Alvin M. Johnston Biography

Alvin M. Johnston Biography

Biography

Alvin Melvin Johnston was born in 1914, August 18, in Admire, Kansas. His parents were Alva and Ella Johnston. They were farmers. He first made his flight at the age of 11 years in 1925 when a barnstormer landed near his home. From that very day, he developed a passion for becoming a pilot. He received some piloting and mechanic instruction at the age of 15. After graduating from high school, he attended the Kansas State Teacher’s College. Later Alvin persuaded his parents to allow him to pursue a career in aviation. They, therefore, enrolled him in an airplane and engine mechanics course at the school of Aeronautics Spartan in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here he earned his License in Aircraft and Engine mechanics eve the License to fly commercial aircraft.

He went to work for some of his close friends, the Inman brothers the Inman Flying Circus Owners. He was the ticket seller and the engineer of the firm for some time in exchange for a ford tri motor instruction and also flying time. He left Inman’s and bought a big plane together with Harris Moore “Dinty.” They established their own barnstorming operations, and even at this time, he earned his License for transport pilot and more ratings as a flight instructor.

He married his wife DeLores in 1935, and after some time, he went back for a degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Kansas University due to Hitler’s aggression. This was done by order of President Roosevelt to improve the numbers and quality of pilots in the USA, and Tex signed in. He became a military pilot and gained more experience due to more flying time and the use of many advanced aircraft with multi-engine (Johnson, 1952).

Test pilot

            In 1942 he moved to Belcraft as a flight-test engineer since he had become popular hence relocated to Niagara Falls in New York. Here he established himself as a competent pilot and contributed to creating the Nation’s most sophisticated aircraft’s such as the P- 39 Airacobra, the P-47, and the V-tailed YP-63. He got the nickname “TEX” when he flew the German Focke-Wulf FW_1 90 as a flight mechanic because his Johnston’s boots and Stetson hat is seen as he was boarding the plane. He also flew the first American jet, XP-59 Airacomet, a twin-engine jet fighter aircraft (Cattell, 1921).

Johnson bought two more Airacobras and modified them for the Thompson Trophy competition in 1946 National Air Races, where he set a world record speed of 6ookm/h. He also contributed to designing the rocket-propelled Bell X-1 and flew it. It is also during this race that he lost his good old friend Jack in an accident before the race began, He later became an advisor on modifications and in an interview later says that the plane was indestructible and gorgeous (Miller, 1997).

Later he was employed by Boeing in 1948 July and flew Boeing’s stratojet and became the first man to fly the Boeing Stratofortress. He also became famous for barrel roll performance in a barnstormer style with Boeing’s jet. A demonstration that took place in Seattle over Washington Lake. In 1955. He was even recorded in a three-minute film that was shown in a channel cable known as discovery wings. He was summoned before the Boeing’s president and was questionable of his actions, but he said that he was selling planes. He was still a test pilot and, therefore, never got into legal problems (Lang, et., al. 1999).

Johnson was the assistant manager of Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar for three years in Seattle and later moved to Atlantic test center for Boeing to 1968.he worked for two Boeing programs that are the Minuteman missile and Lunar Orbiter that were designed for the missions of the Apollo. Johnson also worked with Nasa (Keathley, et., al.1971).

In 1968 he quit Boeing and began his own flight simulator firm called Tex Johnson Inc., Total-In- Flight-Simulator Inc., and Aero Spacelines, which manufactured an outsized cargo plane called the Pregnant Guppy.

“Tex” also became the chief pilot of the Stanley Aviation Corporation and majored more on personnel systems of escaping, and later in 1993, he entered the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Johnson is also renowned for demonstrating the speed of Boeing dash 80 performances and capabilities. He made a record by flying across U.S transcontinental flight in almost four hours and also performing barrel rolls at the hydroplane Gold cup race. This earned the Boeing company popularity, and the company began to supply airplanes to many airlines, which are international. Despite all the successes and achievements, Johnson is quoted many times, saying that he thanks God for the many opportunities he got, skills that are personal, and any guidance that he was provided.

Death

Johnson had Alzheimer’s disease in the 1990s and died later on October 29, 1998, at the age of 84 in Mount Vernon, Washington.

References

Cattell, J. (Ed.). (1921). American men of science: A biographical directory (Vol. 3). Bowker.

Johnson, A. S. (1952). Pioneer’s Progress: An Autobiography. New York, Vinking P.

Keathley, W. H., & Wesselski, C. J. (1971). U.S. Patent No. 3,603,433. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Miller, R. A. (1997). Thermal barrier coatings for aircraft engines: history and directions. Journal of thermal spray technology, 6(1), 35.