was used for the launch of the Bell X-1 and X-2 by being dropped from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress at 29,000 ft. Stanley hired and mentored many Bell test pilots, including Tex Johnston and Jack Woolams. Stanley Aviation In 1948, Stanley left Bell and started the Stanley Aviation company in his basement in Buffalo, New York. He moved Stanley Aviation to Aurora, Colorado, adjacent to Denver’s Stapleton Airport, where he invented and built ejection seats for jet fighter and bomber aircraft. He developed “escape pod”-style ejection seats for safe ejection from disabled aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. In 1975, Tex Johnston rejoined Stanley and became chief pilot of Stanley Aviation. The Stanley Aviation hangar has been re-purposed and today houses many businesses and is known as the Stanley Marketplace. Personal life He married Katherine Norman in 1942. They had three children, one daughter and two sons. He enjoyed white water rafting on the Colorado and Green Rivers in Colorado with his family and also traversed the Grand Canyon by raft. Death and honors Stanley died July 16, 1977, flying with his two sons, along with the wife of one son and fiancé of the other, in the crash of the Stanley company's Aero Commander. The plane encountered severe wind-shear on approach to Fort Lauderdale International Airport and broke up in flight. Stanley's body was lost at sea. Stanley was selected to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990. Stanley was selected to the Soaring Hall of Fame in 1977. Stanley was selected to the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. Stanley was an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Stanley was an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Three aircraft that Stanley worked closely with through design and/or test flight are on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Bell X-1, the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, and the Stanley Nomad. References External links This Day in Aviation - Robert M. Stanley National Aviation Hall of Fame - Robert M. Stanley Soaring Hall of Fame - Robert M. Stanley 1912 births 1977 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida Aircraft designers American aerospace businesspeople American aviation record holders American company founders American test pilots Aviation pioneers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Glider flight record holders National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees People who died at sea