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Old 7th May 2009, 13:19
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stepwilk
 
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Designer/test pilots?

Can anybody come up with any designer/engineer of relatively high-performance modern aircraft--i.e. World War II and newer--who was also a competent test pilot?

As far as I know, Kurt Tank is alone in that regard, but I want to make sure before I commit that to print.

Anthony Fokker was too early; it would be hard to say that Igor Sikorsky flew "high-performance modern aircraft"; Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. was not a designer; and even Burt Rutan, though a skilled pilot before he lost his medical, wouldn't have test-flown his company's truly high-performance aircraft.

Am I missing anybody?
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