Where will you go?

curriculum vitæ

Mark Jones Jr.
3 min readJan 20, 2019

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Curriculum vitae is Latin for “course of one’s life,” and I can think of nothing more inspiring than the analogy of life as a map marked with a course line, except perhaps the terrain one encounters along that journey. These are some of the landmarks I remember from mine.

Words

I believe that words are a matter of life and death, though I rarely meet that threshold in my own use of words, whether I’m reading, writing, or speaking, as summarized here.

Often I find myself privileged to review books written by friends, colleagues, or complete strangers, as documented in this incomplete list.

Book #Review: The Learjet History: Beginnings, Innovations and Utilization
Book #Review: In-Flight Simulators and Fly-by-Wire/Light Demonstrators
Reviewing: Initial Airworthiness
Book Review: Initial Airworthiness, 2nd Edition
Book Review: All the Ways We Kill and Die

General Aviation News: The Propeller Under the Bed

Other times, the words I write describe my keen interest in war and numbers.
Communicating Uncertainty in #Wargaming Outcomes

Sometimes I prefer the restrictions imposed by the structure of poetry.
Two Thoughts about Duty and Desire
for all the things I’ve seen in flight
The Pilot’s Voice

I also edit and write for newsletters.
Flight Test Safety Fact
Flight Test News

A link to more writing

Interviews

Sometimes I get the opportunity to use the spoken word.
Flight Test Safety Podcast: Episode 32 — The 3Q and Flight Test Safety (Part 1) and Episode 33 (Part 2)
http://www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/acp019-you-can-be-a-test-pilot-military-aviation-careers-interview-with-mark-jones/

Wings

“I have slipped the surly bonds of earth…” as a military and professional experimental test pilot, and the images of these aircraft mark significant portions of the journey.

I flew the HA-420 HondaJet for six years as a company test pilot in Greensboro, North Carolina.

HondaJet and Honda NSC

The X-55 Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft flew its first flight on June 2, 2009, during my tenure at Edwards AFB. The project was a joint effort between Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Research Laboratory. I had the distinct privilege of being designated as the first Air Force X-55 pilot. It was a duty that entailed paperwork until the day that Lockheed Martin decided that its contractor aircrew had overstressed the tail and would retire the aircraft before handing it over to the 418th Flight Test Squadron.

I learned to fly in Cessna 152 “4HB” at Cook County Airport (15J) in Adel, Georgia. After 9–11, I started pilot training in Class 03–01 at Moody AFB. We were the first students to ever fly the T-6A Texan II in primary training.

The C-17A was the first aircraft I commanded as an Air Force pilot. I spent several years at Charleston AFB and then moved to Edwards AFB. The 418th Flight Test Squadron had two tails assigned: T-1 (70025) and P-121 (33121) pictured here, on the ramp behind our building, facing northwest.

Numbers

The Graduate School at the University of Charleston — Master of Science in Mathematics.

This post is under construction.

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Mark Jones Jr.

Saved by grace, disciple of Christ, husband, father, friend, experimental test pilot, mathematician, editor, @flighttestfact . Personal views/not DoD or US