Robert Morris Stanley (August 19, 1912 – July 16, 1977) was an American test pilot and engineer. He became the first American to fly a jet aircraft as a test pilot for Bell Aircraft. Early life Robert Morris Stanley was born in El Reno, Oklahoma on August 19, 1912, to George and Jenny (Coffman) Stanley. His family moved to Venice, California where he finished high school and then enrolled at the California Institute of Technology majoring in aeronautical engineering. Stanley worked part time at the Douglas Aircraft Company during the creation of the DC-1 and DC-2 to help finance his education. While still a student, Stanley created a patent for a mechanically controlled reversible pitch propeller later copied and used by the German Luftwaffe. Navy career After graduating from Cal Tech in 1935, Stanley joined the US Navy and earned his Naval Aviator Wings in 1936. Stanley flew off the USS Ranger and USS Lexington. While stationed on the Lexington, Stanley participated in the search for Amelia Earhart near Howland Island. Stanley Nomad glider While still in the Navy, Stanley designed and built the Stanley Nomad high performance sailplane in his basement while stationed in San Diego in 1938. He constructed the Stanley Nomad with an aluminum fuselage, tapered wing, and the first known “Vee” tail. At the 1939 National Soaring Contest in Elmira, New York, he flew it to an altitude record of 17,284 feet, more than doubling the old record. This glider also set a cross-country record by flying from Elmira, to the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The Nomad is now in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum and displayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center. He served as both president and vice-president for the National Soaring Society. Bell Aircraft Stanley joined Bell Aircraft in 1940 as chief test pilot. He became the first American to fly a jet aircraft on October 1, 1942, when he flew the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, which was the United States’ first turbojet aircraft. The flight took place at Muroc Dry Lake, California. The Airacomet is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Stanley was promoted to engineering vice president at Bell Aircraft and oversaw the design of the world's first supersonic aircraft, the Bell X-1 and X-2. Stanley also developed the idea of launching an aircraft from another aircraft at high altitude. This procedure