Iven Carl Kincheloe

Iven Carl "Kinch" Kincheloe Jr. was an American pilot. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, in which he was recognized as a flying ace. He continued as a test pilot after the war, participating in the Bell X-2 program, in which he set an altitude record of 126,200 feet (38,470 m) in 1956. For this suborbital flight above 99.66 percent of Earth's atmosphere, he became known as "The First Spaceman". He was selected for the Air Force's program to put a man in space, but was killed in a plane crash in 1958.