Born on May 29th 1917 in Beloit, Wisconsin, Frederick J. Ascani entered the world before America's first aviation force had been tested in combat.

Ascani grew up in Rockford, Illinois, graduating from Rockford High School in the spring of 1935. After high-school graduation, Ascani attended the Beloit College for a two-year period. It was during this period that Adolf Hitler began his quest for world domination. Anticipating the onset of a global war, the young college student secured an appointment to the US. Military Academy. Graduating from West Point in June 1941, Ascani ranked 34th in a class of 424. Ascani graduated as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers and immediately volunteered for pilot training.

Ascani began his primary flight training at Hicks Field, near Fort Worth, Texas. Basic Pilot Training followed at Randolph Army field, with Advanced Flight Training at Foster Field, Victoria, Texas. It was March 1942 when Ascani won his wings as a rated Army Pilot. Lt. Ascani's first assignment was that of Instructor in advanced twin-engine aircraft at Columbus Field, Mississippi. By the time he left the unit in February 1943, Ascani's obvious leadership skills placed him in command of the school's Flying Training Squadron. Ascani left Columbus Field for B-17 transition training at Sebring, Florida until May 1943.

The next eight months could have broke Ascani's resolve, while flying for the 20th Tow Target Squadron over Spokane, Washington, he performed an endless stream of steady patterns towing targets for the fighter squadrons. In February 1944, Ascani was designated, the Squadron Commander for the 815th bombardment squadron, part of the 483rd bomb group. In January 1944, Ascani was promoted to the rank of Major and reported to MacDill AFB, Florida.

Major Ascani's outstanding flying skills and management ability was recognised by his superiors, and in April 1944, Major Ascani was selected for an assignment as the commander of the 816th bombardment squadron stationed in Italy and moved there in May 1944. In the next 11 months, the 483rd Bombardment group (and its four squadrons) began bombing targets such as factories, oil refineries, railroad yards, airfields, bridges and enemy troop concentrations in countries such as France, Germany, Poland, Austria & Yugoslavia. During a mission on July 18th, 1944, operating without a fighter escort, the 483rd was attacked by more than 200 enemy fighters. In the course of the battle, more than 50% of the B-17's were lost to the enemy fighters. Despite this, the group still managed to bomb its intended target of Memmingen, Germany. Ascani and the surviving aircrews won a distinguished unit citation that day. During his tour of duty, Ascani completed a total of 53 missions, most of them in the B-17 he had christened SNOONEY III.

Mission Behind Enemy Lines

Ascani took part in a top secret mission to Czechoslovakia on October7th, 1944 to deliver essential supplies and munitions. Read the full account of his mission in the document below. The 5th slide is Ascani's Form 5 which shows the date of his flight in the Bell X-1 and fourteen different aircraft models flown in the month of May 1950!

Test Pilot

Ascani rotated back to the USA with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in December 1944. Assigned to the Air Technical Service Command's Flight test Division at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, he was designated as chief of the Bomber Test section. Commander of the Flight Test division at the time was Colonel Albert G. Boyd. Boyd was a renowned test pilot and would later be known as "the father of modern flight test". In 1946, Boyd selected Ascani to become his executive officer.

One of the most important projects at that time was to achieve supersonic flight. Success in that endeavour could only be achieved by the selection of the right personnel for the project. This was the first time that the Air Force would conduct a flight research program, so the correct personnel was essential to the successful outcome of the program. Boyd & Ascani agonised over the selection of the pilot and team who would eventually break the sound barrier. Ascani's choice would have been head of the fighter test section, Maj. Ken Chilstrom; this was because Ascani new Ken better than any of the other 125 pilots in the flight test division. Boyd had seen Yeager (one of the most junior test pilots) fly in air shows and was tremendously impressed with that and his background as a maintenance officer, possibly seeing a lot of his younger self in Chuck.

The day that Yeager was informed he had the hottest ticket in flying, Colonel Boyd made Yeager stand to attention the whole time the meeting between Yeager, Boyd & Ascani was in progress. At the end of the meeting Boyd warmly shook Yeager's hand in congratulations. The Air Force crew that would make an assault on the sound barrier would be Capt. Chuck Yeager (prime pilot); Lt. Bob Hoover (backup pilot), Major Robert L. "Bob" Cardenas (B-29 launch pilot and officer in charge of the prodect at Muroc) and Capt. Jack Ridley (project engineer). Ascani later recalled: "Yeager flies an airplane as if he were welded to it as if he is an integral part of it".

In July 1950, Ascani arrived at Edwards AFB, his job there was Director of Experimental Flight test & Engineering of the 3077th Experimental Group. When the Air Force Flight Test Center was created as a separate entity, he would become the first Vice Commander of the AFFTC.

Ascani remained an active test pilot throughout his years at Wright Field & Edwards AFB, flying over 50 different types of research and experimental prototype aircraft in the Air Forces inventory. Types flown include X-1, X-4, X-5, XF-92A, XB-42, XB-45 tornado, XB-46, XB-48, YB-49 Flying Wing, XB-51, B-36, B-47, B-52, B-1, C-130, C-5 & C-141.

"Jet Pilot" Movie & Meeting Howard Hughes

The story below was regaled to me by General Ascani and I am proud to be able to share it with my website visitors:

Derek, I provided this account of my encounter with Howard Hughes to George Marrett, who is the author of The Aviator. I provided it to him too late to be included in his book about Howard Hughes. (I didn’t know he was writing a book about Hughes.) So Here goes.

               I was the Vice Commander and Director of Experimental Flight Test and Engineering at the time. Since I departed Edwards AFB for the Air War College in 1953, this encounter took place prior to that – perhaps 1951-52 (actually this was May 1950).

               Gen Boyd called me to his office and advised me that Howard Hughes would be bringing John Wayne and Janet Leigh to Edwards in his converted B-18 aircraft. They were coming to Edwards to film some scenes next to a simulated F-86 on the lake bed. Boyd told me that since he would not be present when the party arrived, would I meet them and extend all the courtesies available at our rather primitive installation (we were still building it to be the great place it is today.) Boyd stipulated, in fact, that I should escort Mr. Hughes to our Officers Club to wait for the others in a nicely air-conditioned room. I saluted and went about my mission.

I seem to remember that Hughes and company arrived about 9 a.m. I met the aircraft at Base Operations (such as it was), and stood patiently on the ramp near the position where the occupants would descend. Janet Leigh emerged first, followed closely behind by John (Duke) Wayne. I greeted them both. Believe I may have even shook hands with each person. An RKO employee was standing by with a vehicle to take the two of them to the lakebed where their scenes would be captured.

This all happened very quickly, and as they drove off I noticed that Howard Hughes was descending the built in staircase of the aircraft, so naturally my attention was riveted on him. I expected a crew chief, a steward, or somebody else to emerge from the aircraft also, but Mr. Hughes was the sole remaining occupant.

               Now is where this account approaches the unreal. I walked toward Mr. Hughes extending my hand to shake hands with him. He sort of sidestepped slightly to the left, and I adjusted my approach accordingly. He gently continued stepping to the left, and the next thing I knew we were in a circle never to meet. I had not heard, at the time, of his mania for germs generated by hand contact so this was all rather strange. I finally stopped, and so did he. I was then able to transmit Boyd’s offer of hospitality. He listened, responded negatively, thanked me and asked that I pass on his appreciation to Boyd. With that he climbed back into the aircraft, pulled up the self-contained staircase, and left me there wondering what I should do next. Should I get a power unit and hook it up to the aircraft so he could get some air conditioning? Should I try to get the tower operator to contact him to determine if he needed anything? I was at a loss, but finally the temptation to see some movie actors in action overwhelmed me, and I headed for the lakebed.

               The rest is history. You have the photos of me with the principles (seen above). They both were most gracious. It pains me to realize that I never got John Wayne’s autograph on any of the photos. It also pains me to realize they both have passed away.

               That’s the story, Derek. 

A special preview of "Jet Pilot" was held in the RKO studio in Hollywood. We all flew down to, not L.A., but the field (can't remember the name) nearest Hollywood. I piloted the C-47 down and back. Thought I told you the story of the seven pilots running to the tail of the 47 as I was about to flare for the return trip to Edwards. The center of Gravity shifted to the tail so quickly, I had to go around. On the subsequent approach, knowing they would do it again, I popped the control stick forward abruptly, and they all had a bit of negative "g" and were up against the ceiling of the cabin.

The final flight of the #1 Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis" was made by Chuck Yeager specifically for filming scenes for the movie on 12th May 1950.

Jet Pilot Movie Preview - RKO Studios

Okay, I will have to go back and forth to your photo (above) from time to time;

Front row, left to right; Tony Levier(famous Lockheed test pilot), Lt. Col. Gust Askounis, one of my test pilot, Gene May, Douglas test pilot who checked me out on the XB-42, Chuck Yeager.

Second Row, L to R; can't remember his name but one of my bomber test pilots, Kit Murray, Pete Everest, another of my test pilots whose name I do not remember.

Third Row, Slade Nash, next, another of my test pilots whose name I do not recall, Jackie Ridley, Fred J. Ascani

I believe the man in the back row belonged to RKO Studios.

The occasion was a preview of the film, Jet Pilot.

We were invited to see the preview by the Director who is not shown.

Slade Nash was the technical director for the movie, and came away with quite a few Hollywood names, habits and practices.

It was quite an affair.

We had all hoped that the "Duke" Wayne and Janet Leigh would be there also. Can't have everything I guess.

The Preview of "Jet Pilot" was held at RKO Studios in mid-to-late 1953. The movie was not released until October 1957 due to tinkering by Howard Hughes.

Slideshow below of Photographs from General Ascani's life

At Detroit, Michigan, during the national air races in August 1951, Ascani flew an F-86E Sabre over a 100km closed course and set a new official world speed record of 635.686mph. That speed was averaged over a 100km distance at a height of no more than 50 feet above the ground! This feat earned Colonel Ascani the prestigious Thompson & Mackay Trophies as well as the Vaulx Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

In 1955, Ascani became Commander of the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing stationed at Hahn AFB, Germany. One of his top squadron commanders there was one Maj. Chuck Yeager. In July 1961, Ascani was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and became System Program director for the XB-70 Valkyrie, in this position, he was responsible for the procurement and development of the two Mach 3 bombers.

In July 1964, Ascani became commander of the Systems Engineering Group & Deputy Commander of Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. On September 24th 1964, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. In 1971, Ascani earned his masters of Science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California. Ascani retired from the United States Air Force on August 1st 1973.

Following his retirement from the Air Force, Ascani taught a master of systems management course at the Defence Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir, Virginia from 1973 to 1978. Retiring from the academic scene in 1981, Ascani has become computer literate and at one point, even built his own primitive computer. General Ascani is a volunteer to the Air Force history Support Office located at Bolling AFB, Washington D.C.

SETP Honour General Ascani

General Ascani was named an "Honorary Fellow" by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) at their annual banquet and symposium in Los Angeles on October 25th 2002. This was the first time General Ascani's status as a test pilot has been recognised by an official body. None other than former NACA/North American test pilot Scott Crossfield presented the SETP award to General Ascani at the Army-Navy country club located just outside of Washington D.C. The presentation and luncheon was organised by retired Air-Force Colonel Gene Deatrick. Colonel Deatrick took the photograph below and shows General Ascani being presented his award by Scott Crossfield. I take pride knowing that my letter to the SETP helped to have General Ascani honored. The second photograph below right shows all the members in the SETP ceremony. They are as follows: From left to right: John Neuman, Frank Bevard, Gene Deatrick, Scott Crossfield, Distinguished Member, John Fitzpatrick, Rear Admiral Whitey Feightner, Jerauld Gentry, Robert Shaeffer and Al Blackburn.