Bill Bridgeman
Encyclopedia
William [Bill] Barton Bridgeman (1916 – September 29, 1968) was an American test pilot
who broke aviation records while working for the Douglas aircraft company testing experimental aircraft.
Bridgeman was born in Iowa. His father was a barnstormer
and separated from his mother shortly after he was born. He was raised in Malibu, California by his paternal grandmother, then enlisted in the Navy to attend flight school at Pensacola. He graduated and was commissioned in 1941, and was sent to Pearl Harbor
, where he experienced the Japanese attack on December 7. He flew PBY Catalina flying boats in the New Guinea/Australia sector, then a tour of operations with VP/VPB-109 Squadron (the famous Reluctant Raiders) on four-engined PB4Y-2 Privateer patrol bombers. He was reassigned afterwards to training activities stateside from August 1944 until the end of the war, then spent two years flying transport missions from Pearl Harbor to the West Coast.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1947, Bridgeman joined the Southwest Airlines (a local West Coast airline that eventually merged into Pacific Southwest Airlines
, not to be confused with today's Southwest
) to fly DC-3
s on the San Francisco-Seattle route. Bored with the airline routine, he left in 1949 to join the Douglas Aircraft Company
as a production test pilot to certify A-1 Skyraiders off the assembly line before their delivery to the Navy. A few months later, he was offered and accepted to take over the test program of the D-558 II Skyrocket
, one of the world's first supersonic research prototypes.
Bridgeman converted to jet aircraft on the F-80 in early 1950 and eventually conducted a very successful test program with the Skyrocket, collecting data on the behavior of swept-wing aircraft over a wide envelope of load factors and Mach number
s deep in the supersonic range. In May 1951, he broke the world speed record with Mach 1.72, then raised the record to Mach 1.88 (1,245 mph, 1,992 km/h) the next month. Immediately afterwards, he broke the world altitude record with 79,494 ft. (24,230 m) on the Skyrocket's final flight before delivery to NACA
. During this campaign, Bridgeman was one of the first pilots to encounter the phenomenon of inertia coupling
, a flight hazard that would dominate high-speed aircraft research for much of the 1950s.
He went on to fly other Douglas test programs including the X-3 Stiletto, a promising but ultimately unsuccessful design. In 1955, he recounted his experiences test-flying the Skyraider and Skyrocket in a successful memoir, The Lonely Sky, written with Jacqueline Hazard whom he married shortly after the book was published.
Bridgeman eventually moved to Grumman Aircraft where he conducted test programs of commercial aircraft. In September 1968, his airplane went down in the Pacific Ocean
during a routine test flight from Los Angeles to Santa Catalina Island
. His body was never found.
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
who broke aviation records while working for the Douglas aircraft company testing experimental aircraft.
Bridgeman was born in Iowa. His father was a barnstormer
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
and separated from his mother shortly after he was born. He was raised in Malibu, California by his paternal grandmother, then enlisted in the Navy to attend flight school at Pensacola. He graduated and was commissioned in 1941, and was sent to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, where he experienced the Japanese attack on December 7. He flew PBY Catalina flying boats in the New Guinea/Australia sector, then a tour of operations with VP/VPB-109 Squadron (the famous Reluctant Raiders) on four-engined PB4Y-2 Privateer patrol bombers. He was reassigned afterwards to training activities stateside from August 1944 until the end of the war, then spent two years flying transport missions from Pearl Harbor to the West Coast.
Upon leaving the Navy in 1947, Bridgeman joined the Southwest Airlines (a local West Coast airline that eventually merged into Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines was a United States airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was one of the first large discount airlines in the United States and is considered a precursor to Southwest Airlines...
, not to be confused with today's Southwest
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
) to fly DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
s on the San Francisco-Seattle route. Bored with the airline routine, he left in 1949 to join the Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
as a production test pilot to certify A-1 Skyraiders off the assembly line before their delivery to the Navy. A few months later, he was offered and accepted to take over the test program of the D-558 II Skyrocket
Douglas Skyrocket
The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a rocket and jet-powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy...
, one of the world's first supersonic research prototypes.
Bridgeman converted to jet aircraft on the F-80 in early 1950 and eventually conducted a very successful test program with the Skyrocket, collecting data on the behavior of swept-wing aircraft over a wide envelope of load factors and Mach number
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
s deep in the supersonic range. In May 1951, he broke the world speed record with Mach 1.72, then raised the record to Mach 1.88 (1,245 mph, 1,992 km/h) the next month. Immediately afterwards, he broke the world altitude record with 79,494 ft. (24,230 m) on the Skyrocket's final flight before delivery to NACA
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
. During this campaign, Bridgeman was one of the first pilots to encounter the phenomenon of inertia coupling
Inertia coupling
Inertia coupling is a potentially lethal phenomenon of high-speed flight in which the inertia of the heavier fuselage overpowers the aerodynamic stabilizing forces of the wing and empennage...
, a flight hazard that would dominate high-speed aircraft research for much of the 1950s.
He went on to fly other Douglas test programs including the X-3 Stiletto, a promising but ultimately unsuccessful design. In 1955, he recounted his experiences test-flying the Skyraider and Skyrocket in a successful memoir, The Lonely Sky, written with Jacqueline Hazard whom he married shortly after the book was published.
Bridgeman eventually moved to Grumman Aircraft where he conducted test programs of commercial aircraft. In September 1968, his airplane went down in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
during a routine test flight from Los Angeles to Santa Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
. His body was never found.