Howard T Murley DFC AFC* 1923-2016

Wing Commander Howard Murley flew four-engine bombers with Bomber Command before spending a number of years as a test pilot.


When Murley joined No 218 Squadron in May 1944 as the pilot of a four-engine Stirling bomber, he was barely 20 years old, the second youngest member of his seven-man crew.


His early sorties were to northern France during Bomber Command’s campaign to destroy vital targets, particularly rail marshalling yards and infrastructure, in the lead-up to D-Day. On one such sortie, as he was heading south over London, one engine of his bomber failed. The Stirling was at maximum weight and unable to maintain height. By the time Murley reached the Wash to jettison his bombs, the aircraft had lost more than 10,000 ft in height.


The squadron soon re-equipped with the Lancaster and bombing over Germany was resumed in August. Flying over Homberg on Bomber Command’s first major daylight raid for three years, Murley’s aircraft was badly damaged by flak and its hydraulics and undercarriage were damaged, but he managed to return to his base in Suffolk and land safely. After 39 operations over Germany he was rested and awarded the DFC.


After his tour with No 218 Squadron Murley had a spell as a bombing instructor before transferring to the air transport force and flying Dakotas on routes to Italy and the Middle East. He later joined the Transport Command Development Unit and during this period flew sorties on the Berlin Airlift, operating from an airfield in West Germany. He was also seconded to the USAF as an RAF representative, during which time he flew as co-pilot on a C-54 Skymaster as one of the team transporting the much-publicised millionth sack of coal into Berlin.
In July 1949 Murley was selected as one of the first two RAF exchange students to train as test pilots at the United States Navy Test Pilot Training School in Patuxent River, Maryland, where he met and married his wife. A year later he returned to Britain to take up a post as a test pilot at Farnborough, flying a wide range of different aircraft types.


In 1953 he became the flight commander of the Aerodynamics Flight, at a time when the first of the V-bombers were being tested. One was the Avro Vulcan, and to provide aerodynamic data for its revolutionary delta-wing configuration a small number of third-scale single-engine research aircraft, the Avro 707, were built to provide aircraft handling data. During the 1953 Farnborough Air Show, he flew one of four of these aircraft in formation with the first two prototypes of the Vulcan, providing a stunning spectacle.


His flying duties also included photographing live trials of the Martin Baker ejector seat, and he flew some of the initial test flights investigating the spinning characteristics of the early high-performance jet fighters. He was then awarded a bar to his AFC.


While flying a Sabre fighter he suffered a pneumothorax as a result of being subjected to high g-forces while breathing 100 per cent oxygen at low level. Although unknown at the time, this is now a recognised risk. He was grounded, returning to flying in July 1960.


After three years in Malta as a staff officer, he returned to the test-flying arena when he was appointed as the Officer Commanding the Experimental Flying Wing at Farnborough. Again he flew a wide variety of aircraft, but he enjoyed none more than a replica SE 5A bi-plane of First World War vintage, which he demonstrated at several air shows.

W/Cdr Michael R. Ingle-Finch DFC AFC 1920-2002

Michael Roscoe Ingle-Finch commenced his operational RAF career flying Hurricanes during and after the Battle of Britain. He then joined 56 Squadron based at Duxford and was amongst the first squadron pilots to fly a Typhoon when the first operational Typhoons came into service on that significant day, 11th September 1941. In September 1942, by now promoted to Flight Commander, Ingle-Finch achieved another first - 56 Squadrons first air victory in a Typhoon when he shot down a Junkers Ju88 off the east coast. Having been involved with Typhoons since they became operational, Ingle-Finch went on to fly them throughout their operational life. On 31st December 1943, he was promoted to command 175 Squadron during the decisive campaign in Normandy. In that same year he was awarded the DFC. His distinguished wartime service in the RAF culminated in promotion to Wing Commander Flying of 124 Wing.
On leaving the RAF he joined Marshalls of Cambridge as a test pilot. He joined Joined Short Bros as a test pilot in 1952. He displayed the Shorts Seamew at Farnborough in 1955 and the Belfast in 1964.

A/Cdre F.R.D. Swain CB AFC 1903-1989

Air Commodore (Francis) Ronald Downs Swain.

Joined the RAF in 1922,initial training with 5FTS. On gaining his wings joined No2 Sqn as a pilot. Transferred to No11 Sqn in 1923. He became a QFI with No2 FTS in 1926. Posted to No 23Sqn as a Flight Commander in 1929 and then to No 6 Sqn at the same rank.
During 1933 he commanded the Cairo-Rhodesia Flight. In 1935 became a test pilot in the Experimental section at the RAE,during his time there, he was involved in high altitude experiments and on 28th September 1936 he set a new World Altitude Record of 49,967 feet in the Bristol 138A (Serial K4879).
In 1938 he attended RAF Staff College and during the war and the course of his remaining career was posted to various Staff positions. His last appointment was SASO/Deputy Head of the Air Staff,British Joint Services Mission,Washington D.C. He retired from the RAF in 1954 with the rank of AIr Commodore.

S/Ldr Ronald “Taffy” Ecclestone DFC AFC 1923-1954

Squadron Leader Ronald Vivian (“Taffy”) Ecclestone DFC was Handley Page deputy chief test pilot.
He flew Stirlings and Lancasters in Bomber Command, and also Hurricanes and Spitfires in the Bomber Defence Tactical Unit. Later he was engaged in development flying, successively at Marham, Boscombe Down and Farnborough; he had completed the Empire Test Pilots School course and had served for a year in the Directorate of Operational Requirements at the Air Ministry. He had joined Handley Page, Ltd., less than three months before the crash of the Victor Prototype WB771 in which he was killed along with Mr E. N. Kenneth Bennett, 29, the company's chief flight observer (he joined them in 1946); and two other H.P. observers, Mr. Bruce Heithersay, 28 (ex-R.A.A.F.), and Mr. A. B. Cook, 24 (formerly with Aero Research, Ltd., and Glosters).

Edward (Ed) Strongman 1949-2016

Ed Strongman, Eric Isorce, Didier Roncerary, Ignacio Lombo, Gerard Leskerpit, and Jean-Philippe Cottet - First Flight Crew of the A400M

Maiden Flight of A400M from Seville, 1th December 2009

Edward "Ed" Strongman is Chief Test Pilot Military with responsibility for the development of the A400M and Airbus military derivative aircraft. He captained the aircraft's maiden flight alongside his colleague Ignacio "Nacho" Lombo. Having joined Airbus in 1995, he was initially Project Pilot for the A330/A340 family and was particularly closely involved with the development of the A340-600 which he piloted on its maiden flight in April 2001. Subsequently he worked on all Airbus aircraft and participated extensively in the A380 flight test development programme.
Mr Strongman is today a veteran test pilot who was selected to attend the United States Air Force Test Pilot School (USAFTPS) at Edwards AFB, California in 1979 after five years of operations flying the Lockheed C-130 Hercules for the UK's Royal Air Force.
After graduating from USAFTPS Mr Strongman served for six years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Bedford, UK flying a wide range of transports, fighters and helicopters. In 1986 he left Bedford as Commanding Officer of the Test Squadron to join the UK CAA as a certification test pilot involved in the regulatory approval of numerous jet and turboprop aircraft.
Mr Strongman has some 11,000 flight hours of which more than 7,000 have been in flight test.
Born in Cornwall, UK in 1949 Ed Strongman has an engineering degree from Bristol University .

Col Leo C. Moon 1918-2013

During WWII, Leo Moon was the commander of the 508th squadron of the 404th Fighter Group,flying P-47 Thunderbolts.In late 1944 he succeeded Colonel McColpin as Group Commander, a post he occupied until two weeks before the end of the war in Europe. Leo was a very well-known USAF test pilot, and at one time in his career(1947-1949) commanded the USAF test pilot school at Edwards AFB. Chuck Yeager, Al White and many other famous test pilots were under Col. Moons' command. Leo himself flew a great number of test aircraft, and was well known as an outstanding aeronautical engineer.Col Leo Moon was Commanding Officer at the Parachute Experimental Unit, El Centro, CA, in 1951-52.

Robert Briot

Robert Briot made the maiden flight of the Aerospatiale Corvete and the Fouga 90

Samuel 'Sammy' Homer Mason, Jr. 1917-2001

Born Samuel Homer Mason, Jr. in Los Angeles, December 15, 1917, Sammy began what was to become a distinguished flying career at the age of 16. Following his marriage to Wanda Lee Hintz in 1941, he settled in Tulare, California to fly for the Rankin Flying Academy to train pilots in Stearman biplanes for WWII.

After the war, Sammy selected a Stearman for the air show circuit. With its distinctive international orange and white checkerboard wings, “Checkers” and Sammy, along with friends Rex Wells, Ray Goudy and others, formed the Hollywood Hawks and made aerobatic history in the postwar ’40s, incorporating a number of aviation “firsts” into his act, most notably a Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) bottle mounted under the fuselage. Sammy and Checkers were profiled in the April 18, 1949 issue of Life magazine.

In 1950, with a growing family, Sammy went to work for Lockheed Aircraft as an engineering test pilot under his close friend, Tony LeVier. During his 27-year career with Lockheed, Sammy again made history: In 1967 he became the first pilot to demonstrate a full complement of aerobatics in a helicopter, performing at the Paris Air Show in the compound version of the Lockheed 286 rigid-rotor helicopter.

Sammy retired to Santa Paula Airport where he instructed pilots in aerobatics and increased proficiency, among them actor Steve McQueen, who became a close friend. He earned a degree as a Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation Science and in 1987 he became an Honorary Fellow in the prestigious Society of Experimental Test Pilots

John (Jack) A. 'Suitcase' Simpson 1927-

Jack 'Suitcase' Simpson was born in Philadelphia and raided in Pittsburgh,Pa. After high school he served in the U.S.Army Air Corps during WWII. After receiving a BS in Aeronautics from St Louis University in 1951, he won his wings as a fighter pilot in the USAF,flying the F-86 Sabre in the Korean War.
After the war he was a test pilot in Southern Japan. Upon returning to the USA,Jack served the office of the USAF Plant Representative at North Aerican Aviation as a project test pilot in the development of the F-100,the world's first supersonic fighter. Upon discharge he was hired by Lockheed as an experimental test pilot in the devekopment of the F-104,designed as a MACH 2 fighter.

Benjamin Scovill "Ben" Kelsey 1906 –1981

Benjamin S. Kelsey was born in Waterbury, Conn., in 1906, and attended public schools there. At the age of 15 he completed a flying course with the Curtiss Flying Service at Garden City, N.Y. He graduated from Msachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in June 1928, and then conducted research work and instructed in the aeronautics department there.

Prior to being commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps on May 2, 1929, General Kelsey had participated in extensive private and commercial flying and had obtained his transport pilot license. First assigned at Mitchel Field, N.Y., he was associated with the Guggenheim Fog Flying Laboratory. The following year he graduated from Primary and Advanced Flying Schools, and in 1931 he obtained his master of science degree in aeronautical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Assigned with the 20th Pursuit Group at Mather Field, Calif., and later at Barksdale Field, La., he served in various tactical unit duties.

Transferred to the Materiel Command at Wright Field, Ohio, in 1934, General Kelsey was fighter project officer in the Engineering Section, and in addition participated in various phases of blind landing and instrument flying development. He was first to fly the Bell twin-Allison XFM-1 Airacuda prototype on September 1, 1937, the P-39 Airacobra and the Lockheed XP-38.

From May to July 1940 he served as assistant military attache for air at London, England, and then returned to Wright Field as chief of the Pursuit Branch in the Production Engineering Section. In the spring of 1942 he was attached to the Eighth Fighter Command at Dow Field, Maine, to assist in preparing for Trans-Atlantic ferry flights, and the following July he flew in the first ferry flight of fighters across the North Atlantic to England. Returning to the States in September 1942, he resumed his former position as chief of the Pursuit Branch, and the following July he was named chief of the Flight Research Branch, Flight Test Division.

Going to England in November 1943, General Kelsey was deputy chief of staff of the Ninth Fighter Command, and the following February he was appointed chief of the Operation Engineering Section of the Eighth Air Force Headquarters there. In February 1945 he was assigned to the Materiel Division at Air Corps Headquarters.

Reassigned to the Materiel Command at Wright Field that July, General Kelsey was chief of the All-Weather Operations Section. From December 1946 to January 1948 he served successively as assistant deputy commanding general for personnel; deputy commanding general for personnel, and chief of personnel and administration there.

Returning to Air Force Headquarters in February 1948, General Kelsey was chief of the Control Group in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Materiel. Entering the National War College in August 1948, he graduated the following June and remained there as an instructor. In June 1952 he was appointed Deputy Director of Research and Development in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Development at Air Force Headquarters.

General Kelsey reverted to his permanent rank of colonel Dec. 30, 1955 and retired from active duty the following day.

His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters; French Croix de Guerre; and Belgian Croix de Guerre. He is rated a command pilot. In 1944 he received the Octave Chanute Award from the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences for contributions to high speed flight testing.

William J ' Bill' Martin 1916-1986

Bill Martin was the second pilot to fly the XF-92A

Dietmar Sengespeik 1937-

Dietmar Sengespeik was born 25/07/1937 in Tost/Oberschlesien in a part of Germany which now belongs to Poland. My father was managing director of the local brewery. In 1938 the family moved to Cologne, where they were evacuated during the war to East-Germany to escape the bombing raids. In 1945 they returned to Cologne, where Dietmar attended the primary and high school. In 1957 he finished the German 'Gynasium' with the final certificate of 'Abitur'.

Immedeately thereafter he was called to National Service and decided to enrole to the German Airforce as a fighter pilot. After having passed the basic military training he attended the flight training schools at Landsberg and Fürstenfeldbruck, where he was instructed on the Harward Mk IV ( Prop ) and the T-33 ( Jet ). From 1960 to 1964 he was based at Leck AB, 72^th fighter wing. The combat aircraft were the F-86 Sabre, the most versatile conventional jet aircraft that he ever flew. He recalls the experience with the greatest of pleasure. One of the highlights for Dietmar during that time was his participation in the second Flying Tiger Meeting at Woodbridge AFB, UK, in August 1962, which apparently created big excitement in the British newspapers at that time.

He also flew the Fiat G-91 and on the Lockheed F-104. In 1964 he left the GAF with the rank of a major and studied general engineering at the university of Aachen and graduated as 'Diplom-Ingenieur' in 1969.

The combination of his flying experiance and an university degree of engineering gave him the opportunity of employment as a testpilot with the German company VFW in Bremen, which at that time had a merger with the Dutch company of Fokker. VFW's own project, the VFW-614, which was the first passenger jet aircraft developed

in Germany after the war, was not yet ready for the maiden flight, so he was transferred to Fokker at Amsterdam, where he lived for three years. There he met among others the Chief test pilot Jas Moll, who he recalls as an extraordinary pilot. At Schipol he flew the Fokker Friendship F-27 and the Fellowship F-28 during factory test flights, worldwide ferry flights and airline assistance especially in West Africa.

After his return to VFW in Bremen he was involved in the evaluation and certification flight test programs, which finally led to the civil certification of the VFW-614 project by the German LBA, the American FAA, the British CAA and the French DGAC. Many ferry flights, customer training and assistance as well as demonstration tours as far as West Africa and Iran followed. As project pilot for the engine development he spent a lot of time at Bristol, UK, where the M-45H engine had been developed and was built at the Rolls-Royce factory. He recalls that Chief test pilot Harry Pollit and his deputy John Lewis, whom he met there, to have been exquisite pilots assisting and bringing forward the VFW-614 program.

To his very big disappointment the VFW-614 project was given up at the end of 1977 due to lack of commercial success. The delivered aircraft to Cimber Air, TAT and Air Alsace were sold back and destroyed. Only a few aircraft remained in service with the German experimental institution ( DLR at Braunschweig ) and the German

governmental executive wing ( FBS at cologne ). Dietmar trained all their pilots.

Its Dietmars's opinion that the VFW-614 was the most versatile civil passenger jet aircraft that he ever flew, comparable to the F-86 Sabre(aircraft made for pilots) but was 25 years too early on the market.

In 1977 another highlight of Dietmar's career was when he won the competition together with Dr.Mehrbold,

Dr.Furrer and Dr.Messerschmidt to be the first German astronauts in the skylab. All three of whom flew into space,but sadly, there was no slot left for Dietmar thereafter.

After the disaster with the VFW-614 program, he moved to Airbus Industries at Toulouse where he trained on the Airbus A-300 and flew for one year for Iran Air in Teheran on domestic routes. When the revolution expelled the Shah of Persia he had to leave the country as well. A few shorter sorties on the A-300 followed during the years later. He returned to Germany to Lemwerder close to Bremen, where the Transall C-160 program of the German Airforce was based. As project pilot he flew all the factory test flights after repair and overhaul of the military transport aircraft. As he also held a licence for the Hansa HFB-320, which had been developed at Hamburg,he did the necessary test flights as well. Besides that business he acted as airfield commander and tower controller.

In 1981/1982 he participated for one year in the transmigration program of the Indonesian government,when he flew thousands of native settlers from the overcrowded island of Java to their new farmland in the jungle of the other islands. He also performed Flight crew training for the Indonesian follow-up pilots afterwards.

In 1996 the Lemwerder factory had to close down, the Transall C-160 project was shifted to Manching close to Munich, so he headed to Southern Germany,where he worked for another four years.In summer 2000 he had trained his successor pilots and left the company due to his age.

In the meantime the three VFW-614 aircraft with the governmental excecutive wing were put out of service and sold to a Swedish investor. This gentleman tried to integrate these aircrafts with his assistance into civil operation as passenger- and freighter- ( nightmail ) airplanes. The big problem was their military certification, which had to be transferred into a civil one, which induced a lot of quarrel with the civil authorities.This was solved finally, and they got American and Danish registrations, but the former producers, VFW and Rolls-Royce, were not very enthusiastic about the revival of that program, so they encountered a lack of support. As financial problems arose this pleasant project had to be given up. Nevertheless Dietmar could log about 150 hours on that rare type during training-, demonstration- and ferry-missions. The remaining aircraft are distributed to different museums, one is based

as a practise-demonstrator at a technical school in Cardiff, UK.

Altogether Dietmar could log about 10,000 hours most of which were made during test flights. He had neither accidents nor bail-outs and survived all incidents without injuries.

O.D.Lively

O.D.Lively

Donald P. Germeraad 1921-1992

Donald P. Germeraad served in the US Navy during WW2, flying aircraft in the Pacific theatre. He was awarded thirteen Navy combat and service medals. He was a Commanding Officer of Naval Reserve Jet and Transport Squadrons.
Post war he joined Convair in 1946 and was with them,General Dynamics and Astronautics for 20years. He was project pilot and flew the maiden flights of the Convair XP5Y,R3Y,240 Turboliner,Cv880 and CV990.

Latterly, he was involved with deep sea submersibles and ground effect machines.

Armand Jacquet 19xx-2008

Armand Jacquet (right) with Andre Turcat


Armand Jacquet

Robert L. Matye 1922-2009

Robert L. Matye joined US Army Air Corps 1942. He was part of the 1^st jet fighter group in USAF

Flying the YP-59 and XP80 . He joined Lockheed as a production test pilot in 1948 and became an engineering test pilot in 1949,joining the “Skunk Works”.

He was a U-2 project pilot, being the 2nd person to fly the aircraft. He performed the majority of the altitude expansion tests, during his 3^rd flight he suffered engine failure and pressurization loss.

He became the F-104 Starfighter’s Chief pilot, developing the F-104A/B/C variants. In July 2005 he was awarded the CIA Seal Medallion for U-2 testing

S/Ldr Jimmy O Mathews DSO DFC * 1921-19??

Jimmy Matthews joined the RAF in 1940 at 19 and served with 125 (Newfoundland) Sqn and later served
with 100 Group, 85 and 157 Squadrons as a Mosquito Nightfighter pilot.He was credited with 11 kills and he also destroyed 10 V-1 flying bombs. In 1944 he was awarded the DFC for his anti-flying bomb operations and in the same year a Bar to it for his night-fighter work over France. In 1945 he won the D.S.O and left the RAF in May 1946. He joined Fairey Aviation the same year as a test pilot and in 1950 was appointed to manage trials with air to air guided weapons, Firing 'Fireflash' missiles from converted Meteors and Hunter.He took over the later phase of testing in the Fairey Delta FD-2 and following the westland take-over converted to helicopters flying Scout and Wasp.He retired from test flying in 1963.He died in Australia.