These photographs are of Test Pilots,Engineers,and various research and production aircraft flown on test flights mostly from the late 1940's through to the present day. Most of these have been kindly signed by those depicted
Monday, April 11, 2011
Raymond A.Popson 1922-1953
Raymond A.Popson was the youngest Air Force pilot, commissioned at 19. He was the first squadron commander at Iwo Jima and was a World War ll Helicopter test pilot at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, working with Werner von Braun and other German scientists. He became and Experimental test pilot at Edwards AFB,testing several aircraft including the Bell X-5. Early on in the flight test program, the X-5 had acquired a reputation for being somewhat difficult to fly and, in fact, was considered "absolutely vicious" when in a stalled condition. The X-5 program suffered its blackest day on 14 October 1953, when Air Force Major Raymond Popson, while performing stall tests in #1839, entered a spin from which he was unable to recover. Popson tried unsuccessfully to eject and died instantly when the X-5 hit the desert floor.