James Brown

Jim Brown graduated “With Distinction” from the Virginia Military Institute in 1976 with a BS Degree in Civil Engineering, earned a Master of Science in Management from Troy State University and completed graduate study in Mechanical Engineering with California State University, Fresno. Following two European tours flying the F-4 and F-5 he was selected to attend the USAF Test Pilot School where he graduated with Class 86A in December of 1986 and was presented the Onazuka Propwash Award by his classmates.  Following graduation he tested the A-7, F-15 Eagle and then performed flight trials on numerous prototype aircraft which remain classified.  Leaving the USAF in 1992, he spent 2 years flying the 737 for United Airlines.  In 1994 he was hired by the Lockheed Skunk Works as an Experimental Test Pilot in the F-117 Stealth Fighter.  After flying the Stealth for eight years and serving at the Chief Test Pilot, he was selected to test the F-22 Raptor.  He served as the Lead Test Pilot for the Raptor Program at Edwards Air Force Base, CA and in July 2011 took over as the F-22 Chief Test Pilot.  In April 2012 he surpassed 1,000 flight hours in the Raptor.  In June 2013 JB left the high performance cockpit to become the Chief of Flight Operations at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Projects – the “Skunk Works”.  He now maintains his currency (and sanity) in a vintage Cessna 195.  JB is a Fellow and Past President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.  He has logged over 8,800 flight hours in 134 different models of aircraft and is the world’s highest time Stealth Fighter pilot.