Thomas McMurtry

Who is Thomas McMurtry?

Thomas McMurtry joined NASA as a research test pilot in 1967. The first project he was assigned to as the project pilot was the F-8 Supercritical Wing project. He flew its first flight on 9 March 1971 and that of the NASA AD-1 on 21 December 1979. He was project pilot on the TF-8A Supercritical Wing testbed and the AD-1. He was co-project pilot on the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire Airplane, the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and performed digital electronic F-15 engine efficiency control tests. On 26 November 1975, the X-24B dropped from the sky for the last time, piloted on its 36th flight by McMurtry.

McMurtry's final flight at NASA

Tom McMurtry and the SCA

SCA Crew

McMurtry before his flight on the F-8 Supercritical Wing Airplane

Tom McMurtry

Tom co-piloted the 747 Carrier Aircraft as it transported the Space Shuttle Enterprise to its first launch on 12 August 1977. McMurtry logged over 11,000 hours of flying time since earning his pilot's wings in 1958. A graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School, he has flown many aircraft including the U-2, X-24B, F-8A, AD-1, YF-12C, F-104, and F-15. McMurtry became chief research test pilot and then Chief of the Research Aircraft Division for the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility. He eventually rose to be the Director for Flight Operations at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.