World-Renowned Aviator And Bell X-1 Test Pilot

The aviation community has lost another pioneering spirit, the hearty and largely self-taught Chalmers H. Goodlin -- known by many by the nickname "Slick" given to him in his teens. Aero-News has learned Goodlin died at his West Palm Beach, FL home on October 20 of cancer. He was 82.

With many aircraft looming in his future -- including the cantankerous X-1, the plane Chuck Yeager would later use to break the sonic barrier -- Goodlin showed potential of greatness in aviation even as a 15-year-old boy in the late 1930s. He also displayed a sense of efficiency, according to his sister Myla Shestik.

"He used to go to New Alexandria Airport every Sunday for flying lessons," Shestik, to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He would deliver the newspaper by airplane. He would fly as low as he could go and drop it."

At 16, Goodlin left home to join the RCAF, where a high-school diploma and college education weren't required to become a pilot -- unlike in the United States at the time. "He did not have formal education, but he educated himself," said Shestik.

Right away, Goodlin displayed an uncanny knack for and mastery of flight, leading members of his RCAF crew to nickname him "Slick," according to Goodlin's brother E. Alton "Al" Goodlin.

"They said, 'Hey, this Goodlin is slick,' and it stuck," Al Goodlin said.

Goodlin had earned his wings and his commission flying for the RCAF when World War II broke out in late 1941. Within a year, he had gone overseas and joined England's Royal Air Force, flying Supermarine Spitfires. The US Navy got wind of his skills, and he was recruited back to his home country in December 1942 to test fly F4F Wildcats, F6F Hellcats, TBF Avengers, and the fabled F4U Corsair.

In January 1944, Goodlin became a test pilot for Bell Aircraft. He flew several Bell prototypes, most notably the X-1. With 26 flights under his belt, Goodlin was on track to become the first man to break the sound barrier -- until the government took over the program from Bell, and decided to use its own test pilot. Chuck Yeager only had six years flying experience at the time.

Later, Goodlin joined a group of pilots flying Spitfires in defense of the newly-established state of Israel, and also played a role in the formation of the Israeli Air Force. While Goodlin received many awards and numerous honors for his flying skills, his sister said her brother did not always get the recognition he deserved.

"He wrote several aviation articles, appeared in many documentaries and television interviews," said Shestik. "He saved a lot of lives delivering supplies during the Nigerian civil war in the late 1960s for the Red Cross."

"He was a wonderful man, who was so loved and respected his entire life," she added.

Goodlin stayed in the cockpit into his late sixties, according to his brother, before a stroke grounded him in the early 1990s.

FMI: www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Military/slick_goodlin.htm