combatmech
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All,
It is with deep regret I must report the passing of a great test pilot, gentleman and friend to many of us. Bob Smyth left us on 1/10/12. Following is the information I have received to date. Also here are a couple of links of interest for those that knew Bob. First a link to some photos of Grumman Test Pilots with many of Bob PictureTrail: Online Photo Sharing, Social Network, Image Hosting, Online Photo Albums and a YouTube video of “An Evening with Test Pilot Robert K. Smyth” from a lecture Bob gave at the National Air and Space Museum in October 2007 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c84FzHIbY3M[/media].
We will miss him and our prays are with Bob’s family.
Art
art@f-14association.com
From: sallyssmyth@me.com
Sent: 1/10/2012 10:00:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Bob Smyth
My dearest friends and neighbors,
It is with much sadness yet relief, that I inform you that our beloved Bob passed away today at two twenty two on this Tuesday, the tenth of January, 2012. We are so grateful to you all for your thoughts and prayers that have sustained us through these many difficult months. Bob was not able to recover from his last stroke and so the decline began in earnest.
He is finally peaceful, all suffering and pain behind him......
Any services or celebrations of life are in the planning stage.
It is possible that there will be a small recognition at the Grumman Retiree Luncheon in Vero Beach in March,
and that there will quite possibly, be a Remembrance Gathering here at the Leeward Air Ranch for our friends
and neighbors, again, in March or April...... Nothing set in stone at this moment. I will keep you posted in any case.
Hospice of Marion County has been here with us, faithfully and gently assisting me and the boys, preparing us
for the inevitable. If any of you wish to remember Bob, please consider contributing to
Hospice of Marion County, in Bob's name....
Hospice of Marion County Main Office
3231 SW 34th Ave.
Ocala, FL 34474
Hospice of Marion County - Donations
Much, much love affection and gratitude to you all....
Sally and Robert and Andy Smyth
Bob Smyth was born in New York City on July 17, 1927. He entered the U.S. Navy in June of 1945 and graduated from Naval Flight Training in 1948. In 1952, he graduated from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and served as an exchange officer with the British Royal Navy in 1953-54.
In 1955, Bob resigned his commission from the U.S. Navy and accepted a position as an Engineering Test Pilot with Grumman. He flight-tested the F9F Cougar and F11F Tiger series and participated in Gulfstream I Test and Certification program from 1955 to 1960. Bob performed the first flight of the A2F-1 (A-6A) Intruder in April 1960. He was then appointed as a consulting pilot and astronaut liaison on the Apollo Lunar Module program until the spring of 1966. Bob then became the project pilot for the Gulfstream II, performing its first flight in October 1966.
In September of 1965, Bob was married to Sally Shuman of Marblehead, Massachusetts, in New York City.
In 1967, Bob was appointed Chief Test Pilot for Grumman. Several years later on December 21, 1970, along with fellow Grumman Test Pilot Bill Miller, he performed the first flight of the F-14A Tomcat. He holds the distinction, along with Bill Miller, as the first crew to eject from an F-14 on December 30, just a little over a week from its first flight. Bob was named Director of Flight Test in 1974. He was also the project pilot for the Gulfstream III, performing its first flight in December 1979.
Bob left Grumman in 1981 and joined Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia, as Director of Flight Operations. In 1985, he was promoted to Vice President of Flight Ops and Quality Control. Bob participated in most of the Gulfstream III and IV record setting flights around world, over the poles, etc.
Some of Bob’s accomplishments in aviation include certified Airline Transport Pilot (G-I, II, III, and IV), single-engine land and multi-engine land-and-sea aircraft. He was a Fellow of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and was elected to the Carrier Test Pilots Hall of Honor on board the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC in 1991. He was also a long time member of the Cruising Club of America.
In June of 1993, Bob retired from Gulfstream and moved to the Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala, Florida, where he spent the last thirteen years with his wife Sally and their three dachshunds Pfeffer, Minna, and Bella enjoying an active life of flying and traveling. Bob is survived by his wife Sally, sons Robert K. Smyth, Jr. and Andrew W. Smyth and his two grandchildren, Haven and Freya, all of whom reside in Northern California, and brother Donald Smyth of Sonora, California. The Smyth family is grateful to Hospice of Marion County and requests that any donations or remembrances be made to that organization.
It is with deep regret I must report the passing of a great test pilot, gentleman and friend to many of us. Bob Smyth left us on 1/10/12. Following is the information I have received to date. Also here are a couple of links of interest for those that knew Bob. First a link to some photos of Grumman Test Pilots with many of Bob PictureTrail: Online Photo Sharing, Social Network, Image Hosting, Online Photo Albums and a YouTube video of “An Evening with Test Pilot Robert K. Smyth” from a lecture Bob gave at the National Air and Space Museum in October 2007 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c84FzHIbY3M[/media].
We will miss him and our prays are with Bob’s family.
Art
art@f-14association.com
From: sallyssmyth@me.com
Sent: 1/10/2012 10:00:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Bob Smyth
My dearest friends and neighbors,
It is with much sadness yet relief, that I inform you that our beloved Bob passed away today at two twenty two on this Tuesday, the tenth of January, 2012. We are so grateful to you all for your thoughts and prayers that have sustained us through these many difficult months. Bob was not able to recover from his last stroke and so the decline began in earnest.
He is finally peaceful, all suffering and pain behind him......
Any services or celebrations of life are in the planning stage.
It is possible that there will be a small recognition at the Grumman Retiree Luncheon in Vero Beach in March,
and that there will quite possibly, be a Remembrance Gathering here at the Leeward Air Ranch for our friends
and neighbors, again, in March or April...... Nothing set in stone at this moment. I will keep you posted in any case.
Hospice of Marion County has been here with us, faithfully and gently assisting me and the boys, preparing us
for the inevitable. If any of you wish to remember Bob, please consider contributing to
Hospice of Marion County, in Bob's name....
Hospice of Marion County Main Office
3231 SW 34th Ave.
Ocala, FL 34474
Hospice of Marion County - Donations
Much, much love affection and gratitude to you all....
Sally and Robert and Andy Smyth
Bob Smyth was born in New York City on July 17, 1927. He entered the U.S. Navy in June of 1945 and graduated from Naval Flight Training in 1948. In 1952, he graduated from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and served as an exchange officer with the British Royal Navy in 1953-54.
In 1955, Bob resigned his commission from the U.S. Navy and accepted a position as an Engineering Test Pilot with Grumman. He flight-tested the F9F Cougar and F11F Tiger series and participated in Gulfstream I Test and Certification program from 1955 to 1960. Bob performed the first flight of the A2F-1 (A-6A) Intruder in April 1960. He was then appointed as a consulting pilot and astronaut liaison on the Apollo Lunar Module program until the spring of 1966. Bob then became the project pilot for the Gulfstream II, performing its first flight in October 1966.
In September of 1965, Bob was married to Sally Shuman of Marblehead, Massachusetts, in New York City.
In 1967, Bob was appointed Chief Test Pilot for Grumman. Several years later on December 21, 1970, along with fellow Grumman Test Pilot Bill Miller, he performed the first flight of the F-14A Tomcat. He holds the distinction, along with Bill Miller, as the first crew to eject from an F-14 on December 30, just a little over a week from its first flight. Bob was named Director of Flight Test in 1974. He was also the project pilot for the Gulfstream III, performing its first flight in December 1979.
Bob left Grumman in 1981 and joined Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia, as Director of Flight Operations. In 1985, he was promoted to Vice President of Flight Ops and Quality Control. Bob participated in most of the Gulfstream III and IV record setting flights around world, over the poles, etc.
Some of Bob’s accomplishments in aviation include certified Airline Transport Pilot (G-I, II, III, and IV), single-engine land and multi-engine land-and-sea aircraft. He was a Fellow of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and was elected to the Carrier Test Pilots Hall of Honor on board the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC in 1991. He was also a long time member of the Cruising Club of America.
In June of 1993, Bob retired from Gulfstream and moved to the Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala, Florida, where he spent the last thirteen years with his wife Sally and their three dachshunds Pfeffer, Minna, and Bella enjoying an active life of flying and traveling. Bob is survived by his wife Sally, sons Robert K. Smyth, Jr. and Andrew W. Smyth and his two grandchildren, Haven and Freya, all of whom reside in Northern California, and brother Donald Smyth of Sonora, California. The Smyth family is grateful to Hospice of Marion County and requests that any donations or remembrances be made to that organization.
