LOS ANGELES — Revered test pilot Fitzhugh Fulton Jr., who was known for his involvement in pioneering programs including the space shuttle piggyback flights, has died. He was 89.
His daughter, Ginger Terry, told the Los Angeles Times that Fulton died Wednesday at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks from complications of Parkinson’s disease.
Fulton’s career included flying for the military, NASA and Scaled Composites, headed by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan.
In 1977, Fulton was at the controls of the specially modified Boeing 747 that flew the first piggyback tests of the shuttle out of Edwards Air Force Base.
In further tests, he piloted the 747 when it carried the space shuttle Enterprise to 25,000 feet, then nosed into a dive to allow the shuttle to launch.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
