Peter Hoag
American test pilot and aerospace engineer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Charles Hoag (April 22, 1937 – November 23, 2024) was an American test pilot and aerospace engineer who trained under Chuck Yeager.[1] He holds the record for top speed in a lifting body, reaching Mach 1.861 in a Northrop HL-10 on February 18, 1970.[2][3]
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Washington State University (BS)
Stanford University (MS)
Peter Hoag | |
|---|---|
Portrait in 1969 | |
| Born | April 22, 1937 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 23, 2024 (aged 87) Provo, Utah, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of Technology Washington State University (BS) Stanford University (MS) |
| Occupations | |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia McCrea Waller (m. 1960) Alecia Ann Jones (m. 1994) |
Early life
Hoag was born in Chicago to Russell and Helene Hoag in 1937. He studied geology at Caltech for a few years before entering the U.S. Air Force as a pilot.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Washington State University and a Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.
Career
Hoag served as a pilot in the Air Force for 28 years. As a Major, he also taught test pilots.[4][5]
In 1964, he applied for the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) and received orders to attend class 64-C, which commenced in August 1964 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The commandant at the time was Chuck Yeager,[6] and Hoag's twelve-member class included Spence M. Armstrong, Alfred Worden, Stuart Roosa, Henry Hartsfield, and Charles Duke.[7] Hoag finished top of the class in September 1965.[8]
He joined the HL-10 program in 1969 as one of 4 pilots, including John A. Manke, William H. Dana, and Jerauld R. Gentry.[9] The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) to develop safe maneuvering and landing of a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space.[10] He completed his first glide flight on June 6, 1969, and made a total of 8 flights in the HL-10.[11]
Hoag holds the record for fastest lifting body flight, which reached Mach 1.861 on February 18, 1970.[12][13][14]
He also flew the XB-70 Valkyrie.[15] On June 8, 1966, Hoag was piloting a Northrop T-38 Talon chase plane[16] when the second prototype of the XB-70 collided mid-air with a NASA/Lockheed F-104 Starfighter over Barstow, California.[17][18] The F-104 pilot Joseph A. Walker and XB-70 co-pilot Carl S. Cross were killed, although the XB-70 pilot Alvin S. White survived after ejecting. The crash occurred when the XB-70's powerful wake vortex flipped the F-104, causing it to strike the XB-70 tail and explode, while the XB-70 entered an uncontrolled spin and crashed.
After retiring from the service, he worked at McDonnell Douglas for a decade.
He died in Provo, Utah in 2024, aged 87.[19]
