The pages of Flight Journal magazine have always been filled with riveting stories by extraordinarily talented aviators, many whose experiences were history-making.
When you read our story “Riff Raff ” by Jan Tegler, it would be hard to imagine a pilot more talented than astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson. Though the story is about his harrowing entry into the world of Unlimited Air Racing, his aviation achievements are amazing. By the mid ’90s, he had flown Space Shuttles Challenger, Columbia, Atlantis, and Endeavour as a pilot and mission commander. He’d flown F-4B/F-4N Phantoms in combat during Vietnam, made the Navy’s first deployment with the F-14A Tomcat, and then became a Navy Test Pilot at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. He was
then selected by NASA to become an astronaut. From riding the shuttles at 17,500 mph and rounding earth every 90 minutes to piloting jets like the F 101 Voodoo, Hoot is the ultimate pilot.
Almost four decades earlier, in 1944 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, another test pilot, Corky Meyer, was taking part in a fighter conference where pilots were not only flying all the U.S. aircraft in competition, but Axis and British fighters as well. At the time, Corky was Grumman’s top dog wartime pilot and one of the only civilians ever to be carrier-qualified by the U.S. Navy. Corky was the chief test pilot on the Hellcat, and you can read all about the trials of testing this portly but lethal fighter in our story, “Test- Flying the Hellcat.” Not only was the Hellcat a record ace-maker, but it was also a stone-cold killer produced in huge numbers that contributed to the Pacific victory in WW II.
We are also excited to have an exclusive Pilot Report on the DeHavilland DH-98 Mosquito by top warbird pilot Mike Spalding that you won’t want to miss! Mike is the chief pilot of the Military Aviation Museum (MAM) and has logged thousands of hours in warbirds — and more hours than any pilot in the ultra-rare Mosquito. Be there in the cockpit with Mike as he takes flight in this wooden, twin-Merlin-powered war machine.
So, gather around and get the straight story from these legendary pilots who were there, risking everything and making history.
—Louis DeFrancesco

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