Chuck Coleman
{{Short description|American aviator (died 2024)}}
{{Undisclosed paid|date=January 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Chuck Coleman
| image = Chuck Coleman - Extra 300 (48895136196) (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Coleman in 2019
| birth_date = 1962 or 1963
| birth_place = Michigan, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and given age|2024|10|20|61}}
| death_place = Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.
| nationality =
| alma_mater = University of Michigan
| occupation = {{hlist|Pilot|test pilot|aerospace engineer}}
| website = {{URL|ctcoleman.com}}
}}
Charles Thomas Coleman (1962 or 1963 – October 20, 2024) was an American aviator, aerospace engineer and airshow & test pilot.{{Cite news |date=5 November 2014 |title=Crash of Virgin Galactic craft highlights dangerous lives of private test pilots |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/crash-of-virgin-galactic-craft-highlights-dangerous-lives-of-private-test-pilots/2014/11/05/6e7dbc02-6537-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |date=10 November 2016 |title=Chuck Coleman |url=https://www.aerotechnews.com/nellisafb/2016/11/09/chuck-coleman/ |work=Aerotech News}} He worked as a design and performance engineer for several aircraft corporations such as McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Bede Jet Corporation and Scaled Composites. Coleman was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots SETP as an Associate Fellow, and served on the board of directors for the Mojave Air and Space Port. As a commercial, test, and instructor pilot, he logged more than 10,800 hours of flight time.
Early life and education
Coleman was raised in St. Johns, Michigan, by Thomas Coleman and JoAnn (Benedict) Smith. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1985 with a Bachelor's of Science in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering.
Career
Coleman was a design engineer for 6 years at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. He was involved in military jet projects including serving as the Senior Design Engineer on the High Alpha Research Vehicle, a modified F/A-18 Hornet, utilized by NASA to investigate controlled flight at high angles of attack by way of thrust vectoring.{{Cite web |title=Flight Testing of a New Air Launch Method for Safely Launching Personnel and Cargo into Low Earth Orbit |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228684162 |website=ResearchGate |date=January 2006}}{{Cite web |title=About Chuck |url=https://www.mojaveairport.com/about-chuck.html |access-date=26 July 2021 |website=Mojave Air & Space Port}}
Coleman also served as a Senior Engineer on the F/A-18 conversion from combat-ready aircraft into performance planes for the United States Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.{{Cite web |date=2 July 2015 |title=Aerobatics pilot's trade isn't for faint of heart |url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/aerobatics-pilots-trade-isnt-for-faint-of-heart/article_08ea0482-20f2-11e5-8a7b-3ba5bbf7570e.html |access-date=26 July 2021 |website=Shoreline Media Group}}
He was a project engineer at the Bede Jet Corporation in Chesterfield, Missouri at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. He served as the test pilot on the BD-10, a kit-built experimental jet aircraft, and BD-12, a two-seat experimental plane with a pusher configuration.
Coleman joined Scaled Composites in Mojave, California as a performance engineer, test pilot, and chase pilot in 2002.{{Cite web |title=New directors installed at Mojave Air & Spaceport |url=https://www.theloopnewspaper.com/story/2021/01/30/community/new-directors-installed-at-mojave-air-andamp-spaceport/7662.html |date=January 30, 2021 |newspaper=The Loop Newspaper}}{{Cite web |date=13 September 2005 |title=Can a Small Start-up Build America's Next Spaceship? |url=https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2005-09/can-small-start-build-americas-next-spaceship/ |access-date=26 July 2021 |website=Popular Science}} He was on a team of five engineers that designed, constructed, and flight tested the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, which was the first jet powered aircraft to fly around the world non-stop un-refueled.{{Cite web |date=6 April 2004 |title=The Next Last Great Milestone |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/next-last-great-milestone/ |website=Flying Magazine}}{{Cite web |date=18 January 2004 |title=1 Jet Engine & 18,000 Pounds of Fuel |url=https://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2004-01/1-jet-engine-18000-pounds-fuel/ |website=Popular Science}}{{Cite web |date=9 January 2004 |title=Looking to Log a Flight Record |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-09-fi-branson9-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}
Coleman was also a test pilot for the Proteus high altitude jet and tested the Tier One Navigation System for SpaceShipOne, as well as conducting high-G astronaut training for SpaceShipOne astronauts and serving as chase pilot for SpaceShipOne flights. Coleman also served as a test pilot for the ICON A5, an American amphibious light-sport aircraft.{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Cathy |date=10 January 2021 |title=2020 in Review at Mojave Air and Space Port |url=https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2021/01/10/2020-in-review-at-mojave-air-and-space-port/ |access-date=26 July 2021 |website=Aerotech News & Review}}{{Cite web |date=19 August 2015 |title=Icon A5 Light-Sport Aircraft Review |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/lsasport/we-fly-icon-a5/ |magazine=Flying Magazine}}
Performance
Coleman performed at numerous airshows and flew aerobatic planes for Patty Wagstaff, Gene Soucy, Ian Groom, Tim Weber, Sean D. Tucker,{{cite web |title=Grin: Sean D Tucker graciously gives me a big grin and a thumbs up at my request, as Chuck Coleman maintains a tight formation with Sean and our photo ship. |url=https://www.airspacemag.com/photocontest/detail/people-planes/grin-sean-d-tucker-graciously-gives-me-a-big-grin-and-a-thumbs-up-at-my-req/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726194224/https://www.airspacemag.com/photocontest/detail/people-planes/grin-sean-d-tucker-graciously-gives-me-a-big-grin-and-a-thumbs-up-at-my-req/ |archive-date=26 July 2021 |website=Air & Space Magazine}} Discovery Channel, Toyota Airsports, and Paramount Pictures. In 2018, Coleman trained the lead actors starring in Top Gun: Maverick featuring Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Jennifer Connelly. Coleman conducted 140 G tolerance training flights in an Extra EA-300 with actors Glen Powell, Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Lewis Pullman, and Danny Ramirez, in a flight training regime designed by Cruise. These aerobatic flights were conducted in order to prepare the actors for flight in F/A-18F Super Hornets during actual filming.{{cite news|title=A philanthropic airshow |website=General Aviation News |url=https://generalaviationnews.com/2019/01/06/a-philanthropic-airshow/ |date=January 6, 2019}}{{cite news|date=10 December 2020|title=Mojave Air & Space Port swears in three new board directors|work=Aerotech News & Review|url=https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2020/12/10/mojave-air-space-port-swears-in-three-new-board-directors/}}
Death
On October 20, 2024, Coleman died in a crash during the Las Cruces Air & Space Expo at Las Cruces International Airport. He was 61 years old.{{cite web|title=Pilot Killed in New Mexico Air Show Crash Instructed 'Top Gun' Actors|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/us/top-gun-instructor-dead-plane-crash.html|date=October 22, 2024|last=Diaz|first=Johnny|access-date=October 24, 2024}} The crash occurred around 2:30 pm.{{Cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=Well-known pilot Chuck Coleman killed in air show crash in Las Cruces |url=https://www.ktsm.com/news/well-known-pilot-chuck-coleman-killed-in-air-show-crash-in-las-cruces/amp/ |work=KTSM 9 News}} Coleman was performing aerobatics when his Extra EA-300 plane crashed half a mile west of the airport.{{Cite web |date=21 October 2024 |title=A pilot killed in a plane crash at a New Mexico air show was an instructor for 'Top Gun' actors |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-air-show-crash-cb741f09b26d3e4a151d6416887db247 |work=Associated Press}}
Awards
Coleman won two Collier Trophies for his involvement in the development of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster (1994){{Cite web |date=25 March 2015 |title=RIVERSIDE: Airshow to return March 28 with demonstrations, family fun |url=https://www.pe.com/2015/03/25/riverside-airshow-to-return-march-28-with-demonstrations-family-fun/ |access-date=25 July 2021 |website=Press Enterprise}}{{Cite web |title=Collier 1990–1999 Recipients |url=https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-1990-1999-winners |website=National Aeronautic Association}} and Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne (2004).{{Cite web |title=Collier 2000–2009 Recipients |url=https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-2000-2009-winners |website=National Aeronautic Association}}{{Cite web |date=2 June 2004 |title=Historic Space Launch Attempt for SpaceShipOne Scheduled for June 21 |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=14315 |website=www.spaceref.com}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} Coleman was also part of the Scaled Composites team that won the Ansari X Prize, a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a cash prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://ctcoleman.com Official website]
- {{IMDb name|nm1369246}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Chuck}}
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:Accidental deaths in New Mexico
Category:American aircraft designers
Category:American aerospace engineers
Category:Aviators from Michigan
Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Category:Collier Trophy recipients
Category:Engineers from Michigan
Category:Scaled Composites Tier One program
Category:The Spaceship Company