Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr.

Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr.
File:Iven Kincheloe photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg
USAF Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
Born	Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr. (1928-07-02)July 2, 1928 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S.
Other occupation	Test pilot
Alma mater	Purdue University, B.S. 1949
Rank	Captain, USAF
Selection	1957 MISS Group
Awards

Iven Carl "Kinch" Kincheloe, Jr. (July 2, 1928 – July 26, 1958), (Capt, USAF), was an American test pilot, recipient of the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross, aeronautical engineer, and an ace in the Korean War.

Early life and education

Kincheloe was born in July 2, 1928, Detroit, Michigan but grew up in Cassopolis, Michigan. He was interested in aircraft from a very young age. He attended Purdue University, joined the ROTC, was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon-Indiana Alpha fraternity, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1949. In the summer of 1948, the ROTC cadet was able to meet Chuck Yeager and sit in the cockpit of the Bell X-1.

Korean War

After graduating in 1949, Kincheloe received his commission in the U.S. Air Force. He spent a year as a test pilot flying the F-86E at Edwards Air Force Base, California before being promoted to First Lieutenant and transferred to Korea in September 1951. During the war, he flew F-80s on 30 combat missions and F-86s on 101 combat missions, downing five MiG-15s (becoming an ace and earning the Silver Star) before returning to the U.S. in May 1952. At this time, he had reached the rank of Captain.

Post-war career

After the war, he again became a test pilot, participating in the testing of the Century Series of fighter aircraft (F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and F-106 Delta Dart). In the mid-1950s, Kincheloe joined the Bell X-2 program and on September 7, 1956, flew at more than 2,000 mph (3,200 km/h) and to a height of 126,200 feet (38,500 m) (some sources list 126,500), the first flight ever above 100 000 feet. For this he was nicknamed "America's No. 1 Spaceman". The X-2 program was halted just three weeks later after a fatal crash resulted in the death of Mel Apt in a flight in which Apt became the first person to exceed Mach 3. Three years later, Kincheloe was selected as one of the first three pilots in the next rocket-powered aircraft program, the X-15, and would have been part of the Man In Space Soonest project. He was killed in the crash of an F-104A at Edwards AFB, and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. He was only 30 years old.

Legacy

• In September 1959, Kincheloe Air Force Base in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was renamed in his honor; the base closed in September 1977.
• A monument stands approximately 1-1/2 miles east of his hometown of Cassopolis, Michigan; it is an angular stone slab twelve feet high bearing a silver model of the X-2 pointed skyward.
• Kincheloe Elementary School, part of the nearby Dowagiac Union School District, is named in his honor.
• The television program Hogan's Heroes featured a character called Staff Sergeant James (a.k.a. Ivan) Kinchloe.
• In 1992, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor.
• In 2011, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
• The Iven C. Kincheloe Award is named in his honor.
• The Purdue University Arnold Air Society squadron is named in his honor.

See also

• List of Korean War air aces
• Elmer W. Harris, fellow Korean squadron pilot

External links

• Korean War Aces
• USAF Museum
• Story about exploits @ CombatSim
• "Cassopolis native first man in space" – South Bend Tribune, September 7, 2006
• "Kincheloe monument restored, rededicated" – South Bend Tribune, September 24, 2006
• Photograph of Kincheloe with other pilots of his squadron wearing red caps and scarves, "Sabres and Aces", Air Force Magazine, September 2006, p. 81.
• Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr. at the National Aviation Hall of Fame
• Astronautix biography of Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr.
• Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr. Photograph of his grave marker at Arlington National Cemetery, with brief biography.
• Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr. at Find a Grave