Craigie, Laurence C

American test pilot. First American to fly a jet aircraft, the XP-59. After WW2 he directed Air Force research and development programs. USAF deputy chief of staff for development, 1951-1954. Retired 1955 after a heart attack.

Laurence C. Craigie , was a career Air Force officer, and the first U.S. military jet pilot in 1942 when he flew the Bell XP-59. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy a West Point, in 1923 he went into the Army Air Corps and became a pilot. In World War II was served in a variety of weapons development programs, as well as in a combat role in North Africa and Corsica. After the war, he directed the Air Force's research and development programs, serving as USAF deputy chief of staff for development, 1951-1954, and commander of Allied Air Force in Southern Europe before his retirement following a heart attack in 1955.