Arthur W. Murray

Arthur Warren "Kit" Murray (December 26, 1918 – July 25, 2011) was a United States test pilot who flew test flights on the Bell X-1 and the Bell X-5 aircraft. He was the first pilot to see the curvature of the Earth and set an unofficial altitude record of more than 90,000 feet at over twice the speed of sound.

Early life Arthur Warren Murray was born to Charles C. "Chester" and Elsie Murray in the small town of Cresson nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania on December 26, 1918.

Military career With World War II already underway in Europe, he joined the United States Army in 1939, and served in the Cavalry. Murray volunteered for pilot training the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and by 1943 was flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk as a fighter pilot in Africa. His unit worked its way across the continent from Casablanca to Tunisia, escorting North American B-25 Mitchell, Martin B-26 Marauder and Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers as well as performing dive bombing and strafing missions. His unit was proud to never have lost a bomber to enemy fighters while under their escort.

Test piloting After a year's tour in Africa, Murray returned to the United States as a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt instructor at Bradley Field near Hartford, Connecticut. He was then assigned as a maintenance flight test pilot and sent to Maintenance Engineering School at Chanute Air Force Base. After completion of that school his commander found out about the Flight Test School at Wright Field and decided to send him there. Here was where Murray got his big break as he quickly found out this school was not for functional test flights, but for experimental test programs. He kept his mouth shut and stuck with the program, and soon was offered the opportunity to be the first permanent test pilot to be assigned to Muroc Airfield (later Edwards Air Force Base) in the California desert. Until then, pilots were based at the Wright Field Test Center and assigned TDY as needed to Muroc. Chuck Yeager was making such trips out there from the Test Center while he was flying the Bell X-1 on the first supersonic test flights. In early tests Murray was able to fly some of America's earliest jet aircraft including the Bell XP-59 and the P-80. He also flew the P-51, P-82, F-84, B-25, B-43, B-45 and many other fighter and bomber aircraft.

Murray flight-tested the X-1A and X-1B, the X-4, the X-5, and also flew the XF-92A. In the X-1A, Murray set an altitude record of over 90,000 feet and was considered at the time, 1954, America's first space pilot. He saw the curvature of the Earth and the sky dark at mid-day. He was in charge of technology integration for the U.S. Regional Organization there and was privileged to fly some of Europe's top airplanes at the time, including the Italian Fiat G-91, the French Mystere, and the British Javelin.

Upon returning from Paris, he went to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as head of new developments at the Systems Project Office. During his time there, 1958–1960, he was Air Force manager for the X-15 program, Murray held the rank of major at the time, but this was considered a colonel's job. He was approached by Boeing in 1960. He retired with over 20 years of military service and became Boeing's "company astronaut" managing crew integration for the space program. then did some courtroom reporting for the Bosque County newspaper. He also was project manager for the restoration of the Bosque County Courthouse, taking it back to its 1886 splendor. Murray remarried on April 4, 1969, to Dallas interior designer Ann Tackitt Humphreys. They combined their efforts and expertise in renovating the Bosque County Court House and served as charter members of TETRA, a Texas equine trail riding organization. Arthur W. "Kit" Murray on his horse Amber, April 2000. Courtesy of Patrick Murray.

Kit Murray died on July 25, 2011, at a nursing home in the town of West, Texas at the age of 92.

Honors Murray was awarded the following decorations for his military service: Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters.