Hobby Master Archive

Joseph Henry “Joe” Engle was born in 1932 in Abilene, Kansas. In 1958 he earned his pilot wings and was assigned to the 474th Fighter Day Squadron located at George AFB flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre. He became a USAF Test Pilot, test flew the X-15 rocket airplane, at 32 he was the youngest man to become an astronaut. In November 1981 he commanded the Shuttle Columbia and retired a Major General in 1986 having spent 224 hours in space. He has flown more than 180 different aircraft types and logged nearly 14,000 flight hours.