Jack Woolams

Jack Valentine Woolams (February 14, 1917 – August 30, 1946) was the senior experimental test pilot and later chief test pilot at Bell Aircraft during the introduction of the P-39, P-63, P-59, and X-1 aircraft. He set a world record for altitude and was the first person to fly a fighter jet non-stop across the United States.

Early life Woolams was born on February 14, 1917 (Valentine's Day), to Leonard and Elsa Woolams in San Francisco, California, and raised in the suburb of Ross, California. Woolams attended the University of Chicago for two years before joining the United States Army Air Corps. He served on active duty for approximately eighteen months, after which he returned to the University of Chicago and graduated with a degree in economics in June 1941.

Career and flight records After college, Woolams was hired by Bell Aircraft chief test pilot Bob Stanley as a test pilot. Woolams was soon transferred from the test flight division to the experimental research division. Woolams became chief test pilot when Stanley was promoted to vice president of engineering. He became chief test pilot for Bell in 1944. Woolams was the first pilot to fly the Bell X-1 and the only pilot to fly the rocket-plane at Bell's research facility at Pinecastle Army Airfield in Orlando, Florida. Woolams was originally scheduled to fly the X-1 faster than the speed of sound,

Death and legacy Woolams died on August 30, 1946, in the crash of the modified P-39 Cobra I race-plane during a practice flight for the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, that were to occur the next day. Woolams flew the Cobra I from Cleveland back to Bell Aircraft in Niagara Falls on August 29, after obtaining a disappointing qualifying speed of . Woolams was testing the plane over Lake Ontario late in the afternoon at speeds over when it suddenly and inexplicably crashed into the water, breaking apart upon impact. His body was recovered four days later and he was cremated September 4 in Buffalo, New York. After the wreckage of Cobra I was recovered, it was believed a canopy failure was the cause of the crash and Woolams' death,

There was internal debate at Bell Aircraft as whether to continue with the race or not, but Woolams' teammate and fellow Bell test pilot, Tex Johnston, insisted that Woolams would have raced if it was the other way around.