William Wheatley was Chief Test Pilot for the Consolidated Aircraft Company. He flew the maiden flights of the Consolidated 31 (June 1931) XP2Y-1 (26 March 1932) , XP3Y-1(21 March 1935), XPB2Y-1 (17 Dec 1937) and the XB-24 (29 December 1939).
He was killed on June 2, 1941, when the first Liberator II (AL503) which was to be delivered to the RAF crashed during its acceptance flight into San Diego Bay, killing all aboard including Consolidated's chief test pilot William Wheatley.
