Book Review by James Mason
Jet-Age Test Pilot
by A. M. ‘Tex’ Johnston with Charles Barton
Tex Johnston is famous for barrel rolling the prototype 707 airliner and this book
covers his career from learning to fly and barnstorming in the 1930s to his work
during and after the war with Bell Aircraft, his subsequent work with Boeing covering
the B47, B52, 707 and subsequent space projects. A remarkable career covering the
period of amazing development in aviation.
He was clearly a very determined and driven individual who had decided that test
flying was where he wanted to be and realised, after learning to fly and barnstorming,
that he needed technical qualifications and went back to college to attain them.
Throughout his career he doggedly pursued opportunities to further his test flying
career with his wife and family following him across the U.S. to his latest assignment.
After Kansas State University, he became a flight instructor and ferry pilot working
with the U.S. Army Air Corps but soon got a job with Bell Aircraft in Niagara Falls.
There he started flying the P-39 and later the new experimental interceptor XP-63.
He was then assigned to a secret project, the first U.S. jet and sent Muroc Dry Lake
in California, it is interesting to read about this famous site during this period
and his work on the XP-59. Not for the first time in this book, there is not much
recognition of the British contribution to the leading edge technology that he was
testing. Of course, he was in the right place for the subsequent testing of the XS-1
supersonic test aircraft. His account of the shenanigans of the test pilots makes
interesting reading, the Bell test pilots could take the aircraft up to Mach 0.99
for contract verification but a USAF pilot has to take it through Mach 1.0!
How do you follow the XS-1?, well in Tex Johnston’s case it was with the new helicopter
division of Bell aircraft and here he demonstrated his business skills in developing
the helicopter and applications for its use. However he wanted to return to being
an engineering test pilot and so got a job with Boeing working on the XB-47. Later
in the book he recounts the story of how he ended up taking the job of the chief
of flight test at Boeing who had employed him, and shortly afterwards firing him,
so clearly he could be a tough individual. I did not know much about the testing
of the B-47 and B-52 and this book is very informative and illustrates the leap of
technology occurring at that time. Also interesting is the role of Curtis Le May
and the need for air to air refuelling to make the most of these assets which led
to the KC-135 contract for Boeing.
The Dash 80 and 707 prototype development is covered next, scant mention is made
of the de Havilland Comet in the development of jet transport. Tex Johnston recounts
the barrel rolling of the Dash 80 over Lake Washington, although this is a 1G manoeuvre
I was surprised to read that he also performed a chandelle which took 3.5G. Summoned
to Bill Allen’s office to explain himself the following morning, Johnston explained
that “The barrel roll is a one G manoeuvre ( sic ) and quite impressive, but the
airplane never knows it’s inverted” to which Allen responded “You know that. Now
we know that. Don’t do it anymore”. However in the book, it does seem that Johnston
barrel rolls the B47 and 707 prototype quite a bit!
Another interesting comment from Tex Johnston is made about the Avro Vulcan where
he says “For pilots accustomed to the B-47, B-52 and Dash 80 handling characteristics
and performance, the Vulcan was a disappointment. By our standards, the high control
forces and slow control response was unacceptable”.
The introduction of the 707 proved somewhat problematic since airline crews did not
seem to be trained sufficiently to handle the aeroplane especially its “dutch roll”
characteristic. Johnston recounts one hair-raising experience, when in the passenger
compartment of an Air India 707, where he noticed a dutch roll oscillation inducing
air sickness in a lot of the passengers. He made his way to the cockpit where the
pilot was drenched in sweat at the controls and apparently just about to lose control
of the aircraft. He highlights the need for continuous focus on aircrew training
which is arguable even more relevant to Boeing today.
Tex Johnston then recounts his time in the Space division of Boeing working on the
Apollo program and earlier on the Dyna-Soar program which I found particularly interesting.
Boeing were the prime contractor on the Saturn first stage rocket and Johnston worked
with Werner Von Braun on this component. Few people can have had first hand access
to such historic events such as the X-1, B-52 development and Apollo program, I found
this to be a fascinating book by a strong minded individual who achieved amazing
things in his career.
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN-13 : 978-1560989318
Cover Price: £16.15 ( paperback )
