Jean "Skip" Ziegler

Jean "Skip" Ziegler (January 1, 1920 – May 12, 1953) was a United States test pilot.

After a brief interlude as a commercial and race plane pilot and Bell rocket engineer, he went on to test North American planes F-86 Sabre, B-45 Tornado, AJ-1 Savage and T-28 Trojan before being selected to work on the Bell Aircraft X-5, X-1D, X-1A and X-2.

Jean Leroy Ziegler completed the first unpowered glide flight of an X-2 at Edwards Air Force Base on 27 June 1952.

On May 12, 1953, during a captive-carry flight test over Lake Ontario, X-2, serial number 46-675 suddenly exploded, killing Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler and observer Frank Wolko aboard the EB-50A mothership, which managed to land, although damaged, while the X-2 remains fell in the lake.

[2][5] Only after several other mysterious X-plane losses was the cause found to be a rocket engine gasket made of Ulmer leather, which decomposed and became explosively unstable after sustained exposure to liquid oxygen.