NASA Pilot Nils Larson Receives 2026 Iven C. Kincheloe Award

NASA Pilot Nils Larson Receives 2026 Iven C. Kincheloe Award

Research test pilot David “Nils” Larson was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots’ Iven C. Kincheloe Award for outstanding professional accomplishment in flight testing. Larson earned the honor for leading NASA’s X‑59 quiet supersonic technology aircraft through first flight on Oct. 28, 2025, and for safely reaching the aircraft’s first flight to Mach 1.4 and an altitude of 55,000 feet during envelope expansion testing. His leadership, technical rigor, and airmanship advanced NASA’s low‑boom research goals and moved the X‑59 program closer to community overflight testing.

The X-59 aircraft builds on decades of supersonic flight research and is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The vast amount of data collected over the years has given designers the tools they needed to craft the shape of the X-59. The goal is to enable the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce a loud sonic boom to a quieter “sonic thump.”

Data gathered during X-59 research flights will be shared with the U.S. and international regulators to inform the establishment of new, data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land.

The X-59’s engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

Keep up with the latest about X-59: 
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/

Learn more about NASA's Quesst mission: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/quesst/

Video Credit: NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: Sept. 29, 2026

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