Richard Frewen Martin
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Richard Frewen Martin, OBE, AFC, DFC (July 26, 1918 – September 1, 2006) was a British test pilot. He was born in Bournemouth.
"Dickie" Martin served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and won a Distinguished Flying Cross and bar. After the war, he tested the early experimental jets that led to the development of the Hunter, Swift and Sea Vixen fighter aircraft.
He left the RAF in 1953 with the rank of Wing Commander to become a test pilot at Gloster Aircraft Company, where he was appointed chief test pilot the following year and led development of the delta-wing Javelin fighter. He amassed 19,000 flying hours, and flew 240 different types of aircraft.
On 5 November 1940, Flying Officer Richard Frewen Martin (33439) of No. 73 Squadron RAF was awarded the DFC. In 1949, then a Squadron Leader, he was awarded the Air Force Cross. In 1967, he was awarded the OBE and in 2003, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
