Bob Gilliland logged more experimental flight test time above Mach 2 and Mach 3 than any other pilot in history. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the International Air and Space Hall of Fame, and he was presented with the Iven C. Kincheloe Award. A native of Memphis, Gilliland graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, transferred to the newly independent U.S. Air Force, and flew twenty-five combat missions as an F-84 fighter pilot in the Korean War. He died at the age of ninety-three on July 4, 2019.