Roy E. Wimmer 1915-2007





Roy Wimmer was born June 4, 1915 in Vernal Utah, passed away March 12, 2007. By the age of six, Roy knew he wanted to pilot airplanes and learned to fly as a teenager. Charles Lindbergh was always a hero to Roy ; little did he know that one day Lindbergh would be his co-pilot as well as Howard Hughes. Roy flew for the ATA in England before World War II, and met and married Joan Wightman in Bristol , England . They returned to the U.S. and had 2 children and later divorced. He was a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft for over 32 years flying many hours in and out of Muroc (Edwards AFB) and Palmdale. His flying experiences included piloting all models and variations of the P38 Lightning, P80 Shooting Star, FX90, F94 Starfire, P2V Neptune, and R6V Constitution, in addition to 1st flights of several Constellation prototypes, the C-130 Hercules, L188 Electra, and P3 Orion. He married Mildred Johnson in 1972, retired from Lockheed in 1973, and moved to Orem , Utah . In 1990, he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow, into the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.