# Herman Salmon

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herman_Salmon
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herman_Salmon.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Salmon
> Source revision: 1152793852
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American test pilot}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Herman Salmon
| image       = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [brackets](/source/brackets) -->
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = Herman Richard Koerner Salmon
|birth_date      = {{Birth date|1913|07|11|df=y}}
|birth_place     = [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee), [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin), [United States](/source/United_States)
|death_date      = {{death date and age|1980|06|22|1913|07|11|df=y}}
|death_place     = [Columbus](/source/Columbus%2C_Indiana), [Indiana](/source/Indiana), United States
| nationality = 
| other_names = Fish
| known_for   = [Barnstorming](/source/Barnstorming), [Air racing](/source/Air_racing) 
| occupation  = [Test pilot](/source/Test_pilot)
}}
'''Herman Richard Salmon''' (July 11, 1913 &ndash; June 22, 1980), nicknamed ["Fish"](/source/List_of_aviators_by_nickname), was a [barnstormer](/source/barnstorming), [air racer](/source/Air_racing), and [test pilot](/source/test_pilot) for the [Lockheed Corporation](/source/Lockheed_Corporation).

==Biography==

===Early life===
Salmon was born in 1913 in [Milwaukee, Wisconsin](/source/Milwaukee%2C_Wisconsin), to [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania)-born engineer Harry Britton Salmon and his wife Bertha Wilhelmine ''née'' Wagner.<ref name="census">[United States Census Bureau](/source/United_States_Census_Bureau), [National Archives and Records Administration](/source/National_Archives_and_Records_Administration)</ref> His first flight in an aircraft was at the age of 14; by 18 he was a [licensed pilot](/source/Pilot_licensing_and_certification). During the 1930s he flew as a barnstormer, parachute stuntman and race pilot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinaviationhalloffame.org/inductees/salmon.htm|publisher=Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame|title=Hall of Fame Inductees, Herman R. "Fish" Salmon|accessdate=24 September 2012}}</ref> By 1940 he was living in [Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles%2C_California) with his first wife Evelyn.<ref name="census"/>

===Lockheed===
He started work at [Lockheed](/source/Lockheed_Corporation) in 1940 ferrying [Hudsons](/source/Lockheed_Hudson) to [Montreal](/source/Montreal) for the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force). In 1945, he was transferred to the engineering test piloting division by [Tony LeVier](/source/Tony_LeVier), who was the new head of the department.

As engineering test pilot, he spin tested the [P-38 Lightning](/source/P-38_Lightning) and dive tested the [P-80 Shooting Star](/source/P-80_Shooting_Star), the [XF-90](/source/Lockheed_XF-90) penetration fighter prototype, and the [F-94C Starfire](/source/F-94_Starfire). He certification tested two of the models of the [Constellation](/source/Lockheed_Constellation) for the [Civil Aeronautics Administration](/source/United_States_government_role_in_civil_aviation). He made the first flights of such aircraft as the [L-188 Electra](/source/L-188_Electra), [P-3 Orion](/source/P-3_Orion), [YF-104A Starfighter](/source/F-104_Starfighter), and the [XFV-1](/source/XFV-1) [tailsitter](/source/tailsitter), which was named in his honor. He succeeded Tony LeVier as chief engineering test pilot, until he retired from Lockheed in 1978.

===The Goodyear Trophy air races, 1947-1949===
A new class of air racing was introduced at the 1947 [National Air Races](/source/National_Air_Races) in [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland%2C_Ohio), sponsored for three years by the [Goodyear](/source/Goodyear_Tire_and_Rubber_Company) corporation. The first year Herman achieved a third place flying a [Cosmic Wind](/source/LeVier_Cosmic_Wind) plane with a speed of 158.8&nbsp;mph (256&nbsp;km/h). The Cosmic Wind was designed and built by a group of Lockheed employees, including Tony LeVier. In 1948 Herman finished first, and in 1949 fifth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/10/stuff_eng_bruun_goodyear.htm |publisher=IPMS Stockholm.org |title=The Goodyear Trophy, 1947 |accessdate=24 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723221806/http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2000/10/stuff_eng_bruun_goodyear.htm |archivedate=23 July 2012 }}</ref>

===Later years===
In 1968, Salmon was the recipient of the coveted Kitty Hawk Memorial Award for distinguished achievement as a test pilot.

Salmon continued to teach flight crew and ferry aircraft. In 1974 he flew as a passenger on the maiden flight of the then-recently restored [Westland Lysander](/source/Westland_Lysander) piloted and owned by Dwight Brooks.<ref>Aeroplane Monthly ''A Lizzie flies again'' article in the December 1974 issue</ref>

In 1980, he was killed in [Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation](/source/Lockheed_Constellation) N74CA that he was ferrying to [Alaska](/source/Alaska), when it crashed on take off from [Bakalar municipal airport](/source/Columbus_Municipal_Airport_(Indiana)) in Columbus, Indiana. Also killed in the crash were flight engineer Leland J. Sanders and a passenger. Five others survived the crash including Salmon's son and copilot, Randall.<ref>Aviation Week & Space Technology, 30 June 1980 and 16 February 1981; {{cite web|url=http://www.indianamilitary.org/Bakalar%20AFB/Publications/ConstellationCrash.htm|title=3 Dead in Fiery Plane Crash Here|publisher=The Republic (Columbus, IN), 23 June 1980|accessdate=16 March 2016}}; {{cite web|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8014.pdf|publisher=National Transportation Safety Board|title=Aircraft Accident Report--Air Traders International, Lockheed 1049H, N74CA, Columbus, Indiana, June 22, 1980|accessdate=16 March 2016}}</ref>

Herman Salmon had logged about 17,250 [flight hours](/source/Logbook).

In 1994, he was inducted into the [Aerospace Walk of Honor](/source/Aerospace_Walk_of_Honor).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36298146/the_los_angeles_times/|title=Aerospace Walk of Honor Inducts 5|last1=Johnson|first1=Chip|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|date=September 19, 1994|page=53|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Herman R. Salmon Technical Publications Award==
Since 1971 the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, of which Salmon was a Fellow, has made an annual award ''"to recognize the most outstanding technical paper published in Cockpit magazine".'' The selection criteria include:
* ''Contribution to flight testing''
* ''Contribution to the exchange of information between test pilots that would not otherwise be generally available''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.setp.org/criteria/herman-r-salmon-technical-publications-award.html|publisher=The Society of Experimental Test Pilots
|title=Herman R. Salmon Technical Publications Award|accessdate=24 September 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Herman](/source/Herman_(name))
* [Herman R. Salmon Technical Publications Award](/source/Herman_R._Salmon_Award)
* [List of accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed Constellation](/source/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Lockheed_Constellation)
* [List of aviators by nickname](/source/List_of_aviators_by_nickname)
* [Salmon (surname)](/source/Salmon_(surname))

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* LeVier, Tony, with John Guenther, ''Pilot''. 1954 (reprinted 1990).
* Pace, Steve, ''Lockheed Skunk Works''. Motorbooks: Osceola WI, 1992.

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|hUMl3YlSX8M|The Story of a Test Pilot}}: a documentary on Salmon
* [http://www.wisconsinaviationhalloffame.org/inductees/salmon.htm Biography from Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.cityoflancasterca.org/about-us/departments-services/parks-recreation-arts/special-events/aerospace-walk-of-honor-program-has-been-concluded/honorees/1994 City of Lancaster, Aerospace Walk of Honor, 1994 Honorees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308193709/http://www.cityoflancasterca.org/about-us/departments-services/parks-recreation-arts/special-events/aerospace-walk-of-honor-program-has-been-concluded/honorees/1994 |date=2016-03-08 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Herman}}
Category:1913 births
Category:1980 deaths
Category:Accidental deaths in Indiana
Category:American test pilots
Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
Category:Lockheed people
Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1980

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Herman Salmon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Salmon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Salmon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.