Herbert O. Fisher

Herbert O. Fisher (March 6, 1909 – July 29, 1990) was an American test pilot and aviation executive, overseeing aviation projects at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He worked for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Fisher flew as a pilot for over 50 years, racking up 19,351 accident and violation free hours.

During World War II Fisher was sent to the China-Burma-India theater to train the Flying Tigers as a civilian. He flew many combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Disproving the public perception of the heroic test pilot, among his peers, the portly Fisher was considered one of the premiere pilots of his time. "Herbert O. Fisher is one of those people who generally went unnoticed. That is until he climbed into the cockpit of an airplane." At the age of 16, he had his first flying experience at the hands of a barnstormer, and was "hooked" on flying.

Curtiss-Wright Curtiss Hawk 75-O, developed for Argentine Army Aviation, as an export Hawk 75 variant.

After leaving the military in 1933, Fisher joined Curtiss-Wright, and was assigned to test pilot duties. In checking out aircraft off the production lines at the Buffalo, New York, plant, on his first day, he flew 10 aircraft. During his 15 years with Curtiss-Wright as Chief Production Test Pilot, Fisher recorded thousands of test flight hours in the Curtiss C-46 Commando, Curtiss P-36/Model 75 Hawk, Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. He flew 2,498 P-40s in his role as a production test pilot. |group=N the firm's 15,000th fighter, November 1944.

In 1942, due to wartime priorities that prohibited the use of military aircraft for Hollywood productions, Republic Studios approached Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo to recreate the aerial battle sequences required for Flying Tigers, starring John Wayne. A number of P-40E fighter aircraft waiting for USAAC delivery were repainted in AVG markings, and with the aid of Curtiss test pilots, flew in the film. Fisher's screen role was in subbing for John Wayne.

At the request of the commander of the Flying Tigers, Claire Chennault, Chief Engineer Don R. Berlin sent Fisher abroad as the best way to have "imparted his experience on those courageous young fellows over there with knowledge they could not possibility have". While on an acceptance re-flight, the aircraft was loaded with Curtiss executives, and a special guest, fresh from combat in North Africa, Australian P-40 ace, Group Captain Clive "Killer" Caldwell. With the landing gear stuck in a three-quarters down position, and after an extended eight-hour attempt to release the gear, Fisher calmly belly-landed the C-46. With the weight of the aircraft gently pushing the gear back into the wheel wells, a minimum of damage resulted. Caldwell had taken over as the co-pilot on the eight hours of circling over Buffalo, receiving certification that he was checked out on the C-46, under the tutelage of Fisher. Recognizing that the new transport was subject to teething problems common to any new type, Fisher was able to assist operational units in the technique of flying and maintaining C-46 transports. He would eventually fly 96 "research missions" over "The Hump" as a means of testing all the critical systems and troubleshooting a dangerous tendency for the engine fires and explosions that had plagued the C-46. CBI C-46 pilot Don Downie recalled, "Herb Fisher's detailed reports were some of the best pilot briefings we had."

Through his hard work and persistence, Fisher also convinced American General Joseph Stilwell, the Vice Commander of the CBI theater, that the new operational procedures would save the lives of hundreds of pilots and passengers. In 1944, at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded the Air Medal to Fisher in recognition of his service; he was the first living civilian to receive the honor.

Postwar At the end of World War II, Fisher transferred to the Propeller Division of Curtiss-Wright, in Caldwell, New Jersey, where he served as the Chief Pilot. One of his important assignments was to assess the full potential of propeller-driven aircraft. Fisher with USAAF P-47D-30-RE "Test PE-219" in postwar testing; note scimitar propeller.

Compressibility effects After test flights of a P-47C on November 13, 1942, Republic Aviation issued a press release on December 1, 1942, claiming that Lts. Harold E. Comstock and fellow test pilot Roger Dyar had exceeded the speed of sound. In response, Fisher later observed, "We knew about Mach 1 going clear back to the P-36 and the P-40 ... Nothing could go mph in level flight, but pilots were beginning to dive fighters. We ran into compressibility back in '38."

The desire to develop a propeller that maintained its efficiency at transonic and supersonic speeds led the Curtiss-Wright Propeller Division to design and test several different concepts, including a thin, cuffed four-blade and a three-bladed "scimitar" design. Utilizing a specially modified P-47D-30-RE on loan from the USAAF, Fisher undertook over 100 high Mach number precision dives from at speeds from to . The typical flight began above when Fisher would push over into a steep dive, allowing his airspeed to build beyond (true airspeed). He would then execute a pullout at , having to maintain an exacting set altitude within plus or minus five ft. Several of these dives resulted in speeds of Mach 0.83; one on 27 October 1949 reached the fastest speed a P-47 could attain.

During the test program, Fisher brought his son, Herbert O. Fisher, Jr., along for a Mach 0.80 dive. The youngster was touted as "the world's fastest toddler".

Reversible pitch experiments Fisher also conducted a program designed to allow aircraft to descend rapidly. It involved reversing all four propellers simultaneously in flight. On a Douglas C-54 Skymaster transport, the extremely high sink rates of up to 15,000 feet per minute in four seconds after reversal, produced a safe method of rapid descent for airliners. The flight would start at 15,000 ft., three miles from the airfield before push over, landing and coming to a full stop in one minute and 50 seconds. Fisher wrote that forward airspeed was well within normal parameters , with no decrease in controllability. Fisher was also instrumental in developing the use of reversing pitch to rapidly slow an aircraft, which allowed them to land safely on shorter runways, and, in general, greatly reduce the incidence of runway overruns. As head of aviation-industry affairs, his work included evaluating requests for fixed-wing and rotary aircraft to use airports in the New York metropolitan region. The airports he supervised included John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and Teterboro. During his tenure, Fisher checked out numerous aircraft from wide-body airliners to the executive jets. He retired in 1975, but continued to be active in aviation and other interests.

Other positions Fisher filled included Director of Aeronautics for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and instructor at the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University where he held a Doctorate of Aeronautical Science (honoris causa) and was a member of their International Advisory Council. The university also has an endowment fund in his name, the Herbert O. Fisher Scholarship.

In later years, Fisher was founder and first President of the P-40 Warhawk Association, a charter member and Past President of the P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Association, Past President of the CBI Hump Pilots Association, and Past President of the Yankee Air Force, Northeast Division. Among the many other associations in which he took an active role was as a charter member of the International Fighter Pilots Fellowship, member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the Wings Club of New York and the China-Burma-India Veterans Association. Joining the ranks of many famous aviators from New Jersey, in 1983, Fisher was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey. In 1984, the Yankee Air Force honoured Fisher as the "Airman of the Year" as well as inducting him in the association's Hall of Fame. On May 13, 2011, Fisher was also inducted into the Niagara Frontier Aviation & Space Hall of Fame. Accepting on behalf of his father, was Herbert O. Fisher, Jr.

Death At age 81, Fisher died on July 29, 1990, after suffering congestive heart failure. At the time of his death, he lived in the Smoke Rise gated community in Kinnelon, New Jersey, his family home since 1955.