In a few weeks, he will address the 50th anniversary celebration of jet flying in Los Angeles.
He speaks at aircraft conventions, air museums, such as our own and the Smithsonian and corporate gatherings. Tex's travel schedule is full these days. There are several others, including the XB-47 and the YB-52, an eight-engine bomber, both built by Boeing.Īlso, of course, the 707 prototype, the first American commercial jet, the one he rolled over Lake Washington. He tested the Bell X-1, the rocket plane in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. But with the technology in metalurgy we have today, those engines go on for a very long time." We didn't have the metal in those days to withstand the heat. "About five hours," he said, "sometimes less.
"What was the life of those engines?" I asked. Tex tested the first American jet ever to fly - the XP59A, powered by General Electric I-16 jet engine, built in Lynn, Mass. Tex's jet history goes back to the days when he worked at Bell Aicraft. When President Bill Allen became visibly upset, Larry Bell of Bell Aircraft laughed and said: The Gold Cup crowd that day was perhaps 200,000, but on one barge, guests of Boeing, were most of the wealthy, high-powered jet transport buyers in the world. You just hold 1-G with full left control and the airplane doesn't know what you're doing." I said, "When you slow-rolled the Dash-80 some 200 feet over the Gold Cup course back in 1955, it scared everybody half to death.īut you'd done that before, hadn't you, at higher altitudes? So we were sitting there at lunch, talking about books and flying, when a question occurred about the most famous flight of the prototype 707 jet airliner. You forget what he is because Tex talks and acts like a laid-back friendly neighbor, an ordinary Joe who likes a drink, good food, and easy conversation. Where your perception gets distorted is when you sometimes forget that Tex Johnston is an authentic legend, one of those rare pioneers and genuine stars in America's heritage of powered flight. He likes to wear big hats, western clothes, and custom-made cowboy boots.
He is a warm, friendly, soft-spoken man, informative but never gossipy. Now and again, but never often enough, I get together for lunch with Tex Johnston.īeing around Tex can distort your perception.
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