 He was born in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada on May 14, 1925 and joined the Royal
Canadian Air Force after
gradating high school. Trained
as an aerial gunner, he shipped to England in June 1944
in the RCAF Bomber Command. He completed 23 combat
missions in British built Halifax and Lancaster bombers. He
was enroute to the Pacific theater, as a volunteer on VJ
day. He left the RCAF shortly thereafter for the
University of Saskatchewan's for associate general-engineering
training, but rejoined the RCAF in 1948 for pilot training.
Woodman eventually became Canada's representative
to the Empire Test Pilot's School in England where he tested
numerous types of aircraft, including the Vampire, Lancaster,
Otter and Chipmunk. He was instrumental in testing
the first Canadian designed jet fighter, CF-100 and flew
demonstrations at the 1955 Paris Air Show with it. He
became project pilot of the Mach 2 Avro CF-105, interceptor,
and he was the only military pilot to fly the Arrow aircraft.
In January of 1960 he transferred to California to work
as Project Pilot in the development of Lockheed aircraft
and later held several management positions within the
company.
Jack died of cancer on May 16, 1967 and was inducted into
the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame for his contributions
to aviation and his skills as a test pilot. Jack was
survived by his wife Gladys, son Scott and daughters, Petie
and Sally. |
