I got word recently that Jim died January 4, 2011 while playing golf in Atlanta, GA. Jim was a General Dynamics test pilot for several years and made the first flight of the F-16XL. He made great contributions to the XL test program and was one of the good guys in every way.
He was the owner of Peachtree Movers, former President & Senior Vice President of FedEX Logistics, VA Flight Ops, former experimental test pilot for General Dynamics, Navy Test Pilot, Top Gun F-4 pilot, serving 2 tours in Viet Nam aboard the USS Constellation & the USS America. He was a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and graduate of Bishop J. O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia.
Here is a photo of Jim McKinney (R) with Neal Anderson (L), another great GD test pilot no longer with us.
 F-16 pilots Neil R. Anderson & James A. McKinney are seen posing in front of F-16A block 10 #79-0407. Both pilots shared the flying duties at the 1981 Paris Air Show. Anderson, a former Marine pilot made his fourth appearance at Paris that year. Mckinney has previously flown in the 1979 show. |