Jean "Skip" Ziegler

Jean "Skip" Ziegler (1920–1953) was a United States test pilot. He was killed in an explosion of the Bell X-2 during a test flight in 1953.

Ziegler after the first glide flight of the X-2.

Biography

Born in Endeavor, Pennsylvania, on January 1, 1920, he learnt to fly on his brother's Piper Cub before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces, flying the Douglas C-47 over the "hump".

After his discharge in 1942, he became a test pilot for Curtiss-Wright, piloting C-46s, P-40 Warhawks as well as the XP-55 Ascender, his first experience on a flying wing. After a brief interlude as a commercial and race plane pilot and Bell rocket engineer, he went on to test North American planes F-86 Sabre, B-45 Tornado, AJ-1 Savage and T-28 Trojan before being selected to work on the Bell Aircraft X-5, X-1D, X-1A and X-2.

Jean Leroy Ziegler completed the first unpowered glide flight of an X-2 at Edwards Air Force Base on 27 June 1952.

Death

On May 12, 1953, during a captive-carry flight test over Lake Ontario, X-2, serial number 46-675 suddenly exploded, killing Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler and observer Frank Wolko aboard the EB-50A mothership, which managed to land, although damaged, while the X-2 remains fell in the lake. Neither his body, nor Wolko's or the X-2 wreckage were ever retrieved.[1][2]

Only after several other mysterious X-plane losses was the cause found to be a rocket engine gasket made of Ulmer leather, which decomposed and became explosively unstable after sustained exposure to liquid oxygen.[1][2]

References
  1. "Ziegler, Jean 'Skip'". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Mark Wade. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  2. Swopes, Bryan R. (12 May 2022). "12 May 1953". This Day in Aviation. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

Bibliography


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