George J. Marrett (born 1935) is a former United States Air Force officer, combat veteran, and test pilot. He is the author of many aviation-related books and articles.

Early life

George Marrett was born in

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 census. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, ...

in 1935. He was awarded the Eagle rank by the Boy Scouts in 1951. Marrett graduated in 1957 from Iowa State College in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. He entered the United States Air Force as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

from the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Marrett received pilot training at

Webb Air Force Base Webb Air Force Base , previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in West Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring. Webb AFB was a maj ...

in Texas where he flew the Lockheed

T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

. After graduation in 1959, he went to advanced flight training at Moody AFB in Georgia where he flew the North American

F-86L Sabre The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog",) was an American transonic jet fighter aircraft. Developed for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s, it was an interceptor ...

. Marrett spent four years in the 84th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, flying the

McDonnell The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom I ...

F-101B Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a '' ...

Test pilot and combat veteran

Marrett was selected to attend the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), now called the

U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test flight officer, navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new ...

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...

, California. While at the school, Marrett flew a variety of aircraft including the Northrop T-38 Talon, Lockheed

F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

and

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

F-106 Delta Dart. After graduating with Class 64A,(1994) ''USAF Test Pilot School 50 Years and Beyond'', p. 86 he was assigned to the Fighter Test Branch of Flight Test Operations at Edwards and completed three years flight-testing the

F-4C Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed ...

, Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter, and General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark. Marrett flew during the heyday of flight test when many aviation record were set, such as Colonel Robert 'Silver Fox' Stephens' world speed record in the YF-12.Contrails Over the Mojave Product Description
Amazon, retrieved June 1, 2008. From 1968 to 1969, Marrett flew the

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

A-1 Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly known as the AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s. The Skyraider had an unusually long career, remaining in front-line service well into the Jet Age ...

as a "Sandy" rescue pilot in the 602d Fighter Squadron (C), C for Commando, from Udorn and

Nakhon Phanom Nakhon Phanom ( th, นครพนม, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeastern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Phanom Province. The town covers ''tambons'' Nai Mueang and Nong Saeng and parts of ''tambons'' At Samat and Nong Yat, all in M ...

Royal Thai Air Force Bases, Thailand. He completed 188 combat missions with over 600 combat hours and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters. He was also awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for flight test at Edwards AFB.Centennial of Flight Press Release
retrieved January 1, 2017. In 1969, Marrett returned from Vietnam and joined Hughes Aircraft Company as an experimental test pilot. For the next twenty years, he flew test programs which helped develop attack radar and missiles for the Grumman F-14 Tomcat,

F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

, F-18 Hornet, and an early version of the

B-2 The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying w ...

Stealth bomber. He also flew test missions for the Hughes Aircraft AGM-65 Maverick missile. Marrett has flown over 40 types of military aircraft and logged over 9,500 hours.

Sock It To 'Em

Marrett's personal aircraft while serving with the 602d was an A-1J Skyraider, serial number 142029, maintained by crew chief Joseph Toback. The aircraft was named ''Sock It To 'Em'' after the popular 1960s comedy television program, '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''. Three weeks after Marrett and Tobak returned home, ''Sock It To 'Em'' was shot down by ground fire killing the pilot, Major James East, Jr. Forty-one years later, Marrett and Tobak were reunited at the

Estrella Warbird Museum The Estrella Warbirds Museum is an aviation museum dedicated to the restoration and preservation of military aircraft, vehicles, and memorabilia. The museum is located at Paso Robles Municipal Airport in central California and is named after Estr ...

where they flew in Marrett's 1945

Stinson L-5 Sentinel The Stinson L-5 Sentinel is a World War II-era liaison aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Ground Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force. It was produced by the Stinson Division of the Vultee Aircr ...

that is also named ''Sock It To 'Em''. The A-1 Skyraider, ''Sock It To 'Em'', was memorialized as a plastic model by the

Tamiya Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of plastic model kits, radio-controlled cars, battery and solar powered educational models, sailboat models, acrylic and enamel model paints, and various modeling tools and supplies. The company was founded by Yoshio ...

and a die-cast metal model by Hobby Master Limited.

Later years

Marrett retired from Hughes Aircraft in 1989 and lives in Atascadero, California. He is one of the founders of the Estrella Warbird Museum at the

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

airport, where he enjoys flying his privately owned plane, a 1945 Stinson L-5E Sentinel. He was the chief pilot for D. P. Industries from 2000 to 2013 flying their

Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...

C-90. Marrett has been on the Board of Trustees of the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, California since 1983. Marrett has been married to his Nebraskan wife, Jan, for 62 years. They have a son Randall who is a retired Professor of Geology at the University of Texas at Austin and another son Scott who volunteers with the National Park Service in Idaho. They have four grandchildren Tyler Marrett, Zachary Marrett, Cali Marrett, and Casey Marrett.

Publications

Marrett started his career as an aviation author by sending short stories to magazines. He has had nineteen articles published in aviation magazines about military flight test and his experiences in Vietnam. The following is an incomplete list of his works:

Books

* * * * * *

Articles

* California Dreaming
Chasing the XB-70 Valkyrie
* Defending the Golden Gate * Don't Kill Yourself!

* F-101 Voodoo Curse

* SANDY to the Rescue
Sky High in a Starfighter
* Sore Feet * Space Cadets

Honors

Marrett was inducted in the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame on January 26, 2006 in

Kearney, Nebraska Kearney is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 30,787 in the 2010 census. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward push of the railroad as the Civil War ended gave new birt ...

.Nebraska Aviation Symposium
retrieved June 1, 2008. He was elected to the

High School Wall of Honor and inducted in October 2007.Grand Island, Nebraska School District News Release
retrieved January 1, 2017. Marrett joined the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in 1967, upgraded to Associate Fellow in 1981 and was elected a Fellow in 2011. On December 9, 2016 he received the USAF Test Pilot School Distinguished Alumnus award during the graduation ceremony for Class 2016A at Edwards AFB, California. This award is presented to a USAF TPS graduate who has made significant and lasting contributions to aviation science and the flight test community.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

George Marrett A-1 Photos
Skyraider Association, retrieved June 1, 2008.

retrieved November 13, 2010.

retrieved January 3, 2015.

killed while flying Douglas A-1J ''Sock It To 'Em'', retrieved January 3, 2015. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marrett, George J. 1935 births Living people American aviators American test pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Aviators from Nebraska People from Atascadero, California United States Air Force officers U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni People from Grand Island, Nebraska Military personnel from California