Alvin "Tex" Johnston

is Stetson hat, cowboy boots and string tie made Johnson the real-life image of a Hollywood daredevil test pilot. But in reality he was an accomplished professional. Even his daredevil barrel roll with the Dash 80 in 1955 was well planned and practiced before he executed it in front of 200,000 spectators at Lake Washington.

• Earned his pilot and mechanics license before the age of 20 and became a barnstormer.
• Joined the Army Air Corps Ferry Command after Pearl Harbor, ferrying aircraft to their destination.
• Was a test pilot with Bell Aircraft Company in 1942 testing the XP-59A, the country’s first jet aircraft.
• Won the Thompson Trophy in 1946 at the National Air Races.
• Began working for Boeing in 1949 and was the project test pilot for the XB-47, the world’s first swept-wing jet bomber and for the XB-52.
• Chief of Flight Tests for the 367-80, the Dash 80, the 707 prototype and the USAF KC 135 tanker.
• Worked on the X-20 Dyna Soar program and the Saturn S-1C and NASA Apollo programs.