Skip Miller
Final Approach
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 15, 2005
HEALDSBURG, Calif., Aug. 14 (AP) - Col. Joseph Rogers, a renowned aviator who flew aircraft in three wars and set a world speed record for a pilot in a single-engine jet, died on Aug. 6 at his ranch here in Northern California. He was 81.
The cause was congestive heart failure, his family said.
Joseph Rogers grew up on a farm in Chillicothe, Ohio, joined the Army Air Corps at 17 and became a flight instructor in World War II.
He was a top fighter pilot during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, completing 270 missions, and served as vice commander of a fighter wing in Vietnam.
Colonel Rogers is perhaps best remembered for the single-engine world speed record he set in 1959 when he flew an F-106 Delta Dart that reached 1,525 miles an hour, a mark that still stands.
Many years later, in retirement, he worked successfully to have a restored Delta Dart brought to the Pacific Coast Air Museum, in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Among the honors he won while with the Air Force was its Top Gun Award, in 1963. His achievements also earned him a place at the mile-long Aerospace Walk of Honor near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
After retiring from the military, Colonel Rogers worked for 14 years selling aircraft in Asia for the Northrop Aerospace Company.
When he retired completely in 1989, he and his wife, Charis Tate Rogers, moved to Healdsburg and raised water buffalo. Mrs. Rogers died in 2002.
Colonel Rogers is survived by two sons, Joseph Jr. and Garrett; a daughter, Georgia Carver; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Published: August 15, 2005
HEALDSBURG, Calif., Aug. 14 (AP) - Col. Joseph Rogers, a renowned aviator who flew aircraft in three wars and set a world speed record for a pilot in a single-engine jet, died on Aug. 6 at his ranch here in Northern California. He was 81.
The cause was congestive heart failure, his family said.
Joseph Rogers grew up on a farm in Chillicothe, Ohio, joined the Army Air Corps at 17 and became a flight instructor in World War II.
He was a top fighter pilot during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, completing 270 missions, and served as vice commander of a fighter wing in Vietnam.
Colonel Rogers is perhaps best remembered for the single-engine world speed record he set in 1959 when he flew an F-106 Delta Dart that reached 1,525 miles an hour, a mark that still stands.
Many years later, in retirement, he worked successfully to have a restored Delta Dart brought to the Pacific Coast Air Museum, in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Among the honors he won while with the Air Force was its Top Gun Award, in 1963. His achievements also earned him a place at the mile-long Aerospace Walk of Honor near Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
After retiring from the military, Colonel Rogers worked for 14 years selling aircraft in Asia for the Northrop Aerospace Company.
When he retired completely in 1989, he and his wife, Charis Tate Rogers, moved to Healdsburg and raised water buffalo. Mrs. Rogers died in 2002.
Colonel Rogers is survived by two sons, Joseph Jr. and Garrett; a daughter, Georgia Carver; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.