We
are delighted to announce Col.
Kenneth O. Chilstrom, USAF (Ret.) will
be our distinguished speaker at our Speakers Luncheon, Friday, March 23, 2012.
Friday, March 23rd, 2012
“Ken is a retired United States Air Force officer, combat
veteran, test
pilotand
author. He was the first USAF pilot to fly the XP-86
Sabre chief
of fighter test at Wright Field commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and program manager
for the XF-108
Rapier.
Chilstrom was a pilot in the first jet air race
and delivered the first air mail by jet. He flew over eighty combat
missions in the Italian Campaign of World War II and tested over
twenty foreign models of German and Japanese fighters and bombers to
evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Among the test pilots under his
command were Bob Hoover and Chuck Yeager.
Flight test
Chilstrom strongly desired a position in flight test
at Dayton,
Ohio's Wright Field—the
dream job of many fighter pilots. Although no flight test positions
were open at the time, he was able to secure a position as maintenance
officer for Major Chris Petrie, Chief of Fighter Test. Flight test at
Wright Field expanded rapidly and provided Chilstrom
with the opportunity to realize his dream. He tested a number of P-47 Thunderbolt variants
including the XP-47E with a pressurized cockpit and the XP-47J—one of
the fastest piston engine fighters ever built.
Captured Fw
190
During
his seven years in flight test, Chilstrom flew
147 different aircraft including X, Y, and production models from the
United States, Germany, and Japan. Many German and Japanese aircraft
captured during World War II were sent to Wright Field, and Chilstrom had the opportunity to fly and evaluate over
twenty different models including the Focke-Wulf
Fw 190, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the A6M Zero, and the Kawasaki Ki-45.
He flew the Fw
190 extensively and during his tenth flight on February 24, 1945, a
malfunctioning trim switch nearly killed him. Chilstrom
was landing at Wright Field when the elevator trim switch malfunctioned
causing the nose to pitch up while the Fw 190 was dangerously close to
the ground. After regaining control and climbing to a safe altitude, he
identified the problem and determined the trim could also be driven to a
full nose-down position. With full nose-down trim, Chilstrom
had just enough control to successfully land the aircraft. Other Fw 190
pilots were not as fortunate as electrical problems in the
trim switch caused or were suspected to have
caused a number of crashes.
X P-86 in flight over the Mojave
Desert in 1947
Chilstrom was
graduated in the first group, class 45, of the recently formed Flight
Performance School (now known as the United States Air Force Test
Pilot School) with his friend and roommate Glen Edwards, who would later become the namesake of Edwards Air Force Base.
Chilstrom
was highly regarded by his superiors and in September 1946 succeeded Gabby Gabreski as
chief of the Fighter Test section. He was in charge of a very select
group of pilots including Richard Bong, John Godfrey, Bob Hoover, Don Gentile, Steve Pisanos,
and Chuck
Yeager. In 1947, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Ascani,
deputy of the Flight Test Division, recommended Chilstrom
fly the Bell X-1 on the historic mission to break the sound barrier,but
division commander Colonel Al Boyd wanted Chilstrom as project officer for the XP-86 Sabre.
Chilstrom was the
first Air Force officer to test the XP-86, and by December 1947 had completed
the XP-86 Phase II performance, stability and control tests pushing the
aircraft to 45,000 feet (14,000 m) and Mach number 0.9.
Between
1949 and 1950, Chilstrom was assigned as the
commandant of the USAF Test Pilot School and commanded the last classes
held at Wright Field. Following classes, 51A and later, were held at
Edwards Air Force Base in California. In the summer of 1949 he took his
wife to Hollywood and
at Warner
Bros. Studios he was the technical advisor on the
movie Chain Lightning starring Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey,
and Eleanor
Parker. In 1950, Chilstrom
was selected for a test pilot exchange tour with the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.
While at Farnborough Airfield and Boscombe Down,
he flew twenty five different British aircraft in two months.
Aviation firsts
In addition to being the first USAF pilot to test the XP-86, Chilstrom was involved in a number of aviation
"firsts" including:
First jet air mail
To
demonstrate the capabilities of the Army Air Corps, Chilstrom
and fellow pilot Captain Robert Baird carried out the first
transport of air mail by jet aircraft on June 22, 1946.
Carrying
a collection of mail that included a letter for Orville Wright,
Chilstrom flew a P-80 Shooting
Star fromSchenectady County Airport in
Schenectady, New York, to Dayton, Ohio. After stopping at
Wright Field, he flew on to Chicago, Illinois to complete the air mail
delivery.
First
jet air race
Ken
participated in the first "closed course" jet air race at the 1946
Cleveland National Air Races in Ohio. In
this race, three P-80 Shooting Stars from Wright Field competed
against three P-80s from the 1st Fighter Group at March Field,
California. Chilstrom was forced
out of the race due to mechanical problems when his aircraft's aileron
boost failed.
The Thompson trophy (Jet
Division) was won by Major Gustav E. Lundquist of Wright Field. Major Robin Olds of
March Field took second place.
First
USAF/USN pilot exchange program
In
1948, Chilstrom requested assignment in the
first USAF exchange tour with the United States Navy.
He trained atNaval Air Station Pensacola and checked out in
the SNJ with
six carrier landings on the USS Wright.
Chilstrom was then assigned to Carrier Air Group
Seven based at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
After eighty Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) touchdowns on shore,
he completed fifty carrier landings in the F8F Bearcat aboard
the USS Leyte.
Honors
During
his combat tour in World War II, Chilstrom
earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with
eightoak
leaf clusters. In 2008, he was recognized in Air Force
Magazine as a famous flyer of the F-86 Sabre.”
