Richard G. 'Dick' Thomas
(1930- 2006)

FIRST FLIGHT-TEST PILOT FOR TACIT BLUE
TOP SECRET STEALTH AIRCRAFT AT AREA 51

Thomas was born April 2, 1930, in Chautauqua County, New York. He attended Mayville Central High School and graduated in 1948. He attended Parks College at St. Louis University graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. As a graduate of ROTC, he joined the USAF as a second lieutenant in 1951 and earned his Air Force pilot wings in an open cockpit Stearman in 1952.

He flew F-80C, T-33, F-86, F-100D for six years before leaving the military for a flight test career with Beech Aircraft, and later worked for Boeing. He also flew with the Kansas Air National Guard from 1956 to 1961. He tested the ERB-47 and B-52 for Boeing and in 1962, Boeing sent him to U.S. Navy Test Pilot School where he graduated with class 31. He joined Northrop Aircraft in 1963 and retired from that company in 2000, completing his career as a Technical Director applying his expertise to the B-2 flight test program.

As a test pilot Thomas flew the T-38 and the F-5, as well as for the highly experimental laminar flow control X-21. In 1964, he was assigned to fly the T-38 with three of the original Mercury Seven, as well as Neil Armstrong. In 1965, he was involved in an ejection from an F-5A, due to FOD, over Mt Whitney. He also spent time in Madrid, Spain, helping the Spanish Air Force flight test the CASA 101 trainer aircraft. He carried out a complete spin-test program despite the fact that the airplane lacked a spin recovery chute. He flew envelope expansion flight-tests on all models of the F-5 Freedom Fighter and performed the first flight on the F5-F at Edwards, CA., September 25, 1974; with a total of 107 spins to his credit. His hazardous high-angle -of -attack stall and spin testing in the F-5, established procedures now followed by fighter pilots around the world.

As Northrop's Chief Project Test Pilot, Thomas led the flight testing of Tacit Blue. According to the U.S. Air Force, Tacit Blue was one of the most successful high tech demonstrator programs ever conducted and it had a direct influence on the design of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Thomas made the first flight on February 5, 1982 carried out in total secrecy in the “black world” of Area 51. He went on to pilot 70 of the airplane's 135 flights. All of the information gained on this project was incorporated into the B-2. Tacit Blue was a one of a kind top secret project that was not declassified until 1996, with only some information released, as it has been a leader in several other operational aircraft designs for the past 35 years. According to Northrop it continues to shape the future of stealth aircraft. At the time, it was arguably the most unstable aircraft ever flown, It was unstable in pitch and yaw and employed a fly-by-wire flight control system, curved surfaces and composite materials to deflect radar.

Thomas became a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, in 1964, and was elected a Fellow in 1981. He received the Herman R. Salmon Award for best technical paper in 1977 for the F5- spin test program. He was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1996 for Tacit Blue. He was named a Pioneer of Stealth in 2000. He was named an “Eagle” by the Flight Test Historical Foundation in 2004. He was recognized by the Aerospace Walk of Honor in the city of Lancaster, California, in 2005. He received an induction into the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame in 2015 at Nellis AFB, for work on Tacit Blue in Area 51, at Groom Lake. He accumulated 8,000 hours flying more than 116 different aircraft. He passed away June 19, 2006, from Parkinson's disease.