Captain George Marrett, USAF
Marrett was selected to attend the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), now called the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.[4] While at the school, Marrett flew a variety of aircraft including the Northrop T-38 Talon, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and General Dynamics F-106 Delta Dart. After graduating with Class 64A,[5] he was assigned to the Fighter Test Branch of Flight Test Operations at Edwards and completed three years flight-testing the McDonnell F-4C Phantom, Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter, and General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark.[1] Marrett flew during the heyday of flight test when many aviation record were set, such as Colonel Robert 'Silver Fox' Stephens' world speed record in the YF-12.[6]
From 1968 to 1969, Marrett flew the Douglas A-1 Skyraider as a “Sandy” rescue pilot in the 602nd Fighter Squadron (C), C for Commando, from Udorn and Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Bases, Thailand. He completed 188 combat missions with over 600 combat hours and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters. He was also awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for flight test at Edwards AFB.[7]
In 1969, Marrett returned from Vietnam and joined Hughes Aircraft Company as an experimental test pilot. For the next twenty years, he flew test programs which helped develop attack radar and missile in the F-14A Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-18 Hornet, and an early version of the B-2 Stealth bomber. Marrett has flown over 40 types of military aircraft and logged over 8,500 hours.[3]
Later years
Marrett retired from Hughes Aircraft in 1989 and lives in Atascadero, California. He is one of the founders of the Estrella Warbird Museum at the Paso Robles airport, where he enjoys flying his privately owned plane, a 1945 Stinson L-5E Sentinel and 1946 Aeronca L-16 Champ. He is the chief pilot for D. P. Industries flying their Beechcraft King Air C-90 and is on the Board of Trustees of the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, California.[1]
Marrett has been married to his Nebraskan wife, Jan, for 52 years. They have one son who is a Professor of Geology at the University of Texas at Austin and another son who is a marketing director in the automotive field in southern California. They have four grandchildren Tyler Marrett, Zachary Marrett, Cali Marrett, and Casey Marrett.
Publications
Marrett is the author of the following books:
- Cheating Death: Combat Air Rescues in Vietnam and Laos. Smithsonian Books. 2003. ISBN 1588341046. http://books.google.com/books?id=RiqTHgAACAAJ&dq=Cheating+Death:+Combat+Air+Rescues+in+Vietnam+and+Laos. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- Howard Hughes: Aviator. Naval Institute Press. 2004. ISBN 1591145104. http://books.google.com/books?id=5HkBAAAACAAJ&dq=Howard+Hughes:+Aviator. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry. Praeger Security International. 2004. ISBN 0275990664. http://books.google.com/books?id=EeJgLqz8UzcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Testing+Death. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- Contrails Over the Mojave: The Golden Age of Jet Flight Testing at Edwards Air Force Base. Naval Institute Press. 2008. ISBN 1591145112. http://books.google.com/books?id=2k9hHwAACAAJ&dq=Contrails+Over+the+Mojave. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
Marrett is the author of the following articles:
- California Dreaming
- Chasing the XB-70 Valkyrie
