James Gannett, 83, was Boeing test pilot

Longtime Boeing test pilot James R. Gannett might be best known for co-piloting the Boeing 707 prototype that zoomed low and performed two perfect barrel rolls over a Seafair crowd in 1955.

The famous stunt astonished onlookers and — legend has it — made a mortified Boeing President Bill Allen reach for heart medication. But it was not Mr. Gannett's style at all.

"My dad was not a showman. He was a test pilot who focused on solving engineering problems," said his son, Craig Gannett.

Mr. Gannett, a respected engineer and test pilot whose Boeing career spanned the development of a whole generation of commercial jets, died in Redmond on June 17 after suffering a brain aneurysm. He was 83.

Although Mr. Gannett participated in the famous Seafair stunt, he wasn't known for flyboy capers and, instead, was always more interested in applying his keen mind to making planes safer. (In the Seafair maneuver, it was the flamboyant test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston who flew the famous Dash 80 plane that day.)

Mr. Gannett maintained his devotion to flying and to solving airplane problems long after his retirement in 1985, and recently received a patent for a new cockpit instrument he hoped would make it easier for small-plane pilots to fly safely in bad weather. He flew a Cessna just three days before his death.

Born in Lyons, N.Y., in 1923, Mr. Gannett got his first taste of flying when he paid $1 for a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor plane. He knew then what he wanted to do with his life.

Mr. Gannett obtained a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan. He met his wife, Eleanor, on a blind date, and the two were married in 1948.

Mr. Gannett enlisted in the Air Force and flew 55 missions in the Korean War, bombing enemy cargo trains. Once, his B-26 was hit by enemy fire that knocked out an engine and sent part of a propeller through the windshield, Craig Gannett said. Mr. Gannett piloted the plane safely back to an air base in Seoul. For his service, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

Stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California from 1950 to 1954, Mr. Gannett flew and tested military planes including the F-80, F-84, F-86, F-89, B-45, B-29, B-57 and B-36, according to a biography for the Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, Calif.

Like many in the 1950s, Mr. Gannett was drawn to the Seattle area by the promise of a job with Boeing, which was betting its future on the fledgling U.S. commercial-airliner industry.

As a test pilot for Boeing's passenger jets, from the 707 through the 767, Mr. Gannett helped develop rules for certification of new planes that are still used today by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Jim and his contemporaries at that time were the pioneers," said John Cashman, director of flight operations and chief test pilot for Boeing's commercial-airplane division. "He was a real mentor to a lot of the younger people, including myself."

Mr. Gannett spent years working on one plane that did not come to fruition — the Boeing supersonic transport (SST). That plane would have been the U.S. version of the Concorde, but Congress killed funding for the project in 1971 before a prototype could be built. While he was disappointed he never got to fly the SST, Mr. Gannett later concluded the plane would not have made economic sense, Craig Gannett said.

Mr. Gannett's professional accomplishments won him the respect and admiration of his peers. In 1958, he was honored with the inaugural Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. In 2001, he was named to the Aerospace Walk of Honor.

Mr. Gannett and his wife raised a son and two daughters in Redmond and Clyde Hill. Craig Gannett recalls hunting pheasants with his father in Eastern Washington and flying with him to fish for trout in alpine lakes.

Besides son Craig and his wife, Eleanor, Mr. Gannett is survived by daughters Julie Gannett of Redmond and Laurie Milton of Plano, Texas, and five grandchildren.

Mr. Gannett will be remembered in memorials at 9:30 a.m. July 15 at the Museum of Flight and at 2 p.m. July 16 at Redmond United Methodist Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Museum of Flight or the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com