Biography:Peter Hoag

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Peter Hoag
File:Air Force Major Peter Hoag stands in front of the HL-10 Lifting Body (ECN-2314).jpg
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)
Occupation
  • Pilot
  • aerospace engineer
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]

File:HL-10 On Rogers Dry Lake Bed With Pilots - GPN-2000-000101.jpg
Hoag with HL-10 pilots (1970)

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) (in en). Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-16-049390-4. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wingless_Flight/9bB85LoofLcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=peter%20hoag. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  2. ↑ Hallion, Richard (1984) (in en). On the Frontier: Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981. Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 162. https://www.google.com/books/edition/On_the_Frontier/6TACAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+c.+hoag+pilot&pg=PA162&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  3. ↑ Pearcy, Arthur (1993) (in en). Flying the Frontiers: NACA and NASA Experimental Aircraft. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-258-2. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Flying_the_Frontiers/AM0eAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=peter%20hoag. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  4. ↑ "Capt Hoag Leads Research Pilot Class" (in en). The Journal of the Armed Forces (Army and Navy Journal Incorporated). 1965. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Journal_of_the_Armed_Forces/Hy0lAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=peter+c.+hoag+pilot&dq=peter+c.+hoag+pilot&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  5. ↑ (in en) Air Corps News Letter. 1965. p. 24. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Air_Corps_News_Letter/ONA9AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&pg=RA5-PA24&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 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. https://archive.org/details/moonwalker00duke. 
  9. ↑ "Testing the Air - NASA". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/testing-air/. 
  10. ↑ (in en) NASA SP.. Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1970. p. 55. https://www.google.com/books/edition/NASA_SP/Beg8s752-4UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=peter+hoag+pilot&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  11. ↑ "Lot - Chuck Yeager & Peter Hoag, Aviation Greats, Signed Photographs". University Archives. https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-lot/chuck-yeager-peter-hoag-aviation-greats-signe_A1D4FDF965. 
  12. ↑ Newton, Laura. "Milestones in NASA Armstrong’s History". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://www3.nasa.gov/specials/armstrong-milestones. 
  13. ↑ "HL-10 Lifting Body - NASA". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hl-10-lifting-body-19/. 
  14. ↑ Reed, R. Dale; Lister, Darlene (21 October 2021) (in en). Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8563-7. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wingless_Flight/RUcoEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+c.+hoag+pilot&pg=PT43&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  15. ↑ Burgess, Colin (12 March 2013) (in en). Moon Bound: Choosing and Preparing NASA's Lunar Astronauts. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4614-3855-7. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Moon_Bound/TX9DAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&pg=PA90&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  16. ↑ (in en) LIFE. Time Inc. 11 November 1966. p. 130. https://books.google.com/books?id=D1MEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA130&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3quv61bGRAxUIOEQIHRbnOp0Q6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=peter%20hoag%20pilot&f=false. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  17. ↑ Administration, National Aeronautics and Space; Mallick, Donald L.; Merlin, Peter W. (16 January 2024) (in en). The Smell of Kerosene: Pilot's "Day at the Office": Enriched edition. Flight Experiences: A Collection of Aerospace Narratives. Good Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Smell_of_Kerosene_Pilot_s_Day_at_the/vynmEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&pg=PT172&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  18. ↑ Petty, Christopher J. (2020) (in en). Beyond Blue Skies: The Rocket Plane Programs that Led to the Space Age. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-4962-2353-1. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_Blue_Skies/06L9DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=peter+hoag+pilot&pg=PT502&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 9 December 2025. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Peter Charles Hoag Obituary November 23, 2024" (in en). https://www.sundbergolpinmortuary.com/obituaries/peter-hoag. 



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