David Mackay (pilot)

Career

Mackay entered the RAF in 1979 and flew the Harrier GR3 in Germany and the Falklands. In 1986 he was chosen for test pilot training, graduating in 1988 from the French test pilots' school, École du personnel navigant d'essais et de réception - EPNER, through an exchange with the RAF's Empire Test Pilots' School. He became Commanding Officer of the RAF's Fast Jet Test Flight in 1992 at RAF Boscombe Down. His fastest speed was Mach 1.4 in a French Mirage.

He conducted trials on the Harrier GR7, the Sea Harrier FA.2, and the Tucano, and flew with the Fixed Wing Test Squadron. He received the Air Force Cross in 1992. He left the RAF to join Virgin Atlantic in 1995, serving as a Captain on Boeing 747s from 1999 and also flying the Airbus A340 from 2002. His flying career totaled over 11,000 hours.

He joined Virgin Galactic in 2009 and is now its Chief Pilot. The suborbital spacecraft SpaceShipTwo (SS2) reaches 360,000 feet and Mach 3.5.

The first SS2 to fly, which he piloted, was the VSS Enterprise; the second is VSS Unity. On 22 February 2019 Mackay became the 569th person to visit space, piloting VSS Unity VF-01 above 50 miles and qualifying as an FAA commercial astronaut. He later piloted the Unity 21 and Unity 22 flights, also above 50 miles.

Did You Know?

• His father was a police officer.
• He studied Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Glasgow and first piloted an aircraft in 1977.