown North Dakota and educated at Oregon State University In 1942 Johnson enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and served as a P 47 Thunderbolt pilot with the 57th Group s 66th Fighter Squadron in North Africa and Italy He completed 180 combat missions and was awarded the Silver Star the Legion of Merit four Distinguished Flying Crosses and fourteen Air Medals Johnson graduated from the Air Materiel Command Engineering Test Pilot School in 1946 3 The F 86A set its first official world speed record of 671 miles per hour 1 080 km h on September 15 1948 at Muroc Dry Lake flown by Major Richard L Johnson USAF Johnson remained in the US Air Force until 1953 having reached the rank of lieutenant colonel He died of brain cancer on November 9 2002 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery 4 Decorations edit nbsp Silver Star nbsp Legion of Merit nbsp Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 oak leaf clusters nbsp Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clustersOther awards editIvan C Kincheloe Award in 1967 for the General Dynamics F 111 test program References edit Blackburn Al 1999 Aces Wild The Race for Mach 1 Rowman amp Littlefield p 207 ISBN 978 0 8420 2732 8 Helm Merry January 7 2020 Dick Johnson Test Pilot Williston Herald Retrieved March 11 2020 1998 Honorees Richard L Dick Johnson Aerospace Walk of Honor City of Lancaster California Retrieved November 17 2021 Eriksmoen Curt July 20 2014 Test pilot from N D set records The Bismarck Tribune Retrieved March 11 2020 External links edit nbsp Biography portal Code One Magazine obituary The Society of Experimental Test Pilots history Biography nbsp nbsp This biographical article related to the United States Air Force is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dick Johnson test pilot amp oldid 1219166632, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,