Thursday, October 15, 2009

John (Jack) A. 'Suitcase' Simpson 1927-




Jack 'Suitcase' Simpson was born in Philadelphia and raided in Pittsburgh,Pa. After high school he served in the U.S.Army Air Corps during WWII. After receiving a BS in Aeronautics from St Louis University in 1951, he won his wings as a fighter pilot in the USAF,flying the F-86 Sabre in the Korean War.
After the war he was a test pilot in Southern Japan. Upon returning to the USA,Jack served the office of the USAF Plant Representative at North Aerican Aviation as a project test pilot in the development of the F-100,the world's first supersonic fighter. Upon discharge he was hired by Lockheed as an experimental test pilot in the devekopment of the F-104,designed as a MACH 2 fighter.