Editing Richard Bong (section)

==Death==
[[File:Lockheed P-80 PN-155.jpg|thumb|left|Bong was killed in 1945 while testing a [[P-80 Shooting Star|P-80A]] similar to this one.]]

Bong then became a [[test pilot]] assigned to [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]]'s plant in [[Burbank, California]], where he flew [[P-80 Shooting Star]] [[fighter aircraft|jet fighter]]s at the [[Bob Hope Airport|Lockheed Air Terminal]].  On August 6, 1945, he took off to perform the acceptance flight of P-80A 44-85048. It was his 12th flight in the P-80; he had a total of four hours and fifteen minutes of flight time in the jet.

The plane's primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. Bong did not switch to the auxiliary fuel pump, either forgetting or unable to do so.<ref name="yeagerbio">[[Chuck Yeager|Yeager, Chuck]] and Janos, Leo. ''Yeager: An Autobiography''. Pages 227–228 (paperback). New York: Bantam Books, 1986. {{ISBN|0-553-25674-2}}.</ref> He [[Ejection seat|ejected]], but was too low for his parachute to open. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard Street and Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, sharing space with the first news of the [[bombing of Hiroshima]].<ref>The [[New York Times]], the [[Washington Post]], and the [[Los Angeles Times]], among other periodicals, all carried prominent front page stories about Bong's death on August 7, 1945, despite the prevalence of the news on the first atomic bombing. "Jet plane explosion kills Major Bong, Top U.S. Ace," ''New York Times'' (August 7, 1945), p. 1; "Major Bong, top air ace, killed in crash of Army P-80 jet-fighter," ''Washington Post'' (August 6, 1945), p.1; "Jet plane explosion kills Maj. Bong; Ace's 'Shooting Star' blows up in test flight over north Hollywood", ''Los Angeles Times'' (August 6, 1945), p.1.</ref>
[[File:1945-08-07-Los-Angeles-Times-front-page.jpg|thumb|upright|His death was featured prominently in national newspapers, even though it occurred on the same day as the atomic [[bombing of Hiroshima]].]]

The I-16 auxiliary fuel pump had been added to P-80s after an earlier fatal crash. Captain Ray Crawford, a fellow P-80 test/acceptance flight pilot who flew on August 6, later said Bong had told him that he had forgotten to turn on the I-16 pump on an earlier flight.<ref>Dear Mom, So We Have a War (1991)</ref>

In his autobiography, [[Chuck Yeager]] writes that part of the culture of test flying at the time, due to its fearsome mortality rates, was anger toward pilots who died in test flights, to avoid being overcome by sorrow for lost comrades. Bong's brother Carl, who wrote his biography, questions whether Bong repeated the mistake so soon after mentioning it to another pilot. Carl's book&nbsp;– ''Dear Mom, So We Have a War'' (1991)&nbsp;– contains numerous reports and findings from the crash investigations.