Jack L King 1922-2012

George Rodney (left) and Jack King at the controls of a Martin 2-0-2 airliner

Martin XP4M-1 Test Flight
Martin XP4M-1
The flight test team for the XP4M-1 flight of 11Feb1947. L-R 'Dutch'Gelvin,Rollo Kehaman,Charles Keports, Barney Meade and Jack L King.

Jack King started work as an assembly work for the Glenn L.Martin Company a the age of 17 in 1939. To increase his education and to srtive for a career avancement,he took polytechnic courses in aeronautical engineering and was quickly promoted to the drafting department. He also worked at the old Curtiss Wright Airport at weekends.To earn his pilot's license at the age of 18, he bartered eleven hours of work for on-half hour of flight time.

By World War II,he had received his instructor's rating. As with most young men, World War II interrupted their civilian careers and King was no exception. Assigned to Langley Field, he received B-25 training and was placed in the research dicisin due to his experience with Glenn L.Martin.

After the war, King returned to the Martin plant and worked in the Power Plant Department and designed cowlings for new airline equipment such as the Martin 2-0-2 and 4-0-4. Because he was a licensed mechanic and had logged considerable flight time, he was offeerd a job as a co-pilot in the Flight Test Department.

He flight tested many of the Martin Aircraft Companies designed, including the 202/404 Airliner, XP4M Mercator, XBTM-1 Mauler, accumualting over 20,000 hours flying in his career. Jack King has written several aviation books.

Peter T. (Pete) Reynolds 1945-2014

Peter T. (Pete) Reynolds, chief of engineering flight testing for Learjet, Inc. ranks among general aviation's top test pilots with more than 8,900 hours of flying time, including 8,300 hours in jet aircraft. He is the only professional general aviation pilot to be a finalist in NASA's space shuttle astronaut selection and holds a number of aviation ratings.
Mr. Reynolds earned a B.S. in engineering sciences at Purdue University in 1966 and an M.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado in 1968. He served with the U.S. Air Force from 1968 to 1973 and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and other prestigious medals for his service in combat.
In 1979, he and former Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong piloted a Learjet Model 28 to establish five world time-to-climb speed records for business jets. Mr. Reynolds has overseen a number of test and certification programs, including those for the Learjet Models 24 and 25, the first aircraft certified by the FAA to fly at 51,000 feet altitude and the model 28/29, the first business jets to fly in winglets, which today are widely used on both commercial and general aviation aircraft.