Robert Morris Stanley (August 19, 1912 – July 16, 1977) was an American test pilot and engineer. He became the first American to fly a jet aircraft as a test pilot for

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 ...

Early life

Robert Morris Stanley was born in El Reno, Oklahoma on August 19, 1912, to George and Jenny (Coffman) Stanley. His family moved to

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city unti ...

where he finished high school and then enrolled at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

majoring in aeronautical engineering. Stanley worked part time at the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated a ...

during the creation of the

DC-1 The Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Although only one example of the DC-1 was produced, the design was the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3, the latter of which b ...

and DC-2 to help finance his education. While still a student, Stanley created a patent for a mechanically controlled reversible pitch propeller later copied and used by the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

Navy career

After graduating from Cal Tech in 1935, Stanley joined the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and earned his Naval Aviator Wings in 1936. Stanley flew off the USS Ranger and

USS Lexington USS ''Lexington'' may refer to these ships of the United States Navy: * , a brigantine acquired in 1776 and captured in 1777 * , a sloop-of-war in commission from 1826–1830 and 1831–1855 * , a timber-clad gunboat in commission from 1861–1865 ...

. While stationed on the Lexington, Stanley participated in the search for

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; Presumption of death, declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first women in aviation, female aviator to fly solo acro ...

near

Howland Island Howland Island () is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unorganized, unincorporated terr ...

Stanley Nomad glider

While still in the Navy, Stanley designed and built the

Stanley Nomad The Stanley Nomad is an American mid-wing, V-tailed, single seat glider that was designed and constructed by Robert M. Stanley in 1938.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 64, Soaring Society of America November 1983 ...

high performance sailplane in his basement while stationed in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

in 1938. He constructed the Stanley Nomad with an aluminum fuselage, tapered wing, and the first known “Vee” tail. At the 1939 National Soaring Contest in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 census ...

, he flew it to an altitude record of 17,284 feet, more than doubling the old record. This glider also set a cross-country record by flying from Elmira, to the

Congressional Country Club Congressional Country Club is a country club and golf course in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Congressional opened in 1924 and its Blue Course has hosted five major championships, including three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. It was a ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

. The Nomad is now in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum and displayed at the

Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerou ...

. He served as both president and vice-president for the National Soaring Society.

Bell Aircraft

Stanley joined

in 1940 as chief test pilot. He became the first American to fly a jet aircraft on October 1, 1942, when he flew the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, which was the United States’ first

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, ...

aircraft. The flight took place at Muroc Dry Lake, California. The Airacomet is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Stanley was promoted to engineering vice president at Bell Aircraft and oversaw the design of the world's first supersonic aircraft, 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 ...

and X-2. Stanley also developed the idea of launching an aircraft from another aircraft at high

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

. This procedure was used for the launch of the Bell X-1 and X-2 by being dropped from a

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

at 29,000 ft. Stanley hired and mentored many Bell test pilots, including Tex Johnston and

Jack Woolams Jack Valentine Woolams (1917–1946) - was the senior experimental test pilot and later chief test pilot at Bell Aircraft during the introduction of the P-39, P-63, P-59, and X-1 aircraft. He set a world record for altitude and was the first pe ...

Stanley Aviation

In 1948, Stanley left Bell and started the

Stanley Aviation Stanley Aviation is an aerospace company started by Robert M Stanley, the aviation pioneer, in Buffalo, New York in 1948. The company has since acquired several other companies and has been most recently acquired by Eaton Corporation. Stanley is ...

company in his basement in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. He moved Stanley Aviation to

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in A ...

, adjacent to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

’s Stapleton Airport, where he invented and built ejection seats for jet fighter and bomber aircraft. He developed “escape pod”-style ejection seats for safe ejection from disabled aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. In 1975, Tex Johnston rejoined Stanley and became chief pilot of Stanley Aviation. The Stanley Aviation hangar has been re-purposed and today houses many businesses and is known as the Stanley Marketplace.

Personal life

He married Katherine Norman in 1942. They had three children, one daughter and two sons. He enjoyed

white water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

on the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

and Green Rivers in

with his family and also traversed the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a ...

by raft.

Death and honors

Stanley died July 16, 1977, flying with his two sons, along with the wife of one son and fiancé of the other, in the crash of the Stanley company's

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City ...

. The plane encountered severe wind-shear on approach to

Fort Lauderdale International Airport A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and broke up in flight. Stanley's body was lost at sea. *Stanley was selected to the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

in 1990. *Stanley was selected to the

Soaring Hall of Fame The Soaring Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made the highest achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of soaring in the United States of America. It has been located at the National Soaring Museum in Elmira, New York, since 19 ...

in 1977. *Stanley was selected to the

Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame The Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame was established by the Colorado Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) in Denver, Colorado, USA, on November 11, 1969 for the State of Colorado. The original and first ten Colorado aviation pioneers were inducted i ...

in 1973. *Stanley was an Honorary Fellow of the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

. *Stanley was an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. *Three aircraft that Stanley worked closely with through design and/or test flight are on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the

, the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, and the

References

External links

This Day in Aviation - Robert M. StanleyNational Aviation Hall of Fame - Robert M. StanleySoaring Hall of Fame - Robert M. Stanley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Robert 1912 births 1977 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida Aircraft designers American aerospace businesspeople American aviation record holders American company founders American test pilots Aviation pioneers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Glider flight record holders National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees People who died at sea Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1977