Richard Eben Gray (March 11, 1945 – November 8, 1982) was a Naval aviator for the United States Navy, and latterly a research test pilot. He was born in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from San Jose State University in 1969 on a scholarship from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), of which his father, William E. Gray, had been a member. Gray himself became a member of SETP in the mid-1970s and served on the SETP Board of Directors as Southwest Section Technical Adviser in 1981/1982. He joined the United States Navy in July 1969 and earned his wings in January 1971. He was assigned to fly F-4 Phantoms at Naval Air Station Miramar, and in 1972 he flew 48 combat missions in F-4s in Vietnam while assigned to VF-111 aboard the USS ''Coral Sea''. After making a second cruise in 1973, Gray was assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four ( VX-4) at NAS Pt. Mugu, as a project pilot on various operational test and evaluation programs. He served as chief test director for the

AIM-7F The AIM-7 Sparrow (Air Intercept Missile) is an American, medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and United States Marine Corps, as well as other various air forces a ...

Sparrow in 1975–76 before being assigned as an F-14A project pilot on the Air Combat Evaluation/Intercept Missile Evaluation (ACEVAL/AIMVAL) program. He was also the chief test director for the operational test and evaluation of the television sight unit and the dual-seat visual-target-acquisition system in the F-14A. In 1978 he was assigned back to VF-111 at NAS Miramar as an F-14A pilot. Later in 1978 he became an aerospace research pilot at NASA's

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

in Houston, Texas. Whilst at the Johnson Space Center he was chief project pilot on the WB-57F high-altitude research project and served as the prime television chase pilot on the

T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: * T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics * T.38, a standard for fax over IP * T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank * Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...

for the landing portion of the Space Shuttle orbital flight tests performed by the Space Shuttle ''Enterprise''. In November 1981 he became a research test pilot at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (as Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was called from 1981 to 1994). There, he was a pilot on the F-14 Aileron Rudder Interconnect project, the

NASA AD-1 The NASA AD-1 was both an aircraft and an associated flight test program conducted between 1979 and 1982 at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards California, which successfully demonstrated an aircraft wing that could be pivoted obliqu ...

Oblique wing research aircraft, and the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire project. He also flew the F-104, T-37, and F-15 airplanes. On November 8, 1982, he was fatally injured in a T-37B jet aircraft while making a proficiency flight, the aircraft crashing after entering a spin.

References

NASA bio info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Richard 1945 births 1982 deaths Accidental deaths in California American test pilots Aviators from Virginia Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States NASA people San Jose State University alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1982