Jimmie Mattern, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Jimmie Mattern

American test pilot

Date of Birth: 08-Mar-1905

Place of Birth: Freeport, Illinois, United States

Date of Death: 17-Dec-1988

Profession: test pilot

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Pisces


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About Jimmie Mattern

  • James Joseph Mattern (March 8, 1905 – December 17, 1988) was an American aviator.
  • Mattern undertook a number of aviation world records, including twice attempting to break the world record for aerial circumnavigation set by Wiley Post and Harold Gatty.
  • Both attempts failed; the second in 1933 resulted in a crash landing and subsequent rescue by Eskimos and Sigizmund Levanevsky in Siberia.
  • In a twist of fate, Mattern would join the search for Levanevsky after he went missing in 1937.
  • Levanevsky was never found. In 1928, Mattern sold an air plane to an oil company in Texas owned by Michael Benedum.
  • Benedum would later become a frequent financial backer of Mattern's flying activities.
  • In 1937, Mattern was hired as the aeronautical director for the Benedum and Tree's oil company.Starting in 1938, Mattern was a Lockheed test pilot on the P-38 Lightning and during the war helped develop the 'Piggyback' two-seat version that significantly reduced training accidents.
  • In 1946 he was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with a ruptured blood vessel in his brain (perhaps due to repeated excessive G-forces experienced while demonstrating P-38s) and was unable to fly again because of the condition.
  • After losing his ability to fly, Mattern and his wife became real estate brokers and then operated a travel agency.
  • He also supported the space program, attended three Apollo launches and had his pilot's license carried to the moon aboard Apollo 11.
  • He also marketed aviation calculators known as the Mattern computer, a course and mileage slide rule, in the late 1940s.

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