Tom Macdonald, V-22 Chief Test Pilot
The Osprey may some day become a viable transport vehicle
for the armed services. If it does, then a lot of the credit will
go to Tom Macdonald, whose skill and daring took what has long been
a flying boondoggle to the edges of its performance envelope, and
beyond -- and who helped find just where some of those critical,
heretofore-masked limits lie.
Ward Carroll, NAVAIR (V-22) Public Affairs, has apprised us
of Macdonald's latest and greatest award:
Tom Macdonald, the V-22 Integrated Test Team's Chief Test Pilot,
was recently awarded the Society of Experimental Test Pilot's
prestigious Iven C. Kincheloe Award for 2003. The Society awards
the Kincheloe each year in recognition of outstanding professional
accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing. The award was
established in memory of Captain Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr., USAF, who
died in 1958 during a test flight in an F-104 Starfighter. This
year's award was announced at the Society's annual convention in
Los Angeles.
"I'm very surprised," Macdonald said with his characteristic
humility. "I'm honored by the personal recognition, but I consider
this an award for the entire V-22 team." [With all due respect to
the team, Tom, you are the guy who flew it --ed.]
Macdonald joins an august list of previous Kincheloe winners
including Scott Crossfield, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, and Dick
Rutan.
Kids, DON'T Try This at Home:
Macdonald, who has accumulated nearly 700 hours of flight time
in the V-22, was the first test pilot in history to fully define a
high rate of descent - low airspeed envelope for a helicopter-like
aircraft. In order to accurately define the Osprey's operating
envelope, he repeatedly flew the aircraft to test points that were
at once close to load limits, flapping limits, and the aerodynamic
departure boundary. As he hit these test points he discovered that
the V-22's prop/rotor gave off few physical cues to the pilot as
the aircraft approached the departure boundary, or "Vortex Ring
State," as the phenomenon is known in rotary wing circles.
Macdonald flew the Osprey into departures and verified the proposed
recovery technique.
This skilled flying along with his recommendations for the type
and placement of a pilot high rate of descent warning system will
ensure the Osprey is safe and operational for fleet pilots in the
future.
"Tom flew every flight in a test program where no test pilot has
been before," said Fred Madenwald, recent V-22 flight test
director. "His leadership, piloting skills, and timely judgment
carried this testing phase to a successful conclusion. It should
also be noted that he did
all of this under the intense scrutiny of the Department of
Defense, with the fate of the V-22 program in the balance."
"We're very proud of Tom," said Col. Craig Olson, V-22 Joint
Program Manager. "Because of the revolutionary nature of the Osprey
it's fitting that he would get this award on the centennial of
flight, and that on a broader scale the V-22 program would be
recognized for its great accomplishments this year."
The Kincheloe Award has almost always been awarded to
military pilots and astronauts; but this is not the first time it
has been awarded to a tiltrotor pilot. In 1980, Dorman A. Cannon,
and Ronald G. Erhart, of Bell Helicopter Textron, received the
Award for the Osprey's godfather, the Tilt Rotor XH5.
NTSB Final Report: Douglas A-4K
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