Alvin Melvin "Tex" Johnston (August 18, 1914 – October 29, 1998) was an American test pilot for Bell Aircraft and the Boeing Company.
Early life
Johnston was born August 18, 1914, in Admire, Kansas, to farmers Alva and Ella Johnston. He had his first airplane ride in 1925, at 11 years old, when a barnstormer landed near his family farm. At the age of 15, Johnston used his newspaper route money to purchase a wrecked Cessna glider. After repairing the glider, Johnston's father would pull it behind their car and Johnston would release the tow cable and glide to a landing in a nearby field.
Test pilot
Bell Aircraft
In December 1942, Bell Aircraft chief test pilot Robert Stanley offered Johnston a position as a production test pilot.
After World War II ended, Johnston convinced Larry Bell to purchase two war-surplus Airacobras to be modified and entered in the National Air Races as a publicity stunt. The two P-39's were named Cobra I and II, with Johnston flying Cobra II and his flight test boss Jack Woolams flying Cobra I. The day before the race, Cobra I crashed into Lake Ontario from a suspected canopy failure, killing Woolams.
Johnston helped design and later flew the rocket-propelled Bell X-1 at a speed of Mach .72 on May 22, 1947. He stayed on the program as a design advisor on modifications to the trim controls that he discovered were unusable in their manufactured configuration at high subsonic speeds. Later that year, Chuck Yeager would become famous for breaking the sound barrier in this aircraft.
Once the X-1 project began to taper off, Bell Aircraft made the decision to enter the fledgling helicopter industry. Johnston learned to fly helicopters, but his passion remained for airplane testing. and piloted the first flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress prototype.
Johnston is best known for performing a barnstormer-style barrel roll maneuver with Boeing's pioneering 367-80 jet in a demonstration flight over Lake Washington outside Seattle, on August 7, 1955. Bill Allen, the then-president of Boeing, had invited many aero-space and airline executives to enjoy Seattle's Seafair aboard his yacht. Allen had asked Johnston to make a fly-by over Seafair to show off Boeing's new airliner. Johnston performed the barrel roll during the fly-by, reversed course with a chandelle, and performed a second barrel roll on the way back.
Johnston was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1993. Johnston's cowboy style of dress and maverick behavior is said to have inspired the creation of B-52 pilot Maj. T.J. "King" Kong, portrayed by Slim Pickens in the movie Dr. Strangelove.