Harold “Hal” C. Farley was born in Oklahoma City in 1936. Farley was an ensign in U.S. Navy in 1959 (Navy ROTC), completing U.S. Navy flight training and receiving his wings in 1960. He graduated from U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in 1964. Farley served in the Navy from 1959-67 and was assigned to Attack Squadron 164 (VA-164) flying A-4D aircraft aboard the USS Oriskany. In the Navy, he performed tests on a variety of aircraft, including the F-4 Phantom, F-8 Crusader, A-6 Intruder and others.After joining Lockheed in 1979, he was assigned to the then top secret Stealth Fighter Program where he participated in all phases of the F-117A project and logged over 600 hours of flight time.
At 6:05 AM on June 18, 1981 Lockheed Skunk Works test pilot Hal Farley lifted the nose of YF-117A #79-780 off the runway of the test site in the Nevada desert. The F-117A became the latest in a series of aircraft to make their first flights at this remote location located XXX miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Although officially designated Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center, this remote facility is known in the popular press as Area 51.
In 1983, he was named chief test pilot, and in 1989 he became director of flight operations and chief pilot of the Lockheed Advanced Development Company.
Farley is a fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. In 1996, Farley was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for tests performed in the F117-A. He lives in Sequim, Wash.