Robert Stanley
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Test Pilot and Engineer Robert M. Stanley (1912 - 1977) became the first American to fly a jet aircraft on October 2, 1942, as a civilian test pilot for Bell Aircraft. He flew the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, which was the United States' first turbojet aircraft. The flight took place at Muroc Dry Lake, California.
[edit] Other Achievements
- Started the Stanley Aviation company in Buffalo, NY in 1948
- Participated in the design of the DC-3
- Created a patent for a mechanically controlled reversible pitch propeller later used by the German Luftwaffe
- Proposed the development of the Project Kingfisher guided missile
- Was engineering vice president at Bell Aircraft during the design of the world's first supersonic aircraft, the Bell X-1
- First developed the idea of launching an aircraft from another aircraft at high altitude
