Later Became Chief Pilot For 'Wings Of Hope' Humanitarian Organization

Joseph Francis Dobronski Sr., an aviator well known in both the test pilot and humanitarian communities, passed away Saturday in Creve Coeur, MO five days shy of his 88th birthday.

J.F. "Joe" Dobronski entered the Navy's V-5 Aviation Cadet Program just after graduating high school in 1945, and became a Naval Aviator in 1947, according to a biography posted online by the Schrader Funeral Home. In the Navy, he flew in the VA-1L and VX-3 squadrons.

Dobronski graduated from Northrop Aeronautical School in 1951 and worked as a flight test engineer at McDonnell Aircraft In St. Louis. In 1953, he became a production test pilot in the F2H Banshee.

As a 1954 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, he was promoted to experimental test pilot, and later to Chief Test Pilot in 1966. He helped develop such aircraft as the Demon, Voodoo, Phantom II, Eagle, Harrier, and Hornet as well as three jet helicopters.

After retiring in 1984 as the Director of Flight Test and Operations, he became the chief pilot for Wings of Hope, a humanitarian organization that flies medical missions in Central America. He was also a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

He was also an aerobatic flight instructor, and was recognized as the FAA Central Flight Instructor Of The Year in 2002.

The family has asked the memorial donations be made to Wings of Hope and Birthright St. Louis.

(F-2H Banshee pictured in public domain image)

FMI: www.schrader.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1651873