NASA Test Pilot

PROPS, JETS and BLIMPS

Richard (Dick) Ewers is a California native. He was born in Glendale, Califonia in 1946. He grew up aspiring to become a pilot like his father who was a career Marine Corps pilot and flew in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. Dick graduated from Tustin Union High School before entering the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.

He graduated from the Air Force Academy in June 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering mechanics but instead of joining the Air Force he took his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After Marine Corps officers' Basic School he started Naval jet pilot training earning his wings in May 1970. Ewers went on the serve for more than 21 years in the Marine Corps as a fighter pilot, flying A-4, F-4, and F/A-18 aircraft. During his career he was assigned to both fighter/attack and reconnaissance squadrons before ultimately commanding an F-4S squadron (VMFA-122) for two years. Additionally, his military flying included combat service in Vietnam and operational exchange tours with both U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force squadrons flying the venerable F-4 Phantom worldwide, including tours on the aircraft carriers USS Ranger and USS Midway.

While on active duty, Dick attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and served two tours as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland. His flight test experience included test flying in the F/A-18 Hornet during its early development as well as flight testing the F-4's and A-4's. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

After retirement, Dick went to work for Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group as an engineering test pilot flying out of Baltimore, Maryland. He spent nearly nine years there flight testing sensors such as radars and forward looking infrared systems under development for military and civilian use.

Dick became a pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., in May 1998. His flying duties focus on operation of the Airborne Science DC-8 and Systems Research F/A-18 aircraft, but he maintains qualifications in King Air, B-52 and T-34C aircraft as well. He has over 35 years and in excess of 9,500 hours of military and civilian flight experience in all types of aircraft from jet fighters to blimps.

Along the way, he earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida. Dick and his wife, Sharon, live in Palmdale, California. They have two grown children; a son, Gary, who is a Marine Corps helicopter pilot and a daughter, Corie, who lives in Telluride, Colorado.