Robert Riedenauer

Robert L. "Bob" Riedenauer (born August 2, 1936 in Fresno , † April 23, 2007 in Palmdale ) was an American test pilot. He gained notoriety through the crash with a Lockheed F-117 in 1982, in which he was so seriously injured that he had to give up his pilot career.

Life

Riedenauer received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University in 1967 . He then went to the Air Force , where he graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1969.

Then he was used in the Vietnam War and flew 120 combat missions on Republic F-105 . As an Air Force test pilot, he had u. a. Contribution to the development of the Lockheed U-2 and Lockheed SR-71 .

Riedenauer was dismissed as chief of the SR-71 test pilots in the rank of lieutenant colonel and hired as a test pilot at Lockheed , where he worked in the Skunk Works , the notorious "foxhole". He was one of the Lockheed test pilots in the F-117 program.

Riedenauer crashed on April 20, 1982 at the Groom Lake test center with the first series F-117 (serial number 79-0785) when the fly-by-wire system was connected incorrectly . Immediately upon take-off, the machine overturned backwards and fell on the runway on its back. Riedenauer was unable to catapult himself and suffered serious injuries from which he could never really recover.

He was then promoted to Chief Operations Officer at Lockheed and eventually retired in 1993. In his entire career, Riedenauer completed over 6,500 flight hours on over 50 different aircraft types.

Riedenauer had a wife, Sharon, with whom he had four children.

He died of cancer at the age of 70 after a long and serious illness.

Awards

Military

Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross with double oak leaves
Air Medal with eleven oak leaves
Meritorious Service Medal

Civil

Aerospace Walk of Honor

Web links

Robert Riedenauer, 70; military pilot who flew top-secret military aircraft. In: articles.latimes.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers: Lt Col (ret) Robert L. Riedenauer 1936–2007. In: thetartanterror.blogspot.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .

Individual evidence

^ Obituary Photos Honoring Robert L. Riedenauer. In: tributes.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Test Pilot Dies. In: dreamlandresort.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
↑ Listing of all Personel who flew the Blackbirds. In: sr71.us. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
↑ Steve Pace: The Projects of Skunk Works: 75 Years of Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs . Voyageur Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-7603-5032-4 , pp. 150 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
↑ Accident Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Apr 20, 1982. aviation-safety.net, accessed on September 18, 2018 (English).

personal data
SURNAME	Riedenauer, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Riedenauer, Robert L .; Riedenauer, Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American test pilot
DATE OF BIRTH	August 2, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH	Fresno
DATE OF DEATH	April 23, 2007
Place of death	Palmdale

[1] Obituary Photos Honoring Robert L. Riedenauer. In: tributes.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .

[dreamland-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Test Pilot Dies. In: dreamlandresort.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .

[3] Listing of all Personel who flew the Blackbirds. In: sr71.us. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .

[4] Steve Pace: The Projects of Skunk Works: 75 Years of Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs . Voyageur Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-7603-5032-4 , pp. 150 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).

[5] Accident Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, Apr 20, 1982. aviation-safety.net, accessed on September 18, 2018 (English).