Brien Singleton Wygle (August 23, 1924 – September 15, 2020) was an American pilot from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Wygle was a test pilot for

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

Early life

On August 23, 1924. Wygle was born as Brien Singleton Wygle in

, Washington. Wygle's brothers are Hugh Wygle and Monte Wygle. In 1927, Wygle and his family moved to Canada. Wygle grew up in a farm near

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta, Canada. In 1942, Wygle graduated from Kathryn High School in Canada.

Education

In 1951, Wygle earn a Bachelor of Science mechanical engineering degree with aeronautics from

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in Vanvouver, Canada. In 1953, Wygle graduated from United States Air Force Test Pilot School.

Career

In 1942, at age 18, Wygle joined the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

. During World War II, Wygle became a pilot for the

. Wygle flew the

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

as a combat cargo pilot. In 1948, Wygle flew bombing missions for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 1951, Wygle became a test pilot for Boeing in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

. In 1951, Wygle's first assignment was flying the B-47 bomber. After transferring to Seattle, Washington, Wygle flew the

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

bomber as a lead project pilot. In 1957, Wygle performed flight testing as a pilot for the

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

airliner. In 1967, Wygle flew the first

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

flight as a test pilot. Wygle was the co-pilot of the first

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

flight that took place on February 9, 1969, in

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

. For the first flight, he flew as co-pilot with the pilot in command Jack Waddell and the Flight engineer Jesse Wallick. During this flight they experienced minor problems with the wing flaps and decided to cut the flight short. In 1970, Wygle became a Director of flight tests at Boeing. In January 1990, Wygle retired from Boeing as the Vice President of flight operations.

Awards

* 1945 Distinguished Flying Cross for valor

Personal life

In May 1947, Wygle married Norma Renton. They have four daughters. In August 2020, Wygle caught

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On September 15, 2020, Wygle died in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

. Wygle was 96.

References

External links

Meet Brien Wygle – Boeing Test Pilot at skiesmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wygle, Brien S 1924 births 2020 deaths American test pilots Boeing people Boeing test pilots Military personnel from Seattle Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Aviators from Washington (state) U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni