Awards

SFTE AWARDS

Kelly Johnson

Kelly Johnson established the fabled Lockheed Skunk Works that was responsible for many designs and flight testing of aircraft such as the P-80, U-2, SR-71, F104, F-117, YF-22, and X-35.

Kelly Johnson Award

Individual Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Flight Test Engineering.

James S. McDonnell

James McDonnell was the founder of McDonnell Aircraft Company responsible for aircraft such as the F-2H, F-4D, F-4, and F-15 as well as many space vehicles such as the Apollo Command module.

James S. McDonnell Award

Team Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Flight Test Engineering.

Jesualdo Martinez

Jesualdo Martinez was a Spanish FTE at Airbus Defense & Space and member of the SFTE European Chapter Board who demonstrated and promoted the Society values of education, participation, and professionalism in the field of Flight Test Engineering. Jesulado and 4 fellow crew members perished in the crash of an A400M during a test flight in May 2015 from Seville airport.

Jesualdo Martinez Award

As a memorial for Jesualdo and our colleagues who have sacrificed their lives while performing their job, the European Chapter has established this award. The candidacies will be received by the European Chapter Board, and the award will be delivered every two years. The first one will be awarded this June during the 50th SFTE and 30th European Chapter Symposium in Toulouse.

Directors Award

Recognition for significant and lasting contributions toward the welfare, stature, leadership, or membership of the Society.

2020 Kelly Johnson Award

Ms. Kristen Finnegan

US Navy, Pax River
Ms. Kristen Finnegan, CH-53K LHD Shipboard Test Team Lead

Developed complex test plan, led preparations for the two-week detachment,

directed on-site execution

6 different agencies/contractor organizations comprising of over 300 personnel
Worked with flight doctors & ship senior medical staff to ensure minimized exposure of test team and ship’s company to COVID-19.

2020 James S. McDonnell Award

CH-53K Integrated Test Team
Integrated Test Force

1st Shipboard Detachment of CH-53K
Flight Control System (FCS) control law development, blade fold &
spread cycles, fuel system development, and other critical testing
for shipboard detachment.
2 Week Detachment during COVID restrictions & impacts
96-person test team comprised of developmental, operational, &
contractor test personnel on USS Wasp
FCS replaced TM personnel due to last-minute COVID impact
32.2 flight hours, 364 shipboard landings (12.8 hours & 74 landings at night)

2019 James S. McDonnell Award

F-35 Lightning II
Integrated Test Force

Combined Effort of 2000 Personnel

LM, BAE, NGC, P&W & many other contractors

Air Force Test Center, Edwards AFB, CA

Naval Air Test Center, Pax River, MD

Eglin AFB, FL

China Lake, CA

Joint Program Office

3 Variants - CTOL, STOVL, CV

9,200 Sorties

17,000 Flight Hours

65,000 Test Points

Austere & Ship-Based ops

L Class, CVN, HMS Queen Elizabeth

8 Flight Test Shipboard Deployments

15 Years

System Design & Development Completed March 2018

2019 Kelly Johnson Award

Mr. Andrew Maack

F-35 Pax River ITF Chief Engineer

Outstanding Technical & Safety Leadership

JSF Flight Test Program since 1996

X-35 USN Flight Test Lead

F-35 USN Flight Test Chief Engineer

Led Pax River Flight Test Team of 800

Tech, Executive, Safety Board Chair

Austere & Ship-Based ops

L Class, CVN, HMS Queen Elizabeth

8 Flight Test Shipboard Deployments

Safe, Effective Results for USN IOC for STOVL & CV Variants

2019 SFTE Directors Award

Mr. Dana Johnson

North Texas Chapter Lifetime Member

Secretary-Treasurer last 5 years

Planning Committees

2013 SFTE International Symposium

Annual Fall Southwest Symposium

Tech Support for 3 Monthly Programs

UT Arlington, UT Dallas, Flying Saucer Pub

Annual STEM Program at Moon Day

Developed simple, effective Livestream & Pod Cast Systems

All Current University Programs

Setting up for St. Louis 2020 SFTE Symposium

Developing SFTE App in 2019

2019 Jesualdo Martinez Award

Mr. Gerard Desbois

European Chapter Member

Graduated from the French Civil Aviation University "ENAC" in 1979

Graduated from EPNER at just 29 years old, the youngest Test Flight Engineer ever to be qualified

Member of the First Flight Crews for the A319 and A340-600

Lead the Test Flight Engineers team at Airbus

April 2005 maiden flight of the Airbus A380

Author and has published two books

Member of the Crazy Piper team

Works in and supports projects restoring historic aircraft

Supports charitable organizations using aviation to inspire disabled children

Past Recipients

Kelly Johnson Award Winners

Year	Recipient	Affiliation
2019	Andrew Maack	F-35 Pax River ITF Chief Engineer
2018	Tim Dutton	Martin Aviation
2017	Vanessa L. Bond	USAF SEEK EAGLE
2015	Alan R. Lawless	Honda Aircraft
2014	Frank S. Brown	Air Force Test Center
2013	Reagan K. Woolf	Air Force Test Center
2012	David L. Vanhoy	USAF Test Pilot School
2011	Tim Jorris	USAF Test Pilot School
2010	John Minor	Hill Air Force Base
2009	Ken Edwards	QinetiQ
2008	Robert N. Burton	BAE Systems
2007	Robert G. Hoey	USAF Flt. Test Center
2006	Gary L. Aldrich	USAF Test Pilot School
2005	Johnny Armstrong	USAF Flt. Test Center
2004	Burt Rutan	Scaled Composites
2003	X-31 Vector	USN, Boeing, EADS, DLR, BWB, RJK
2002	Charles E. Webb	NAWC Aircraft Div.
2001	George Ka'iliwai III	USAF Test Pilot School
2000	Frank W. Burcham	NASA Dryden
1999	R. Dale Reed	NASA Dryden
1998	Anatoly G. Kruglov	Aviation Reg., Russia
1997	Richard Hildebrand	USAF Flt.Test Center
1996	Charles Van Norman	USAF Flt.Test Center
1995	Joseph L. Dunn	NAWC Aircraft Div.
1994	F-16 MATV Team	Lockheed, GE, USAF
1993	David E. Gibbings	Westland Helicopters
1992	Donald Wyrick	Lockheed
1991	Joint STARS	Grumman, USAF,US Army
1990	Roger C. Crane	USAF Flt.Test Center
1989	Kenneth W. Iliff	NASA Dryden
1988	Eugene J. Zehr	McDonnell Douglas
1987	William E. Jennings	Bell Helicopter
1986	Charles E. Adolph	USAF Flt.Test Center
1985	Chester B. Payne	Lockheed
1984	James H. Lincoln	Boeing
1983	Frederick Stoliker	USAF Flt.Test Center
1982	Frederick Schaefer	Grumman
1981	XV-15 Test Team	Bell Helicopter
1980	Donald D. Archer	Boeing
1979	Spirit 'TM' Team	Sikorsky
1978	Robert Samuelson	McDonnell Douglas
1977	Richard Abrams	Rockwell
1976	Harold Cheney	McDonnell Douglas
1975	Jack Strier	USAF
1974	Ronald Magnuson	Bell Helicopter
1973	Kelly Johnson	Lockheed

James S. McDonnell Award Winners

Year	Recipient
2019	F-35 Integrated Test Force
2018	Perlan II Project
2017	F-35C ITF DT-III Team
	CNAF, NAVAIR, NAWCAD, VFA-101 USN - USS George Washington CVN-73
2016	F/A-18 Block H12 Pt. Mugu Detachment Flight Test Engineering Team
	ATAC Corp. (Hawker Hunter), Boeing F/A-18 & EA-18G Advanced Weapon Lab NAWCWD China Lake & Point Mugu VFA-15 Virginia Beach VX-9, VX-31 China Lake VX-20, VX-23 Patuxent River 82nd Aerial Targets Detachment NAWC Aircraft Division
2015	F/A-18E/F Magic Carpet Test Team
	USN - USS Nimitz CVN77 NAWC Aircraft Division Boeing, Atlantic Test Ranges
2014	TAI Flight Test Team
	Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI)
2013	X-51A Scramjet Engine Test Team
	Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Rocketdyne NAWC Point Mugu NAS NASA Dryden, DARPA, AFRL, AFTC Boeing, NASA, AFTC Northrop Grumman
2012	Phantom Eye Test Team
	MAHLE Powertrain
2011	NAVY UCAS Integrated Test Team
	USAF, NAVAIR Northrop Grumman
2010	X-51A Scramjet Engine Test Team
	Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Rocketdyne NAWC Point Mugu NAS NASA Dryden, DARPA, AFRL, AFTC Boeing, NASA, AFTC Northrop Grumman
2009	T-45 HSRIP Flight Test Team
	Boeing, United States Navy
2008	E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Test Team
	Northrop Grumman, United States Navy
2007	EA-18G 'Growler' Flight Test Team
	NAWC-WD China Lake Boeing, Northrop Grumman VX-9, VX-31 Advanced Weapons Lab VX-23 NAS Patuxent River VX-30 NAS Point Mugu
2006	X-43A Flight Test Team
	Orbital Sciences NASA Langley NASA Dryden

SFTE Directors Award Winners

Year	Recipient	Affiliation
2019	Dana Johnson	Texas Instruments
2017	Mark Jones Jr	Honda Aircraft
2015	Kari Seppanen	Boeing
2014	Sam Carbaugh	USAF (Retired)
2013	Douglas Bell	Boeing
2012	Brooks Faurot	Lockheed
2011	Steven Martin	USAF
2010	Michael Bartlett	Boeing
2009	Andy Hammer	Boeing
2008	Edward Breau	Naval Air Systems Cmd.
2007	John L. Minor	USAF Test Pilot School
2006	James Sergeant	Lockheed Martin
2005	Tom Briggs	NAWC AD
2004	Joseph Turner Barbara Wood	Boeing QinetiQ
2003	Dean Carico	NAWC AD
2002	Lee S. Gardner Darcy S. Painter	USAF Flight Test Center USAF Flight Test Center
2001	Allan T. Webb	USAF Flight Test Center
2000	Alan R. Lawless	NTPS
1999	Franz J. Enzinger	Daimler Chrysler Aero
1998	Harold E. Weaver	Boeing
1997	Clifford E. Moore	Boeing
1996	Roger L. Counts	TYBRIN Corporation
1995	William Cutler	Northrop Grumman
1994	Gosta Niss	Saab-Scania (Retired)
1993	J. Roy Combley	Boeing (Retired)
1992	John A. Taylor	Veda
1991	Wim Dijkshoorn	Fokker
1988	Clayton Houston	Lockheed
1987	George P. Gayes Ronald E. Hart	Grumman USAF Flight Test Center
1986	Jack Strier	USAF Flight Test Center
1985	Bob Johnstone Roger H. Jones	USAF Flight Test Center Boeing

Jesualdo Martinez Award Winners

Year	Recipient	Affiliation
2019	Gerard Desbois	Airbus (Retired)

Nominations

Nominations for these awards, except the Directors award, are accepted from individual members and chapters. Director award nominations are accepted from chapters only. Nominations with supporting rationale and recommendations should be submitted to SFTE HQ. Individuals or teams nominated do not have to be members but are encouraged to join.