Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, Oct. 20 2017

HONOREES, from 4
In January 2016, he retired from Lockheed Martin and joined the National Test Pilot School at the Mojave Air and Space Port as the chief operations officer and test pilot instructor.
JB is a Fellow and Past President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has logged more than 9,260 flight hours in 150 different models of aircraft and is the world’s highest time Stealth Fighter pilot.
Steve “Hooter” Rainey
Steve Rainey is a 1980 Engineering Mechanics graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He attended pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., and flew F-4s at Ramstien Air Base, Germany.
Rainey received his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Miami and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1991 (Class 99). Following test pilot school, Rain- ey was assigned to the F-16 CTF at Edwards Air Force Base, serving as a flight commander and the primary test pilot for all F-16 avionics testing.
From 1994-1996, Rainey did his time in purgatory at the F-22 Program Office. This paid off as he was then selected to be the first F-22 Operations Officer responsible for establishing initial opera- tions. He was the first U.S. Air Force pilot (and third pilot ever) to fly the Raptor; “firsts” include: first flight at Edwards AFB; first in-flight APU start; first in-flight engine shutdown/restart, first air refueling; first loads test; first emergency landing gear extension; and first F-22 Loads test mission carrying Small Diameter Bombs.
He conducted all categories of Raptor flight test and was then assigned as the 411th Flight Test Squadron Commander in the
Steve “Hooter” Rainey
F-22 CTF.
Rainey retired in 2000 and spent time as both an airline pilot
and a civil service test pilot. In 2005, Boeing hired him as their test pilot on the F-22 program, regularly conducting flight test in all categories. In 2014, Lockheed Martin hired Rainey to be the F-22 chief test pilot. He is currently the only dual-qualified F-22 and F-16 Instructor/Evaluator Pilot.
The Raptor has been like one of Rainey’s children. He has enjoyed the unique opportunity of participating in F-22 test from
the airplane’s infancy to today -still the world’s most dominant aircraft. He has been involved with the program since before Critical Design Review to the present, including many major milestones such as chase on first flight, test pilot for first flight at Edwards, Engineering Manufacturing and Development phase, post-EMD testing with multiple Modernization upgrades. These include supersonic JDAM, Geolocation, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Air-to-Ground Self Targeting, and the addition of Small Diameter Bombs to give the Raptor a true Global Strike knock-the-door down capability.
The latest modernization effort has added full AIM-9X capabil- ity, the new AIM-120D, Geolocation 2 and other combat features. Hooter says “it’s been like watching one of my children grow from infant to adult.”
Rainey has more than 6,700 total hours in more than 40 air- craft types including the F-4 Phantom II, F-16 Viper, F-22 Raptor, MIG-21 and one wonderful flight in the P-51 Mustang. He owns an RV-4 and a Cessna 180 and has completed a backcountry fly- ing course.
Rainey is an Eagle Scout and somehow, amidst all this flying found time, volunteers as an assistant Scout Master, Society of Experimental Test Pilots West Coast Section Chairman for almost three years, and as President of the Society. He is a proud member of Daedalians and Quiet Birdmen.
Rainey is married and he and his wife Cindy have two children — Michael and Valerie.
Rainey is one proud American thankful to have had the op- portunity to serve this country in developing and continually modernizing the F-22 Raptor — the most awesome fighter ever conceived by man!
In Memoriam
David P. Cooley
U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, retired
Dave “Cools” Cooley was born Feb. 15, 1960, at RAF Mildenhall in England.
He was a 1982 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where he met his wife Sheyla. He began his flying career as an operational F-111 pilot.
Cools first became involved with test flying in 1989 as an F-111 Operational Test & Evaluation pilot, conducting operational testing of new weapons and systems for the F-111. Cools was then selected to represent the United States as the Air Force exchange officer
at the Empire Test Pilot School in the United Kingdom, graduating in 1992.
He was then assigned to the 445th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base where he conducted F-15 tests to include avionics and missile tests. He was also the chief pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard RU-38 utility aircraft flight test program to include a “first flight.” From 1996 to 1998, Cooley was the branch chief at Air Combat Command for Operational Test and Evaluation where he tackled complex issues involving test methodologies between operational and developmental testing. He also provided test plan guidance and direction to
various programs.
In 1998, Cools was selected to be the operations officer for the 410th Flight Test Squadron
at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale responsible for developmental flight testing of the F-117. He conducted initial separation and integration tests of new weapons and systems for the F-117 to include a new digital brake system as well as numerous classified programs.
From 2000 to 2003, Cooley served as the vice commandant for the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards, responsible for day-to-day operations of all aspects of the school as well as mentoring students as a full-time instructor pilot.
After retiring from the Air Force in 2003, Cooley was hired by Lockheed Martin as the F-117 chief test pilot. He conducted weapons separation and integration testing, avionics development and numerous classified test programs.
In September 2007, ‘Cools’ was selected as an F-22 test pilot assigned to the F-22 Com- bined Test Force at Edwards. He was qualified and conducted tests in all phases of F-22 flight testing. As the chief of Standardization and Evaluation, and an integral part of the F-22 operations team, ‘Cools’ led the unit to success achieving an “Outstanding” rating during a recent inspection.
David died in an F-22 crash on March 25, 2009, during a test mission just north of Edwards Air Force Base. He was 49 years old. He was survived by his wife Sheyla Cooley, three sons, Paul, Mark and Aaron Cooley, his father and step mother, William and Peggy Cooley, one brother, Bill Cooley, two sisters, Susan Pfalzer and her husband Mike, Cathy Baker and her fiancé John Balch.
Cooley was an Associate Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and served on the Society’s membership committee. He had a positive outlook on life — inspired by his quiet but fervent faith — that was very infectious. He was a consummate professional, a true leader and inspired everyone with which he worked or socialized.
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Aerotech News and Review
October 20, 2017
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