Remembering Tex Johnston
By Patrick Kelley (Contact)
Originally published 01:49 p.m., July 8, 2008
Updated 01:49 p.m., July 8, 2008
BILL MOUNKES dropped by the office Monday to remind us about a famous Emporian — a kinsman of his — who is in danger of being forgotten by the town he grew up in.
Alvin “Tex” Johnston was born near Admire and grew up in Emporia. He went on to learn to fly, fix airplanes and, eventually, became an aeronautical engineer. His blend of skills and knowledge and his willingness to take calculated risks made him one of the nation’s best test pilots for several decades, beginning in World War II.
Along the way, Johnston helped develop the most advanced military and commercial aircraft of the 1940s and ’50s. During the war, he was a test pilot for the nation’s first jet fighter, the Bell XP-59 Airacomet. After the war, he was the project test pilot for the Boeing XB-47, the nation’s first swept-wing jet bomber, and was the first pilot to fly the Boeing XB-52, the prototype of the eight-engine jet that remains in service today.
Johnston was the second pilot to fly the Bell X-1, the plane that — with modifications ordered by Johnston — later carried Chuck Yeager past the speed of sound.
In 1946, he won the Thompson Trophy at the National Air Races, setting a new speed record for closed-course flying.
In commercial aviation, Johnston was the chief of flight tests for the “Dash 80,” the Boeing prototype for the plane that was later known as the 707 — the first American jetliner. In aviation circles, he is still remembered for one of the demonstration flights he made in the Dash 80. Flying 500 feet above a crowd of potential Boeing customers. Johnston threw the big four-engine jet into an effortless — and unannounced — barrel roll. His bosses forgave him, but as recently as 1994, a Boeing official felt the need to warn a pilot taking a new model up on its first flight:
“No rolls.”
In 1993, Johnston was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, joining the other pioneers of flight and space flight. In his world, he is a famous man.
But Bill Mounkes is right: Most Emporians don’t know who Tex Johnston was.
Johnston died in 1998. By now, there should at least be a bronze plaque somewhere in the city to honor him. Even better would be a statue of the test pilot — handsome with his Howard Hughes mustache — in his flight suit and his trademark cowboy boots.
But statues are expensive, and even a decent plaque would stretch the city budget these days.
There is one way the city could honor its native son without a great expenditure — rename the Emporia Municipal Airport in his honor.
After all, this is the town where his dreams took flight.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
Comments
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Posted by GoodMorning (anonymous) on July 9, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To see a You Tube video of the barrel roll, and a brief interview, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IV9PZW1N...
Posted by GoodMorning (anonymous) on July 9, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My You Tube reference above does not contain the interview. Here is a better reference.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=InkUmYFWTjQ
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