Jon Murray Karkow, a legendary test pilot and aeronautical engineer and son of Kirsty and Edward Karkow of Waldoboro, died on May 9 in a light sport aircraft accident on Lake Berryessa, Napa County, Calif.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Jon lived for a few years in nearby Hudson, Ohio, before moving with his family to Glen Arm, Md. He had an interest in aircraft design from an early age. While in high school he built a working small-scale replica of an historical wind tunnel. He also assembled and flew a single-place ultra-light aircraft. Following plans and methods of California designer, Burt Rutan, he built two editions of a Quickie aircraft incorporating a foam core shaped with hot-wire and a skin of epoxy-impregnated fiberglass. The laminate of the first was judged to be too heavy and surface finish too rough. The second was built using the latest technology. Among other things, a vacuum pump was used to shrink plastic sheeting over wet epoxy fiberglass matting while it cured. This was the Smithsonian Museum edition. Jon was a perfectionist. At the age of thirteen he took a summer off to help his father deliver a sailboat back from the Azores to the Chesapeake Bay.
He earned bachelor’s degree in physics from Kenyon College in 1984 and in aeronautical engineering degree from RPI in 1985. Spurning early job offers from commercial aircraft manufacturers, he accepted a position at Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif., where he led the development of more than 22 aircraft designs. Jon’s expertise in airfoil design led to his work on a 107-foot tall wing-sail, a carbon fiber laminate over honeycomb. This sail was used with stunning success by the catamaran Stars & Stripes in winning back the America’s Cup from New Zealand in 1988. He also achieved a degree of fame for perfecting the aerodynamics, structure, and systems, and test-flying the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. Guided by radio technical support from Jon, Steve Fossett flew this plane twice around the world, achieving multiple world records in the process. For this effort Jon received an Aeronautics Laureate award from Aviation Week & Space Technology in 2006. Before leaving Scaled to move on to Icon Aircraft, Jon worked on SpaceShip Two, the spacecraft that was being developed for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
Icon Aircraft’s A5 is an amphibian light sport aircraft that, after a development period of about 10 years, is just now going into mass production. Jon, the company’s leading aeronautical engineer, was responsible for the configuration of the plane’s special wing and under water surfaces and other design features. The aircraft’s unique spin- and stall-resistant design enabled the A5 to be the first plane ever to be certified by the FAA as spin resistant. Jon took a few days off from Icon in 2011 to perform the first flight of an all-electric single-seat aircraft in Augsburg. Germany. After a successful flight, Jon briefed the German test pilot on characteristics to look for in subsequent flights and landings.
Jon is survived by his father, Edward, and Kirsty Karkow, both of Waldoboro; sister, Karen Karkow of Oxford, N.C.; uncle, Richard Karkow, of Wayzata, Minn.; cousins, Cathy Karkov of Leeds, England; and Douglas Karkow of Reno, Nev.
There are no services planned at this time.
Should friends desire, contributions in Jon’s memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders, USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741.
To extend online condolences, please visit www.hallfuneralhomes.com.
Hall’s of Waldoboro has care of arrangements.