RIP!
As the world's first boom operator while test pilot of a B-29 tanker more than 60 years ago, it was fitting that Richard W. "Dick" Taylor was invited recently as a distinguished guest to witness the latest legacy of those pioneering days: the first flight of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker on Sept. 25.
A living link to that program and many more Boeing projects and innovations, Taylor expressed happiness at being able to see a future that his work and those of teams he worked with helped to bring about.
As he and Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg waited for the KC-46 to fly, Taylor recalled, “The first time I saw a refueling boom was an experimental rig mounted on the back of a modified B-29 parked in Wichita [Kansas]. I met Charles Lindbergh that day as the Air Force had hired him as a consultant. I could never have guessed where that day would lead.”
Just over a week after the KC-46 flight, Taylor died suddenly Sunday at the age of 93 at his home. During his career, he was a Boeing airplane design engineer, test pilot, aerospace executive and active pilot.
“He was truly a pioneer in aviation,” said Joe Sutter, another Boeing airplane designer who is himself considered a living legend. “Nearly all large airliners produced today have benefited in some way from Dick’s innovation and focus on safety.”
While Sutter is known as the "father of the 747,"
Taylor, who was director of engineering on the Model 737 program, was considered the father of the 737. He is probably best known for his work on extended-range twin operations, or ETOPS. A copy of his 1980s booklet, "Twin-engine Transports: A look at the future," was part of many Boeing engineers' libraries.
“The thought of flying a twin-engine aircraft more than one hour from an alternate airport was insane at the time,” said Michael Lombardi, Boeing historian. “But Taylor proved the greater reliability of modern engines and aircraft systems made it both economical and safe."
Today airplanes can fly ETOPS missions in the three-hour range from a suitable alternative airport for the 737 and in the five-hour range for the 787.
After serving in the KB-29 program in 1948 to help launch more than 2,000 Boeing tankers over the decades, Taylor became a co-pilot for another storied Boeing figure, test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston, on the B-47 Stratojet bomber program — the first large, swept-wing jet-powered airplane. Taylor eventually became lead project pilot for the B-47, developing a never-before-used toss bombing technique and flight-testing numerous systems improvements.
Taylor also played a pivotal role in making the case for the two-person airline cockpit which, although commonplace today, was controversial at the time.
Lombardi said Taylor was a living presence of Boeing's institutional history and that he spent a great deal of time “picking the brain” of the legendary Taylor. They became good friends, “as did anyone who met him,” Lombardi said.
Taylor's son, Capt. Steve Taylor, is the chief pilot for Boeing Flight Services and was formerly the president of Boeing Business Jets. The senior Capt. Taylor passed the flying bug onto his son, who soloed in their Piper Super Cub at age 16 — before he got his license to drive a car — and received his private pilot certificate a year later.
“I’m glad to know his legacy will live on in every Boeing airplane we build,” said Steve Taylor.
