Former Naval Test Pilot Held High Altitude Records

It is with sadness Aero-News has learned Capt. George C. Watkins, a decorated Navy test pilot and world record holder, died last month from a heart attack at a hospital near his home in Lompoc, CA. He was 84.

On a single day in 1956, Watkins set both a speed record of 1,220 mph and an unofficial altitude record of 73,500 feet. In April 1958, while piloting his Grumman F11F-1F Super Tiger (photo below) he set two world absolute altitude records in three days, topping out at 76,932 feet. He also set a record for number of trap landings onboard aircraft carriers.

Later nicknamed "Gorgeous George" by his fellow aviators during the dawn of the Jet Age, according to his Washington Times obituary, Watkins initially had no intentions of being a pilot -- let alone a test pilot. After graduating the naval academy in 1943, he served as a battery turret operator aboard the battleship Pennsylvania. However, when the Navy faced a pilot shortage and put a call out for new recruits, Watkins volunteered. He received his wings just after the end of the war.

Watkins entered the Navy's test pilot school in 1950, sharing the classroom with future Mercury astronauts Alan Shepherd and John Glenn. He served as a fighter pilot in the Korean War before returning to the test program, where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Meritorious Service Medal for his service.

After hanging up his flight suit in the 1960s, he served at the Pentagon in the Strike Warfare Division. He also served as a social aide at the White House under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.

As time goes by, we see the passing of more of these courageous test pilots, who faced unknown dangers each day they flew against uncertain thresholds, utilizing unfamiliar equipment and technology at the very beginning of the modern aviation era. Largely unheralded until Tom Wolfe's 1979 novel, these guys truly had "The Right Stuff" --  and they no doubt had an absolute ball doing it, too.

Capt. George C. Watkins has gone west. Sir, may the skies grant you safe passage and allow you to soar as high as your wings will take you.

FMI: www.navy.mil