Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Mark Edward Bradley

• Project manager for the P-40 in 1940.
• In 1943, as P-47s were arriving in England, Bradley was assigned to ready the planes for combat.
• Assigned as Chief of the Flight Test Section at Wright Field.
• Large bombers proved effective in destroying German military installations; however, they were inadequate to defend themselves against the faster German fighter planes. Bradley recognized the problem and placed an extra 80-100 gallon gas tank behind the pilot’s seat in a P-51, enabling the plane to escort bombers into Germany. He flew this first test plane himself.
• Became a four-star general in 1962 when he was assigned commander of Air Force Logistics Command.