Richard Henry Meyer (Rich), born 12/23/07 in Indianapolis, Indiana, son of William C. Meyer and Williamena Nordholt, died 3/21/45 while testing a Martin B-26 Marauder that crashed into the Miles River outside Easton, Maryland. When the plane went into a spin, he ordered his co-pilot to bail out and stayed at the controls trying to pull the nose up. His co-pilot, who watched him crash, said he just needed a few more feet.

At the time of his death, Rich was Chief Production Test Pilot for the Glenn L. Martin Company and Assistant Operations Manager of the company airport. He left behind a wife, Jean Grant Taylor, whom he married in 1941, and three young children: Richard Dale Meyer and Carol Frances Meyer (now Lincks), children with his first wife, Ann Frances Chamberlin, who died in 1939; and Jean Grant Meyer (now Aloe). He was also survived by a brother, William B. Meyer, and two sisters, Vera Meyer Strube, and Charlotte Meyer Ruble.

Rich attended Purdue University, studying electrical engineering. From 1928 to 1931, he was employed by the Curtis Wright Flying Service as an instructor and salesman of flying courses and airplanes. He joined the Central Aeronautical Corporation of Indianapolis in 1931, serving as General Manager and Chief Instructor; and in 1937, purchased the company, becoming President and General Manager. In 1939, he sold the business to the Roscoe Turner Aeronautical Corporation. He was a member of the Indiana Aircraft Trades Association and the Indianapolis Aero Club, dedicated to making "Indianapolis the cross roads of the air". From 1931 until 1940, he was a member of the 113th Observation Squadron, Indiana National Guard, resigning with a rank of Second Lieutenant, Pilot Rating.

In 1939, Rich accepted a position as President of Concanco, the Aviation Division of the Continental Can Company in New York City, and also served as the company's corporate pilot. With the onset of war and the appropriation of private planes by the U.S. government, Rich volunteered for the Air Corps, but was turned down because of his age and three young children. He was told to be "a test pilot, it's safer". Rich then accepted employment by the Glenn L. Martin Company and moved his family to Towson, Maryland. He was a member of the Quiet Birdmen, membership # 7109.

Rich once said he could never hold down a desk job, as "you can't fly a desk." If he could have chosen the manner of his passing, it would have been exactly as it happened - flying. Below is a poem written by his daughter, Jean Meyer Aloe, on the 50th anniversary of his death:

Birdman

Did the earth lurch
for a nanosecond that day?
Did the resting birds
rise up screeching?
Did the sky darken
for a blink
as your last moment
exploded into a lifetime
of loss for me?

I dream of you
circling endlessly
in leather jacket
and goggles, looking
for the perfect landing place,
and I want to shout -
I'll catch you.

If I finally did,
would you see in me
the years you never knew,
and would I once again ride
high on your shoulders,
encircling the center of my life?