The four principal HL-10 pilots are seen here with the lifting body aircraft. They are, left to right; Air Force Major Jerauld R. Gentry, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag, and NASA pilots John A. Manke and Bill Dana. All are wearing the pressure suits needed for flying above 50,000 feet.

Not every moment of a test pilot's day is serious business. In a moment of levity, NASA pilots Bill Dana (left) and John A. Manke try to drag Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag away from the HL-10 lifting body while Air Force Major Jerauld R. Gentry helps from the cockpit. These four men were the principal pilots for the HL-10 program. This was not the only prank involving the HL-10 and its pilots. Once "Captain Midnight" (Gentry) and the "Midnight Skulkers" sneaked into the NASA hangar and put "U.S. Air Force" on the aircraft using stick-on letters. Later, while Gentry was making a lifting-body flight, his 1954 Ford was "borrowed" from the parking lot, painted with yellow-green zinc-chromate primer, and decorated with large stick-on flowers about one foot in diameter. After Gentry returned from the flight, he was surprised to see what had happened to his car.