RIP Col. Jean Jack

[warbird]

Col. Jack, my former professor and mentor passed away a while back. He was a good man and a hero as far as I'm concerned. He was also the smartest man I ever knew.

If you would like to hear him on audio tell a story of having to put his B-17 into the drink you can listen to it here: janus.mtsu.edu/history/expages/jack_jean/jack_jean.htm

Here's some background.

Col. Jean A. Jack, the former MTSU aerospace professor for whom the Jean A. Jack Flight Education Center at the Murfreesboro Airport is named, passed away May 18 at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. He was 91.

He had resided with his wife, Betty Bell Jack at AdamsPlace since February. They lived in the MiddleTennessee area almost 30 years.

Known as “Col. Jack” by colleagues and hundreds of former students, he retired from MTSU as an associate professor of Aerospace in 1980, but continued teaching as an adjunct professor until 1994. He completed 28 years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force, and his last tour of duty was in the capacity of Deputy Chief of Staff/Testing at Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma.

The Colonel was born Jan. 7, 1915, and raised in the small farming community of Tekamah, Neb. He and his wife of 65 years met there as children. Jack graduated from the University of Nebraska in
1939 with a M.A. in chemistry and pursued post-graduate studies in chemistry and physics at Oregon State in 1940, nuclear physics at Ohio State in the late ‘40s and mechanical and aeronautical engineering at the University of Tennessee in the late ‘60s. He was a Phi Lambda Upsilon Chemistry Honorary and Sigma XI Science Honorary.

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the field artillery, U.S. Army, in 1941 and graduated from the United States Air Corps Flying School in 1942. During World War II, he served as a squadron commander of B-17s and B-24s in the Southwest Pacific Theater. After the war he remained a full colonel on active duty with flying status, serving his country in the U.S. Air
Force for more than 28 years. He was a command pilot with more than 4,600 hours of military flying time that included 67 active combat missions. His military awards included the Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army
Commendation Medal and Purple Heart. He retired from the military in 1968 and went on to share his experience, knowledge and passion for flying.

 

[warbird]

If you will permit me, I'd like to share with you a personal story.

A young college freshman climbed out of the Cessna 172 RG and onto a ramp so hot it took his breath away. It was only May, but it was hot as hell on that ramp in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. From the backseat climbed old Jack, up in his seventies now he had a hard time getting out. The freshman felt guilty for sitting in the front seat , but Jack had insisted saying he had 50+ years of flying under his belt and he was content to just ride. Besides the young freshman was in his first semester on the flight team.

He had learned to fly the semester before, doing ground school, his first solo, first solo cross country and first time flying a high performance, ie constant speed prop He was really enjoying himself so far. Old Jack he knew taught a class for upper division students and that they had a real affinity for him. To the freshman he was just another old man along for the ride, very quiet and not like many of the other gregarious professors in the department, full of war stories.

The department was made up of 90% military men, most were aging WWII vets. Some had been vets of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. They had lots of stories to tell and lots of young men eager to hear them regaled with full and sometimes exaggerated fanfare.

They all stood on the hot hot ramp in the middle of Texas, ready to refuel and get the heck out of there and back to Tennessee. Every young man looked the same as the other. Top Gun was the hit of the day and all the guys had their Tom Cruise haircut and Ray Bans. They noticed at the end of a large set of hangars a C141. It wasn't often that they were afforded the opportunity to see one of the big military birds in person. Almost every one of them wanted to be a military pilot so it was very exciting for each student.

One of the instructors, a former Army pilot, suggested they go take a look. They walked up to the steps, nearly running over one another, each head stretched looking the big plane up and down. A young lieutenant seeing them coming, stepped out and talked to them for a minute asking who they were and why they were all flying in together.

He asked if they would like a tour of his aircraft. He beamed with pride as they climbed the steps. He knew how they felt, he was there himself in the not so distant past. They all got on board and he showed them around the aircraft. It was massive and the freshman thought it was probably bigger than the totality of his apartment building.

The young shave tail, lieutenant, started telling everyone about the flight capabilities of his aircraft. The envelope as we call it, consists of the minimums and maximums in capability of the aircraft in take off, climbing, descent, turns etc etc. The shave tail told the group the aircraft would do no more than several speeds and out of the back the old man Jack spoke up from the corner near the door where they had entered. Well thats not quite right young man. He said my understanding is that they aircraft can do this and that and he spouted off a few numbers which went over the freshman's head.

About that time the Lt. Colonel who was PIC, pilot in command, walked up the steps and into the aircraft. He nodded at the students and smiled toward old Jack as he could hear him talking while coming in the doorway and he kept listening. Several of the students stared at the Colonel, which was a very impressive thing indeed to a young aspiring student who hoped beyond hope that the might one day be the guy with that insignia on his collar.

The lieutenant seemed annoyed that this old man who probably flew a little old aircraft a few hours a month was questioning him about his aircraft. Without being disrespectful, the lieutenant corrected the old man on several points. Jack, was rather insistent, though hard to hear. His health wasn't very good and he spoke with a slight touch of shaking in his voice. None the less he wasn't going to concede his point with the young lieutenant. They went back and forth for a couple of minutes. The youngest students were very surprised at the quiet little old man and the older students seemed to being enjoying the action and didn't seem real surprised buy all the action, and neither were the other professors.

After several minutes the Colonel spoke up. He said to the lieutenant, several years ago now I attended a dinner at Wright Patt airbase for a former head of the base. That man had flown bombers in WWII and had helped start the new test flight program at Edwards and was chief engineer liaison for the Air Force to the civilian manufacturers. He said that man had been involved with the design on every project form the X1 to the X15, the Valkyries and SR71, numerous bombers, cargo and refueling aircraft. He had been Chief of Staff at Arnold Engineering and Development Center and a founder of the UT Space Institute. He said that man was idolized by people who he himself idolized, men like Chuck Yeagar and Bob Hoover.

He said that man had even designed most of the empanage (the body) and all of the tail section of the aircraft they were standing in, and that that engineer had also taken that aircraft on its maiden test flight.

Then the colonel looked right at old Jack and said son, the man I just described to you is this man, standing right here in front of you. So in the future I would suggest you be wary of telling somebody they are wrong, when indeed they may know just a bit more than you and I would suggest to you that Colonel Jack here knows a bit more about this aircraft than you do.

The lieutenant smiled somewhat sheepishly and apologized to ol Jack.

The freshman was to learn over time how right the Colonel had been as he time and again saw the likes of Hoover and Yeagar walking the halls of the university searching out old Jack for his opinion on one matter or another. Jack was usually sitting with a student somewhere, trying to help that student understand the difficult subject matter of Operations and Performance or Aero Envelopes. He would sit there all day with a student if it took that. It was what he loved to do best of all.

 

[Diamondback]

Very touching, and very sad news indeed. All of us in academia and aerospace lost someone very important with the Colonel--higher education needs many more like him...

 

[Hondo]

What a career, what a Great guy, very sad R.I.P. we will miss you