Iven Carl Kincheloe

Iven Carl "Kinch" Kincheloe Jr. (July 2, 1928 – July 26, 1958) was an American pilot. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, in which he was recognized as a flying ace. He continued as a test pilot after the war, participating in the Bell X-2 program, in which he set an altitude record of in 1956. For this suborbital flight above 99.66 percent of Earth's atmosphere, he became known as "The First Spaceman". He was selected for the Air Force's program to put a man in space, but was killed in a plane crash in 1958.

Early life and education Born July 2, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan, Kincheloe grew up in Cassopolis in the southwest part of the state, the only child of Iven C. Kincheloe Sr. (1894–1966) and Frances Wilder Kincheloe. Interested in aviation from a very young age, he graduated from Dowagiac High School in 1945 and attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Kincheloe joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity (Indiana Alpha), and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1949. In the summer of 1948, the ROTC cadet met test pilot Chuck Yeager and sat in the cockpit of the Bell X-1.

Korean War Upon graduation from college, Kincheloe received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and entered flight training. After earning his pilot wings in August 1950, he spent a year as a test pilot, flying the F-86E at Edwards Air Force Base, California, was promoted to first lieutenant, and transferred to Korea in September 1951.

During the war, he was assigned to the 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, he flew F-80s on thirty combat missions and F-86s on 101 combat missions, downing five (becoming an ace and earning the Silver Star) before returning to the U.S. in May 1952. At this time, he had reached the rank of captain.

Post-war career After the war, Kincheloe was a gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas, Nevada, then resumed his activity as a test pilot (subsequent to his prior flight test activities associated with the F-86E), graduating in December 1954 from the Empire Test Pilots' School at Farnborough, England. He participated in the testing of the Century Series of fighter aircraft (F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and F-106 Delta Dart).

In the mid-1950s, Kincheloe joined the Bell X-2 program and on September 7, 1956, flew at more than and to a height of

The X-2 program was halted three weeks later, after a crash resulted in the death of Mel Apt in a flight in which he became the first person to exceed Mach 3. Kincheloe was later selected as one of the first three pilots in the next rocket-powered aircraft program, the X-15, and would have been part of the Man in Space Soonest project.

Kincheloe appeared as a contestant on the CBS television program, I've Got a Secret, on the January 29, 1958 episode. His secret was “I’ve gone higher into space than any other human being”.

Death and legacy In July 1958, Kincheloe was killed in the crash of an F-104A (Lockheed F-104A-10-LO s/n 56-772) at Edwards Air Force Base. He had ejected at low altitude, but given that the early F-104 used a downwards catapulted ejection seat, the deployed parachute did not adequately slow his descent. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Only thirty years old, Kincheloe was survived by wife, Dorothy, their son, and a daughter who was born two months later. On September 25, 1959, Kincheloe Air Force Base in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was renamed in his honor; formerly Kinross Air Force Base, it closed in 1977. A monument stands approximately 1½ miles (2½ km) east of his hometown of Cassopolis, Michigan; an angular stone slab in height, it bears a silver model of the X-2 pointed skyward. Kincheloe Elementary School, part of the nearby Dowagiac Union School District, is named in his honor. In 1992, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor. In 2011, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1958 the Society of Experimental Test Pilots created the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, which is still awarded yearly for "Outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing".

Awards and decorations

USAF Senior pilot badge Silver Star Legion of MeritDistinguished Flying Crosswith two bronze oak leaf clustersAir Medalwith three bronze oak leaf clustersAir Force Presidential Unit Citationwith bronze oak leaf clusterNational Defense Service MedalKorean Service Medalwith three bronze campaign starsAir Force Longevity Service Awardwith bronze oak leaf clusterRepublic of Korea Presidential Unit CitationUnited Nations Korea MedalKorean War Service Medal

Silver Star citation

Kincheloe, Iven C. Captain U.S. Air Force 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group, Fifth Air Force Date of Action: April 1, 1952

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