Johnston earned him his mechanic’s and pilots license at the age of 20. He purchased a bi-plane for barnstorming, while earning a flight instructor rating. “Tex” joined the Army Air Corps Ferry Command at the start of World War II, and  was selected to flight test America’s first jet aircraft over the Mojave Desert. Johnston won the prestigious Thompson Trophy in 1946 for establishing a new world speed record of 373 MPH. He joined Boeing Airplane Company in Seattle, Washington, as a project test pilot for the B-47. In 1951, President Dwight D. Eisenhower congratulated Johnston after an impressive demonstration of the B-52, which landed Boeing the Strategic Air Command contract. With the help of Johnson’s expert flying, Boeing was also awarded the contract to supply the military with the KC-135 as the Air Force’s primary refueling tanker. He entered the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1993.