Laurence Cardee Craigie Laurence Carbee Craigie ( January 26 , 1902 – February 27 , 1994 ) , was a United States aviator and United States Air Force general . He became the first U . S . military jet pilot in 1942 when he piloted the Bell XP - 59 . With Orval R . Cook he is also known as one half of the Cook - Craigie plan , a method of producing aircraft . Born in Concord , New Hampshire on January 26 , 1902 , he grew up in Concord , Somerville , Massachusetts , Keene , New Hampshire and graduated from Stoneham , Massachusetts High School in 1919 and the U . S . Military Academy in June 1923 , being commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Service . He took flying training at Brooks Field and Kelly Field , Texas , and was a flying instructor at both places . He was promoted to first lieutenant in December 1927 . In February 1929 he went to France Field , Panama Canal Zone , where he was an Engineering Officer with the 7th Observation Squadron . He returned to Brooks in May 1931 and went to Randolph Field , Texas the following October for varied assignments . In 1935 Craigie graduated as a captain from the Air Corps Engineering School at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base Ohio , Training and Transport Engineering Unit of the Materiel Division there . He was named assistant chief of the Engineering Section in July 1937 . In June 1939 he graduated from the Army Industrial College and assigned as assistant executive of the Experimental Engineering Section at Wright - Patterson with rank of major . He then attended the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama , graduating in March 1941 . Named assistant of the Aircraft Projects Branch at Wright - Patterson he became chief of the branch in July 1941 and was promoted lieutenant colonel that November . In October 1942 , Craigie , then a colonel , became the first pilot of the Armed Forces to fly a jet - propelled plane when he piloted the XP - 59 on its initial flight at Muroc Dry Lake , California , March 1943 he was assigned briefly to the 1st Fighter Command at Mitchel Field , New York , and the following month took command of the Boston Air Defense Wing in Massachusetts . Three months later he commanded the New York Fighter Wing and was advanced to brigadier general in September . That November he returned to Mitchel as commanding general of the 87th Fighter Wing . He went to Corsica in the North African Theater in March 1944 as commander of the 12th Air Force ' s 63rd Fighter Wing . He was in command when the invasion of southern France was launched from Corsica in August 1944 . In November 1944 he was back at Wright - Patterson as deputy chief of the Air Technical Service ' s Engineering Division . He became chief of the division in August 1945 and was promoted to major general in July 1946 . In 1947 he became chief of the Research and Engineering Division at Headquarters Army Air Force . That October he was appointed Director of Research and Development under the deputy chief of staff for material at Headquarters U . S . Air Force , and the following September returned to Wright - Patterson as commandant of the U . S . Air Force Institute of Technology . During the first year of the Korean War Craigie became vice commander of the Far East Air Forces in Tokyo , and for three months in 1951 served as the Air Force delegate on the United Nations Armistice Negotiations Team at the truce talks . In November 1951 he returned to U . S . Air Force Headquarters in Washington as Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development . He was promoted to lieutenant general July 5 , 1952 . In April 1954 he took command of NATO ' s Allied Air Forces in Southern Europe ( Italy , Greece and Turkey ) , at Naples , Italy . Following a heart attack in the Bavarian Alps he retired from the Air Force on June 30 , 1955 . In December of that year he and his wife Victoria moved to Burbank , California where he began a 25 - year career in private industry . In 1956 he was a vice president of Hydro - Aire , Inc , and the following year a v . p . of American Machine & Foundry Co . From 1957 - 64 he was director of the Air Force requirements section for Lockheed Aircraft Corp . He was self - employed as a consultant after 1971 . Since 1963 he was a director of the Flying Tiger Line ( a freight airline ) , and was on the board of Hungry Tiger , Inc . He was also on the Board of Directors of the Falcon Foundation since 1965 . In 1971 he was with the International Science Foundation . In May 1990 he and his wife moved into a retirement community for retired service people in Riverside , California where he died on February 27 , 1994 . He was also the grandfather of folk singer John Craigie .