John H. Griffith

Who is John H. Griffith?

John H. Griffith was a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, one of the pilots of the Bell X-1.

Griffith grew up in Homewood, Illinois. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in November 1941, and served in the South Pacific during World War II. He flew 189 missions in the Curtiss P-40 fighter and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and four Air Medals.

Following the war, he attended Purdue University, studying aeronautical engineering. He then joined the NACA's Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. At Lewis he was involved in tests of ramjet aircraft. In August, 1949, Griffith became a research pilot at the Muroc Flight Test Unit. He flew the experimental aircraft the Bell X-1, X-4 Bantam, Douglas Skystreak, and Douglas Skyrocket. On May 26, 1950, He piloted the X-1 #2 to its highest speed of Mach 1.20. He was the first NACA pilot to fly the X-4.

Griffith left the NACA in 1950 to fly for private companies — Chance Vought, United Airlines, and for Westinghouse. At Vought, in 1951, he was the Senior Experimental Pilot on the F7U Cutlass. At Westinghouse, he became the Chief Engineering Test Pilot.