Peter Hoag

For the American biathlete, see Peter Hoag Jr.
Peter Hoag
Portrait in 1969
Born(1937-04-22)April 22, 1937
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 23, 2024(2024-11-23) (aged 87)
Provo, Utah, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia Institute of Technology
Washington State University (BS)
Stanford University (MS)
Occupations
Spouse(s)Patricia McCrea Waller (m. 1960)
Alecia Ann Jones (m. 1994)

Peter Charles Hoag (April 22, 1937 – November 23, 2024) was an American test pilot and aerospace engineer who trained under Chuck Yeager.[1] He holds the record for top speed in a lifting body, reaching Mach 1.861 in a Northrop HL-10 on February 18, 1970.[2][3]

Early life

Hoag was born in Chicago to Russell and Helene Hoag in 1937. He studied geology at Caltech for a few years before entering the U.S. Air Force as a pilot.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Washington State University and a Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.

Career

Hoag served as a pilot in the Air Force for 28 years. As a Major, he also taught test pilots.[4][5]

In 1964, he applied for the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) and received orders to attend class 64-C, which commenced in August 1964 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The commandant at the time was Chuck Yeager,[6] and Hoag's twelve-member class included Spence M. Armstrong, Alfred Worden, Stuart Roosa, Henry Hartsfield, and Charles Duke.[7] Hoag finished top of the class in September 1965.[8]

He joined the HL-10 program in 1969 as one of 4 pilots, including John A. Manke, William H. Dana, and Jerauld R. Gentry.[9] The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) to develop safe maneuvering and landing of a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space.[10] He completed his first glide flight on June 6, 1969, and made a total of 8 flights in the HL-10.[11]

Hoag holds the record for fastest lifting body flight, which reached Mach 1.861 on February 18, 1970.[12][13][14]

He also flew the XB-70 Valkyrie.[15] On June 8, 1966, Hoag was piloting a Northrop T-38 Talon chase plane[16] when the second prototype of the XB-70 collided mid-air with a NASA/Lockheed F-104 Starfighter over Barstow, California.[17][18] The F-104 pilot Joseph A. Walker and XB-70 co-pilot Carl S. Cross were killed, although the XB-70 pilot Alvin S. White survived after ejecting. The crash occurred when the XB-70's powerful wake vortex flipped the F-104, causing it to strike the XB-70 tail and explode, while the XB-70 entered an uncontrolled spin and crashed.

After retiring from the service, he worked at McDonnell Douglas for a decade.

He died in Provo, Utah in 2024, aged 87.[19]

Personal life

While stationed at Lakenheath in England, Hoag met Patricia McCrea Waller. The couple married in 1960 and had 5 children. After Waller's death, Hoag remarried with Alecia Ann Jones in 1994.[19]

Hoag was Mormon and volunteered at temples in St. Louis, Missouri and Provo.

References

  1. ^ Reed, R. Dale; Lister, Darlene (1997). Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-16-049390-4. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  2. ^ Hallion, Richard (1984). On the Frontier: Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981. Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 162. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  3. ^ Pearcy, Arthur (1993). Flying the Frontiers: NACA and NASA Experimental Aircraft. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-258-2. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  4. ^ "Capt Hoag Leads Research Pilot Class". The Journal of the Armed Forces. Army and Navy Journal Incorporated. 1965. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  5. ^ Air Corps News Letter. 1965. p. 24. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  6. ^ Duke, Charlie; Duke, Dottie (1990). Moonwalker. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc. ISBN 978-0-8407-9106-1. OCLC 20826452.
  7. ^ Shayler, David J.; Burgess, Colin (2017). The Last of NASA's Original Pilot Astronauts: Expanding the Space Frontier in the Late Sixties. Chichester: Springer-Praxis, p. 62. ISBN 978-3-319-51012-5. OCLC 1023142024.
  8. ^ Duke, Charlie; Duke, Dottie (April 1990). Moonwalker. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8407-9106-1. OCLC 20826452.
  9. ^ "Testing the Air - NASA". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  10. ^ NASA SP. Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1970. p. 55. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  11. ^ "Lot - Chuck Yeager & Peter Hoag, Aviation Greats, Signed Photographs". www.universityarchives.com. University Archives. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  12. ^ Newton, Laura. "Milestones in NASA Armstrong's History". NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ^ "HL-10 Lifting Body - NASA". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  14. ^ Reed, R. Dale; Lister, Darlene (October 21, 2021). Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8563-7. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  15. ^ Burgess, Colin (March 12, 2013). Moon Bound: Choosing and Preparing NASA's Lunar Astronauts. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4614-3855-7. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  16. ^ LIFE. Time Inc. November 11, 1966. p. 130. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  17. ^ Administration, National Aeronautics and Space; Mallick, Donald L.; Merlin, Peter W. (January 16, 2024). The Smell of Kerosene: Pilot's "Day at the Office": Enriched edition. Flight Experiences: A Collection of Aerospace Narratives. Good Press. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  18. ^ Petty, Christopher J. (2020). Beyond Blue Skies: The Rocket Plane Programs that Led to the Space Age. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-4962-2353-1. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  19. ^ a b "Peter Charles Hoag Obituary November 23, 2024". Sundberg-Olpin & Wheeler Mortuary. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
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