Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 1997
Frank “Pete” Everest was born on August 10, 1920. He won his wings and commission in 1942. During WW II he served as a fighter pilot in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy where he flew 94 missions and shot down two German aircraft. Later in China, he flew 64 more missions and destroyed four Japanese aircraft before being shot down in 1945 by ground fire and becoming a POW.
After the war in 1946, he was assigned to the Flight Test Division, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. Thus began a long series of assignments in Flight Testing, including four years at Dayton and six years at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB California where he served as Chief of the Air Force Test Flight Section. In that position, he participated in the flight testing of all early jet aircraft in the Air Force inventory, including bomber and transport aircraft.
