The Iven C. Kincheloe Award recognizes outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing. It was established in 1958 by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in memory of test pilot and Korean War ace Iven C. Kincheloe, United States Air Force, who died during flight testing.

The Kincheloe Trophy consists of four columns and a symbolic aerospace vehicle that points toward the shield of the society. The columns represent the foundation on which the society was founded: courage, integrity, knowledge and accomplishment. The vehicle reinforces the role played by the society in the development of aerospace systems. Plaques bearing the name of each honoree are mounted around the sides of the onyx base.

Criteria The Society lists three criteria for nominations to this award:

The recipient must be a living member of the Society. The accomplishment, or significant portion of the accomplishment, must have occurred in the past year (From July 1) The accomplishment must involve flight testing conducted by the individual, while in a test pilot role, and represent an outstanding contribution to an aerospace program.

Recipients Recipients of this award, from 1958 to present, include:

1958 James R. Gannett, Boeing First Commercial Jet Joseph John "Tym" Tymczyszyn, CAA First Commercial Jet 1959 Robert G. Ferry, Maj USAF, XV-3 convertiplane 1960 A. Scott Crossfield, North American X-15 Program William M. Magruder, Douglas DC-8 Flight Test Program 1961 Joseph A. Walker, NASA X-15 Program Robert M. White, Maj USAF, NASA X-15 Program 1962 Donald W. McCracken, McDonnell F-4 Mach Investigation 1963 Astronaut Team, NASA Mercury Program M. Scott Carpenter, LCDR USN L. Gordon Cooper, Maj USAF John H. Glenn, Jr. Lt Col USMC Virgil I. Grissom, Capt USAF Walter M. Schirra, CDR USN Alan B. Shepard, CDR USN Donald K. Slayton, Maj USAF 1964 Pilots of YF12A (A-11) Lockheed Super-Secret Project Louis W. Schalk William C. Park Robert J. Gilliland James D. Eastham 1965 Alvin S. White, North American XB-70 Supersonic Flight 1966 Milton Orville Thompson, NASA M2/F2-Lifting Body Program 1967 Richard L. Johnson, for the General Dynamics F-111 test Program 1968 Drury W. Wood, Jr, Dornier Werke DO31 Test Program-VTOL Flight 1969 Jerauld R. Gentry, Maj USAF, NASA/FRC Lifting Body Program James A. McDivitt, Col USAF/NASA Apollo IX Mission, test of LM maneuvering 1970 Darryl G. Greenamyer, Lockheed World speed record for piston engine airplane Apollo 11 Team Moon landing and return Neil A. Armstrong NASA Edwin E. Aldrin, Col USAF/NASA Michael Collins, Col USAF/NASA 1971 Andre Turcat, Aerospatiale, Concorde joint test program Brian Trubshaw, British Aircraft Corporation, Concorde joint test program 1972 Apollo XVI Crew Moon landing and return John W. Young, CAPT USN, NASA Thomas K. Mattingly CDR USN/NASA Charles M. Duke, Lt Col USAF/NASA Donald R. Segner, Lockheed-California For accomplishments in Company testing the Cheyenne helicopter 1973 Charles A. Sewell, Grumman Aerospace Spin Prevention Testing in a Grumman F-14A Tomcat. 1974 Irving L. Burrows, McDonnell Aircraft Outstanding professional Company contributions as a test pilot during F15A development program 1975 John E. Krings, McDonnell Aircraft As Project Pilot on F15A Company high angle of attack characteristics test program 1976 Charles C. Bock, Jr, Rockwell International For his outstanding accomplishments on the B-1 Program 1977 Fitzhugh L. Fulton, Jr, NASA/Dryden Flight 747/Space Shuttle Carrier Research Center 1978 James M. Patton Jr, NASA/Langley Research Stall/Spin Flight Research Center Fred W. Haise, Jr, NASA/JSC Space Shuttle Joe H. Engle, Col, USAF Charles Fullerton, Lt Col USAF Richard H. Truly, CDR USN 1979 Philip F. Oestricher, General Dynamics Corp. F-16 Flight Test Program Robert C. Ettinger, Lt Col USAF 1980 Dorman A. Cannon, Bell Helicopter Textron Tilt Rotor XV-15 Ronald G. Erhart, Bell Helicopter Textron 1981 John W. Young, NASA Space Shuttle Columbia Robert L. Crippen, CAPT USN 1982 Thomas McMurtry, NASA AD-1 Oblique Wing Program 1983 John M. Hoffman, Lt Col USAF For Outstanding contribution to the derivative F-15 fighter planes 1984 Donald L. Bloom, Bell Helicopter OH-58C helicopter spin phenomena Charles A. Sewell, Grumman Aerospace Low Altitude high angle Corporation of attack, asymmetric thrust flight test program on the F-14 Tomcat. 1985 William W. Lowe, McDonnell Douglas AV-8B High Angle of Attack Corporation Test Program 1986 David A. Kerzie, Lockheed Corp. U-2/TR-1 extremely high altitude investigative and exploratory flights to determine flutter characteristics. 1987 Guy Mitaux-Maurouard, Avions Marcel Dassault Rafale Flight Test Program Dick Rutan, Voyager Aircraft, Inc. Successful around-the-world non-stop, non-refueled flight of the Voyager aircraft Jeana Yeager, Voyager Aircraft, Inc. 1988 Channing S. Morse, McDonnell Douglas NOTAR Helicopter, Helicopter Company Development Program 1989 Addison S. Thompson, Rockwell International B-1B high alpha envelope Randy Gaston, Lt Col USAF, expansion and flight control system development William C. Park, Jr, Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Research and development N. Kenneth Dyson, Lt Col USAF, flights of prototype 1990 Bruce J. Hinds, Jr. Northrop Corporation B-2 Flight Test Program Richard S. Couch, Col USAF 1991 Paul Metz, Northrop Corporation YF-23 ATF Prototype David L. Ferguson, Lockheed Corporation YF-22 ATF Prototype 1992 Daniel C. Brandenstein, CAPT USN Space Shuttle/Satellite Recovery 1993 Allan T. Reed, McDonnell Douglas T-45 High Angle of Attack and Corporation Flying Qualities & Spin Evaluation 1994 Christopher J. Yeo, British Aerospace Eurofighter 2000 Flight Test Peter Weger, Deutsche Aerospace Program 1995 John E. Cashman, The Boeing Company 777 Flight Test Program 1996 Erwin Danuwinata, IPTN Expansion and flight tests leading to FAA/JAA certification Ken Dyson & Richard G. Thomas, Tacit Blue Program (Retroactive 1982) Jon S. Beesley, USAF F-117 Combined Test Force, Harold C. Farley Lockheed, David L. Ferguson Lockheed & Thomas A. Morgenfeld Lockheed (Retroactive 1983) 1997 Douglas B. Shane, Scaled Composites V-Jet II and Vision Aire Vantage 1998 Gary Freeman, Gulfstream Aerospace G-V Certification Test Program 1999 Mike Melvill, Scaled Composites Proteus high-altitude multimission aircraft 2000 Jeremy Tracy, GKN Westland Helicopters 2001 Wg Cdr Rajiv Kothiyal, Indian AF 2002 Herb Moran Bell Helicopter, envelope expansion and aircraft definition of the AH-1Z helicopter. 2003 Thomas L. Macdonald, Bell-Boeing High Rate of Descent (HROD) testing for the V-22 Osprey 2004 Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne Test Team Mike Melvill Brian Binnie Peter Siebold 2005 Randy Neville, Boeing F-22 2006 Norman E. Howell, Boeing, C-17 2007 Jon S. Beesley, Lockheed Martin, F-35A and Bird of Prey Test Team (Retroactive from 1997) Rudy Haug, Boeing Doug Benjamin, Boeing Joe Felock, Boeing 2008 Terry E. Tomeny, Calspan Corporation Eclipse 2009 Peter Siebold, Scaled Composites 2010 Michael Carriker, Boeing 2011 Kevin Bredenbeck, Sikorsky Aircraft, X2 Demonstrator 2012 Markus Scherdel, Solar Impulse, HB-SIA 2013 Mark "Forger" Stucky, Scaled Composites Test Pilot for SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo 2014 AgustaWestland AW609 Tiltrotor Test TeamAW609 Test Pilots Receive Iven C. Kincheloe Award " AgustaWestland PR, 20 October 2014. Pietro Venanzi Dan Wells Paul Edwards 2015 Prospero Uybarreta, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, C Series and CRJ Series 2016 Scott Martin, Gulfstream Aerospace, GVII-G500/G600 2017 Charles Ellis, Bombardier Flight Test Center, Bombardier CSeries 2018 James Payne, Airbus Perlan Project 2019 Evan C. Thomas, Scaled Composites, LLC., Stratolaunch Aircraft 2020 Tom Carr, Garmin, Garmin Emergency Autoland (EAL) 2021 Donald Grove, Bell Textron, V-280 Demonstrator Program 2022 Benjamin Williamson, Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Company, S-70 Optionally Piloted Vehicle 2023 Steven Crane, Eviation, Alice V2 Aircraft 2024 William Shoemaker, Boom Supersonic, XB-1 Program 2025 Tristan Brandenburg, Boom Supersonic, XB-1 Program 2026 David Nils Larson, NASA, X 59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) Demonstrator

See also

List of aviation awards

References