Richard G. (Dick) Ewers became a pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in May 1998. His research flying duties focus on piloting highly modified F/A-18 aircraft. He also maintains qualification in the King Air and was qualified in the Airborne Science DC-8 aircraft before it was transferred to the University of North Dakota. He has more than 37 years and almost 10,000 hours of military and civilian flight experience in all types of aircraft from jet fighters to blimps.
Ewers came to NASA Dryden from a position as an engineering test pilot with Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Division (formerly Westinghouse’s Electronic Systems Group). He spent eight and a half years with Westinghouse flight testing emerging radar and forward looking infrared systems under development for military and civilian use.
Before going to work for Westinghouse, Ewers served for more than 21 years as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter and test pilot, flying F-4, A-4, and F/A-18 aircraft. He underwent flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., in 1969-70. He was subsequently assigned to both fighter/attack and reconnaissance squadrons before ultimately commanding an F-4S squadron for two years. His military flying included combat service in Vietnam and operational exchange tours with both U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force squadrons flying F-4s around the world, including off aircraft carriers.
Ewers graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981 and subsequently served two tours as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Md. Most of his flight test experience was with the F-4S Phantom II and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Ewers graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering mechanics. He earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1970.