George Jansen
George Jansen was a test pilot during the golden age of flight test at Edwards Air Force Base from the late 1940s through the 1950s. He not only flew as test pilot for many experimental planes such as the Douglas A2D Skyshark but also flew drop planes such as the B-29 Superfortress for other flight tests such as carrying the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket piloted by Bill Bridgeman as featured in Chuck Yeager's autobiography.
Jansen flew B-24 Liberators from England during World War II including the famous Ploesti Raid.
He later became the head of flight test for Douglas Aircraft and flew the maiden flights of commercial aircraft like the DC8, DC9 and DC10 from the Douglas Long Beach Facility.
After his death in the 1990s he was honored with a Plaque in Lancaster, California near Edwards Air Force Base.
References
- Yeager, Chuck and Leo Janos. Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam, 1985. ISBN 978-0-553-25674-1.