Johnson, Richard Lowe

American test pilot. Flew the XS-1 # 1 and X-4 # 2.

Johnson was born in Cooperstown, North Dakota, and educated at Oregon State University. In 1942, Johnson enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and served as a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot with the 57th Group’s, 66th Fighter Squadron, in North Africa and Italy. He completed 180 combat missions and was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and fourteen Air Medals. He became a test pilot after the war and flew the F-86A to its first official world speed record of 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h) on September 15, 1948 at Muroc Dry Lake. Johnson remained in the US Air Force until 1953, having reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. Thereafter he became chief test pilot for Convair, a division of the American defence contractor General Dynamics. He was a founding member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1955. He received the Ivan Kincheloe award in 1967 for his work on the F-111 program. He died of brain cancer on November 9, 2002.