Obituary of Bob Smyth

Bob Smyth was born in New York City on July 17, 1927; died January 10, 2012 in Ocala, Florida, quietly at home with his family. He entered the U.S. Navy in June of 1945 and graduated from Naval Flight Training in 1948. In 1952, he graduated from the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and served as an exchange officer with the British Royal Navy in 1953-54. In 1955, Bob resigned his commission from the U.S. Navy and accepted a position as an Engineering Test Pilot with Grumman. He flight-tested the F9F Cougar and F11F Tiger series and participated in Gulfstream I Test and Certification program from 1955 to 1960. Bob performed the first flight of the A2F-1 (A-6A) Intruder in April 1960. He was then appointed as a consulting pilot and astronaut liaison on the Apollo Lunar Module program until the spring of 1966. Bob then became the project pilot for the Gulfstream II, performing its first flight in October 1966. In September of 1965, Bob was married to Sally Shuman of Marblehead, Massachusetts, in New York City. In 1967, Bob was appointed Chief Test Pilot for Grumman. Several years later on December 21, 1970, along with fellow Grumman Test Pilot Bill Miller, he performed the first flight of the F-14A Tomcat. He holds the distinction, along with Bill Miller, as the first crew to eject from an F-14 on December 30, just a little over a week from its first flight. Bob was named Director of Flight Test in 1974. He was also the project pilot for the Gulfstream III, performing its first flight in December 1979. Bob left Grumman in 1981 and joined Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia, as Director of Flight Operations. In 1985, he was promoted to Vice President of Flight Ops and Quality Control. Bob participated in most of the Gulfstream III and IV record setting flights around world, over the poles, etc. Some of Bob's accomplishments in aviation include certified Airline Transport Pilot (G-I, II, III, and IV), single-engine land and multi-engine land-and-sea aircraft. He was a Fellow of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and was elected to the Carrier Test Pilots Hall of Honor on board the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC in 1991. He was also a long time member of the Cruising Club of America. In June of 1993, Bob retired from Gulfstream and moved to the Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala, Florida, where he spent the last thirteen years with his wife Sally and their three dachshunds Pfeffer, Minna, and Bella enjoying an active life of flying and traveling. Bob is survived by his wife Sally, sons Robert K. Smyth, Jr. and Andrew W. Smyth and his two grandchildren, Haven and Freya, all of whom reside in Northern California, and brother Donald Smyth of Sonora, California. The Smyth family is grateful to Hospice of Marion County and requests that any donations or remembrances be made to that organization. The family will hold a private celebration of life. Arrangements entrusted with HIERS-BAXLEY FUNERAL SERVICES, Belleview 352-245-2424.