Cotton JosephF

American military aviator and instructor, who became the chief test pilot for the Air Force. He was head of the B-58 Hustler and XB-70 test programs, and was flying in the ill-fated formation flight that resulted in the loss of XB-70 A/V2 on 8 June 1966. He retired from the Air Force in 1968 having been involved in aeronautical research for 22 of his 26 years. Cotton was hired as a engineering flight test pilot for United after his military retirement. In total, he flew more than 16,000 flight hours in 80 different military bombers, fighters, transports, and civilian aircraft. Cotton passed away on 5 May 2016, aged 94, in Atherton, California. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less