Joseph Frederick Cotton (January 21, 1922 – May 5, 2016) was an American military test pilot.

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Colonel Joseph F. Cotton
Cotton in 2002
Birth name	Joseph Frederick Cotton
Nickname(s)	Joe
Born	(1922-01-22)January 22, 1922 Rushville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	May 5, 2016(2016-05-05) (aged 94) Atherton, California, U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army Air Forces  United States Air Force
Years of service	1942–66 (24 years)
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	World War II Cold War
Awards	See below
Spouse(s)	Rema Nelson (1944–2016; his death) (3 children)[1]
Other work	Flight instructor, Airline pilot

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Cotton was born in Rushville, Indiana, on January 21, 1922, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Cotton. Cotton was a graduate of Manilla High School where he was a member of the basketball team and a 4H club member. He lived in Rush County and helped his father with work on the family farm until he reached the age of 20.^[2]

In his first combat mission, in November 1943, the plane he was co-piloting crash-landed on the island of Corfu after being hit by anti-aircraft fire. After four months the crew members were able to escape with the help of Italian allies, and Mr. Cotton was sent back to the U.S. to recover from malaria and return to flight school^[3] to become a flight instructor.^[4]

He later attended the Empire Test Pilot School, and eventually was the chief test pilot for the Air Force. He was head of the B-58 Hustler and XB-70 test programs, and was flying in the ill-fated formation flight that resulted in the loss of XB-70 A/V2 on June 8, 1966.^[4] He retired from the Air Force in 1968 having been involved in aeronautical research for 22 of his 26 years. ^[5]

Cotton was hired as an engineering flight test pilot for United after his military retirement. In total, he flew more than 16,000 flight hours in 80 different military bombers, fighters, transports, and civilian aircraft.^[5]

Cotton died on May 5, 2016, survived by his wife Rema, and three children.^[2]