Alvin M. "Tex" Johnston (August 18, 1914 - November 14, 1998) was a test pilot for Bell Aircraft and the Boeing Company. He is best known for rolling the Boeing model 367-80 (better known as the Dash-80, the prototype of the KC-135 Stratotanker, which was the basis for the 707) in a demonstration flight over Lake Washington on August 7, 1955. The manoeuvre was caught on film and is frequently shown on the Discovery Wings cable channel in a three-minute short as part of the Touched by History series. August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. ... The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer of the United States, a builder of several types of fighter aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for many types of helicopters. ... Boeing Commercial Airplanes, based in Renton, Washington, is a unit of The Boeing Company, consisting of the Seattle-based former Boeing Airplane Company (the civil airliner division), as well as the Long Beach-based Douglas Aircraft division of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation. ... The Boeing 367-80 or Dash 80, as it was called within Boeing, was a concept demonstrator jet transport built in less than two years from project launch in 1952 to rollout on May 14, 1954 for a cost of $US 16 million dollars. ... The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling tanker aircraft, first entered service in 1957 and expected to remain in service into the 2040s. ... The Boeing 707 is a four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... Lakes Washington and Sammamish, Washington state, U.S.A. Lake Washington is the second largest natural lake in Washington State, USA, after Lake Chelan, and the largest lake in King County. ... August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Tex was also a test pilot for the Boeing B-47 and B-52. On the last test flight, he rolled the B-47 several times, which greatly upset his boss.^{[citation needed]} The Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bomber was a medium range and size bomber capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the Soviet Union. ... The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, jet strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1954. ...

Prior to Johnston's career at Boeing, he flew for Bell Aircraft. Most notably, he flew the X-1 on May 22, 1947.^[1] Johnston also flew the P-39 Airacobra during the prototype phase. The Bell X-1, originally XS-1 was the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in controlled, level flight. ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service at the start of World War II. Although innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the lack of an efficient turbo-supercharger, limiting it to low-altitude work, although the type was utilized with...

Later he bought two surplus Airacobras and modified them to enter and win the Thompson Trophy at the National Air Races.

Video Interview

• http://www.aviationexplorer.com/707_roll_video.htm

References

Further reading

• Johnston, A.M. and Barton, C.. Tex Johnston: Jet Age Pilot. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Press, 2000. ISBN 1-56098-931-9.