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Wayne Michael Ringelberg

Wayne Michael Ringelberg

NASA Pilot

Wayne M. Ringelberg is the chief pilot at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. As a research test pilot, he is assigned to fly the X-57 Maxwell, the agency’s first all-electric experimental aircraft. He also is qualified to fly NASA’s DC-8 flying science laboratory, the agency’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP, the F/A-18 mission support aircraft, the Beechcraft B200 Super King Air and the remotely piloted X-56 multi-utility technology testbed.

Experience

Ringelberg joined Armstrong’s flight operations in 2013 after 20 years with the U.S. Air Force and five years as a civil service test pilot for the Department of Defense.

During his military career, Ringelberg was director of Operations responsible for flight operations for test support missions at Edwards Air Force Base in California. While at the base, he was an instructor for the C-12 and T-38 at the base test pilot school as well as a test pilot for the KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and command pilot.

Education

Ringelberg earned a Master of Science in aeronautics in 1996 from the California Institute of Technology and was a Distinguished Graduate earning a Bachelor of Science in astronautical engineering in 1987 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is a senior member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as an Associate Fellow for the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.