|
|
Post by yardbird78 on Feb 6, 2015 0:37:27 GMT -5
11 hrs
.
Fitz Fulton’s unparalleled lifetime of achievement in flight research
Distinguished former NASA research pilot Fitzhugh L. Fulton Jr., described by colleagues as, “The Dean of Flight Test,” died Feb. 4, 2015. He was 89. During a career in the military, civil service and industry, he logged over 16,000 flying hours in more than 240 types of aircraft from the triple-sonic, titanium and composite SR-71 to the corrugated tin, prop-driven Ford Tri-motor. He piloted airplanes of all sizes, from the diminutive Cessna 210 to the behemoth C-5A. Fulton retired from NASA in 1986 after 20 years at the agency’s Flight Research Center (now Armstrong) and 23 years of Air Force service that included support of the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests in 1946 and more than 200 missions during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 1949.
Following combat service in Korea and a 14-year assignment as an Air Force test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, Fulton joined NASA on August 1, 1966. Over the next two decades he flew more than 60 different types of aircraft from sailplanes and helicopters to high-performance supersonic jet fighters and bombers. He piloted some of the world’s fastest jet planes including the XB-70 and YF-12, each capable of speeds in excess of 2,000 mph and altitudes above 70,000 feet.
Fulton was project pilot on the NB-52B mothership that launched the rocket-powered X-15 research aircraft, wingless lifting bodies and a variety of remotely piloted vehicles. While in the Air Force he had also flown the B-29 and B-50 motherships used to air-launch the X-1 and X-2 rocket planes.
He was the pilot of the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) on all captive and free-flight tests of the Space Shuttle orbiter prototype Enterprise in the 1977 Approach and Landing Test series. Fulton was twice awarded NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for flying the SCA, which he also piloted during ferry missions to return operational orbiters to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, following their return from space.
Fulton served as project pilot on a specially modified C-140 JetStar for the Laminar Flow Control Leading Edge research program. He also flew numerous research and support aircraft including the AD-1 oblique wing demonstrator, F-8 Supercritical Wing test bed, NT-33A variable stability trainer, NC-131B flying simulator, and the NC-8A Quiet Short-haul Research Aircraft. With extensive experience in supersonic delta-winged jet aircraft he was also invited to fly the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport. During a cooperative research program between NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration, Fulton remotely piloted a heavily instrumented Boeing 720 airliner from a cockpit on the ground, guiding the plane to a controlled impact on Rogers Dry Lake to test the flammability of anti-misting jet fuel in a simulated crash situation.
He retired from NASA on July 3, 1986, for a job with Scaled Composites in Mojave, California, where he served as flight operations director and chief research pilot.
Copied from a Facebook post
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Gorman on Feb 8, 2015 12:57:52 GMT -5
I was saddened to hear the news about Fitz's passing. My love for aircraft has almost exclusively been expressed through contact with the planes as opposed to the actual people that designed, flew, or restored them. While I stood 15 feet away from Chuck Yeager as he was at an airshow just north of Louisville, KY in the mid-90's, I was too shy to bother him as he secured and checked the P-51 he would be flying later. I stood outside the NMUSAF one day and watched Scott Crossfield, John Glenn, and Paul Tibbets enter for a Hall of Fame event later that night. I stood to the side, respectfully taking pictures but couldn't think of a thing worthwhile to say. I appreciate what they did, but always have had an "I'm not worthy" type of attitude when it comes to crossing the line and making personal contact. That changed with Fitz Fulton one day in 2002 at the NMUSAF. The backstory: I love the XB-70. I first saw it outside the museum when I visited for the first time in the summer of 1979. Until then, I'd never heard of it before and so I was blown away by this exotic, futuristic dream ship. I took a few pictures and tried to learn what I could, but there wasn't much about it that I could find in the library at school. When "Wings" magazine profiled the plane in their February, 1986 issue, I read it over and over and studied pictures that I'd never seen before. There were other articles over the years in other magazines but that was the first for me and most memorable. I learned the the pilot of the final flight was a guy named "Fitz Fulton" and thought that he had a great name for a test pilot. I learned more about him over the years thanks to google and other sources. When Discovery Wings profiled the XB-70, I was thrilled to actually see video of the plane (and Fitz) in action. I made it back to the museum several times over the years and always lingered at the Valkyrie, taking pictures, studying, imagining the sound and feel of those engines. I even purchased a specialized license plate that read "XB-70" and kept it on my car for a couple of years. In 2002 I went to the museum in Dayton and also brought the license plate in my backpack. I figured I would go up to the XB-70 (still in the main museum at the time) and "pose" the plate on the front landing gear and take a quick picture. While I was walking up to and around the plane, hoping that none of the museum personnel would take exception to my picture, I noticed an older gentleman standing below the nose of the Valkyrie, speaking to a couple of people and pointing up at the cockpit. As I usually do when I see people who appear to be talking with authority about planes in museums or at air shows, I inched a bit closer to eavesdrop. And then my jaw dropped when I recognized the speaker. It was Fitz, of course. I recognized him instantly from those videos and pictures from "Wings." I waited til he finished and then spoke up. I said "Colonel Fulton?" He looked surprised that I recognized him. I said "What are YOU doing here!?!" (dumb question, but I was awestruck). He explained that he and his wife were "visiting some old friends" and I realized that he meant he was visiting some of the planes and types that he'd flown. I didn't want to intrude too much, but I showed him my license plate and explained my fascination with the Valkyrie. I also pulled out a red Sharpie that I just happened to have for some reason, and he gladly signed it and posed for a picture that his wife took for me. He thought the plate was really cool and told me to let him know if I ever wanted to get rid of it. That won't ever happen. Thanks for your service, Fitz, and thank you for giving me a huge thrill in the middle of a crowded museum in the middle of July. Whenever I visit your "old friends", I'll think of you.  |
|
|
|
Post by Nathan Milarta on Feb 20, 2015 9:30:32 GMT -5
oh, man! I wanted to write to him! I just watched wings XB-70 last week!  |
|
|
|
Post by *BYE BYE* on Mar 18, 2015 9:50:47 GMT -5
Wow.., what an amazing flying record.
Really cool!!!
Very sorry to see him go.., what stories he must have held.
|
|
