Jack Valentine Woolams (1917–1946) - was the senior experimental test pilot and later chief test pilot at

Bell Aircraft The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, a builder of several types of fighter aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for the development and production of many ...

during the introduction of the

P-39 The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

, P-63,

P-59 The Bell P-59 Airacomet was a single-seat, twin jet-engine fighter aircraft that was designed and built by Bell Aircraft during World War II, the first produced in the United States. As the British were further along in jet engine developme ...

, and X-1 aircraft. He set a world record for altitude and was the first person to fly a fighter jet non-stop across the United States.

Early life

Woolams was born on February 14, 1917 (

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

) to Leonard and Elsa Woolams in

San Francisco, CA San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and raised in the suburb of

Ross, California Ross is a small List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Ross is located west-southwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at ...

. Woolams attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

for two years before joining the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

. He served on active duty for approximately eighteen months, after which he returned to the University of Chicago and graduated with a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in June 1941.

Career and flight records

After college, Woolams was hired by

chief test pilot Bob Stanley as a test pilot. Woolams was soon transferred from the

test flight Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

division to the experimental research division. Woolams became chief test pilot when Stanley was promoted to vice president of engineering. In September 1942, he became the first person to fly a fighter aircraft coast to coast over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

without stopping. In the summer of 1943, he set a new altitude record of 47,600 feet (14.500 m). He became chief

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

for Bell in 1944. Woolams was the first pilot to fly the

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Be ...

and the only pilot to fly the rocket-plane at Bell's research facility at

Pinecastle Army Airfield Pinecastle or Pine Castle may refer to: * McCoy Air Force Base (previously Pinecastle Army Airfield), a former United States Air Force base * Naval Air Station DeLand (previously Pinecastle Electronic Warfare and Bombing Range), a United States Nav ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. Woolams was originally scheduled to fly the X-1 faster than the speed of sound, but that honor would go to

Chuck Yeager Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...

Personality

Woolams was known as a bit of a practical joker. While flying the still unknown experimental

jet airplane, he would join formation with unsuspecting pilots flying propeller-driven fighters and to their surprise, wave at them while wearing a gorilla mask,

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

, and

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

, and then fly away leaving them behind.

Death and legacy

Woolams died on August 30, 1946 in the crash of the modified

''Cobra I'' race-plane during a practice flight for the National Air Races in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

that were to occur the next day. Woolams flew the ''Cobra I'' from Cleveland back to

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

on August 29, after obtaining a disappointing qualifying speed of 392 mph. Woolams was testing the plane over

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

late in the afternoon at speeds over 400 mph when it suddenly and inexplicably crashed into the water, breaking apart upon impact. His body was recovered 4 days later. After the wreckage of ''Cobra I'' was recovered, it was believed a canopy failure was the cause of the crash and Woolams' death, however, eyewitnesses on the ground claimed to have seen the tail separate from the aircraft causing the crash. There was internal debate at

as whether to continue with the race or not, but Woolams' teammate and fellow Bell test pilot,

Tex Johnston Alvin Melvin "Tex" Johnston (August 18, 1914 – October 29, 1998) was an American jet-age test pilot for Bell Aircraft and the Boeing Company. Early life Johnston was born August 18, 1914, in Admire, Kansas, to farmers Alva and Ella Johnst ...

, insisted that Woolams would have raced if it was the other way around. The day after Woolams' death, Johnston went on to win the 1946 Thompson Trophy in the ''Cobra II'', the identical twin of ''Cobra I''.

References

External links

This Day in Aviation - Jack Woolams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolams, Jack 1917 births 1946 deaths United States Army Air Forces soldiers American test pilots