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Hypersonics pioneer Johnny G. Armstrong dies
by Dr. Stephanie Smith
Edwards AFB, Calif.
Johnny G. Armstrong, a hypersonics pioneer and retired flight
test engineer at what was then known as the Air Force Flight Test
Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., died in Lancaster, Calif.
He was 86.
Armstrong spent most of his nearly 55-year career at Edwards
expanding the envelope of speed. His first assignment as a civilian in
1962 was as a flight planner on the joint U.S. Navy/NASA/U.S. Air
Force X-15 flight test program. He also worked on the F-104, lifting
bodies such as HL-10, M2-F3, X-24A and X-24B.
Armstrong’s career included work on space and hypersonic ve-
hicles such as the X-33, X-34, X-37, X-38/X-40A Future-X, X-43
Hyper-X, and X-51 Waverider. He became the Hypersonics Com-
bined Test Force Chief Engineer in 2004 and retired from the position
on February 6, 2012.
Armstrong was born in Jackson, Miss, on June 12, 1933, but grew
up in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He became aware of Edwards AFB in high
school while reading about NACA research pilot Scott Crossfield’s
speed and altitude records in the NACA D-558-II; working at Ed-
wards became his goal. Upon his graduation in 1953 Armstrong be-
gan his career as a Summer Aide at the Redstone Arsenal in Hunts-
ville, Ala., on the first Redstone launch. He graduated from the Uni-
versity of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala., in 1956 with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
Armstrong arrived at the Air Force Flight Test Center as an Air
Force first lieutenant in in 1957, and would spend the majority of his
career there. He worked on the YB-58A test team with Maj. Fitzhugh
“Fitz†Fulton, Maj. Cliff Garrington and Everett Dunlap, becoming
the first non-rated Air Force officer to fly at Mach 2 in the aircraft.
Following another assignment in Huntsville, “Lieutenant Johnny,†as
he would ever after refer to himself, left active duty in 1961 in order
to return to Edwards and flight test.
Courtesy photograph
Above: Lt. Johnny Armstrong (left) stands with his B-58 crewmates Maj. Fitz Fulton, Maj. Cliff Garrington and Everett Dunlap in front
of the aircraft in 1957. Armstrong flew in this test and support aircraft, making him the first non-rated U.S. Air Force officer to fly at
Mach 2. Left: Johnny G. Armstrong retires as Chief Engineer of the Hypersonic Combined Test Force, Feb. 6, 2012.
“I first met Johnny Armstrong in 1963 when he was an
X-15 flight planner and I was a co-op in the NASA flight planning
office. He epitomized the aerospace professional I hoped to
become. Over the next 40-plus years he remained a voice of
experience and good humor, much like Fitz Fulton. I will
miss him, as will the entire flight test community.â€
Donald Gatlin
Air Force photograph Johnny was my first boss on active duty. It was a
privilege to learn from such an experienced mentor. He is
August 16, 2019 • Volume 33, Issue 14
leaving behind an incredible legacy!
www.aerotechnews.com Christopher Terpening
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