Obit: Col. Joseph Rogers, 81, Aviator Who Holds World Speed Record, Dies

August 15, 2005
Col. Joseph Rogers, 81, Aviator Who Holds World Speed Record, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HEALDSBURG, Calif., Aug. 14 (AP) - Col. Joseph Rogers, a renowned aviator who flew
aircraft in three wars and set a world speed record for a pilot in a single-engine jet,
died on Aug. 6 at his ranch here in Northern California. He was 81.

The cause was congestive heart failure, his family said.

Joseph Rogers grew up on a farm in Chillicothe, Ohio, joined the Army Air Corps at 17 and
became a flight instructor in World War II.

He was a top fighter pilot during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, completing 270 missions,
and served as vice commander of a fighter wing in Vietnam.

Colonel Rogers is perhaps best remembered for the single-engine world speed record he set
in 1959 when he flew an F-106 Delta Dart that reached 1,525 miles an hour, a mark that
still stands.

Many years later, in retirement, he worked successfully to have a restored Delta Dart
brought to the Pacific Coast Air Museum, in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Among the honors he won while with the Air Force was its Top Gun Award, in 1963. His
achievements also earned him a place at the mile-long Aerospace Walk of Honor near Edwards
Air Force Base, Calif.

After retiring from the military, Colonel Rogers worked for 14 years selling aircraft in
Asia for the Northrop Aerospace Company.

When he retired completely in 1989, he and his wife, Charis Tate Rogers, moved to
Healdsburg and raised water buffalo. Mrs. Rogers died in 2002.

Colonel Rogers is survived by two sons, Joseph Jr. and Garrett; a daughter, Georgia
Carver; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

How many people retire to raise water buffalo, anyway?

Dale