Boone Tarleton Guyton United States Navy, (September 4, 1913 – April 4, 1996) was a naval aviator, experimental test pilot, author and businessman. In a flying career spanning the biplane era through the jet age, Guyton was perhaps best known for his test pilot years at Vought-Sikorsky (Chance Vought) and his participation in the development of the F4U Corsair and various other military aircraft including the OS2U Kingfisher and the radical Vought V-173 flying pancake. Early life Guyton was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, September 4, 1913. His birth certificate incorrectly spelled his first name “Bond” but was later corrected. His father William Henry Guyton, the Superintendent Transportation, E. St. Louis & Suburban Railroad, died in 1921 before Boone's 8th birthday. His mother, Martha (Windhorst) Guyton, raised Boone and his older brother William, much of it during the depression. Boone graduated from East St. Louis High School in 1931. Guyton then attended Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri, graduating in 1935 and starring on the 1934 football team which won the Missouri College Athletic Union (MCAU) championship. Guyton played end and led the league in scoring, setting a college record for most touchdowns caught in the end-zone (seven). He was named on the all-conference team and earned a mention in Ripley's Believe It or Not for having scored all his touchdowns without carrying the ball across the goal line. Introduction to aviation In 1927 at the age of 14, Guyton became fascinated by aviation as he monitored the feats of Charles Lindbergh in the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh was young Guyton's consummate hero, though Guyton would later feel that a flying career would be economically impossible to pursue. Upon graduating from College in 1935, with the Great Depression in the United States, Guyton's options were few and far between. His college dean, feeling he would be a good teacher helped Guyton land a teaching position. Though grateful, Guyton felt uneasy and did not perceive himself a teacher. Just after the teaching offer, a large brown envelope arrived from the U.S. Navy announcing a new aviation cadet program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Guyton pursued the offer and was accepted. In 1936 he graduated tenth in the first graduating class despite a 44 percent attrition rate. For the next three years, Guyton flew for the Navy out of Naval Air Station North Island San Diego, California and off