EX-PILOT TO HELM EDWARDS; BRIGADIER GENERAL SURVIVED FATAL '84 CRASH AT BASE.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

An Air Force general who as a test pilot survived a B-1B bomber crash at Edwards Air Force Base in 1984 is returning to become the base's top officer.

Brig. Gen. Richard V. Reynolds, now program executive officer for airlift and trainer aircraft at the Pentagon, will replace Maj. Gen. Richard L. Engel as commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards' parent unit, base officials said Friday.

Antelope Valley leaders said they were pleased that a former Edwards test pilot is returning to command the base.

``He's an experimental test pilot, he knows Edwards, he's worked here before. It's like he's coming home,'' said Howard Brooks, executive director of the Antelope Valley Board of Trade.

Officials said the date for the change of command will be announced later.

Engel will become commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, part of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., that prepares senior officers and civilians for leadership and staff positions, principally, in acquisition and logistics.

Reynolds spent five years at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1980s, flying and serving as operations officer for the B-1 bomber test program. Then a major, he survived the Aug. 29, 1984, B-1A bomber crash that killed Rockwell test pilot Doug Benefield.

A 1971 Air Force Academy graduate and former B-52 bomber pilot, Reynolds commanded the 4952 Test Squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and served as program director for several aircraft programs, most recently the B-2 stealth bomber.

``He's a very clear and objective person,'' said Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, who met Reynolds in the 1980s. ``The new general's going to be good, no doubt about it.''

Engels, the general who Reynolds is succeeding, was notable for his long involvement at Edwards.

While career officers normally spend two years before moving on to new assignments, Engels has been commander of the Flight Test Center since June 1993. He has spent 7-1/2 of the preceding 12 years at Edwards, helping run the Test Pilot School, the F-16 test and other programs.

``Engel was kind of special,'' Roberts said.

While Engel was commander, the Flight Test Center initiated testing of unmanned aerial vehicles and the F-22 Raptor fighter and completed testing on the B-2 stealth bombers.

Engel also helped organize the Southwest Range Test Complex, an operational framework for 18 Army, Navy and Air Force test bases from California to Utah to New Mexico and Idaho.