Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame

Declaration of Enshrinement

November 17, 2012

David L. Ferguson

In June 1973, the United States Air Force assigned David L. Ferguson to the 6512th Test Squadron’s Special Projects Branch at Area 51, Nevada for projects Have Glib and Have Idea. Many details about these tests involving evaluation of foreign fighter planes remain declassified. In 1979, Ferguson retired from the Air Force and joined Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” organization as a test pilot for project SENIOR TREND, the first production stealth combat aircraft. He became the second company pilot to fly the YF-117A, participating in all phases of the flight test program, by 1986, having flown 500 flights in the aircraft. While the chief test pilot for Lockheed’s Advanced Tactical Fighter Program, on September 29, 1990, Ferguson piloted the first flight and initial airworthiness demonstration of the YF-22A, the prototype of the F-22 Raptor fighter.

For his contributions to the test and evaluation of Lockheed’s first stealth combat aircraft and their Advanced Tactical Fighter Program at Area 51, David L. Ferguson earned his place in the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.

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TD BARNES, Executive Director

Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame