Clayton Scott was a Pacific Northwest aviator and test pilot for the Boeing Company during the early to late 20th century.

Clayton Leigh Scott (CLS) was born on July 15, 1905, in Coudersport, Pennsylvania to Minnie Laverne Clark and Albert Scott. When CLS was fifteen a barnstormer stayed on his uncle’s farm in Coudersport running passenger rides out of the hayfield. The pilot parked his Curtiss JN-4 Jenny by the house. At night CLS would sneak out to climb in the cockpit and pretend he was flying. This is when CLS first began to think about becoming a pilot. His family moved to Portland, Oregon, where CLS graduated from Jefferson High School. In 1924, while walking with his then girlfriend along the beach at Seaside, Oregon, CLS spotted a pilot giving rides in a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. CLS and his girlfriend went up in the aircraft together. This event solidified his interest in aviation.

CLS began taking classes at the Adcox Aviation Trade School in Portland in 1925. In 1926, he began working as a field attendant and mechanic for Vern Gorst’s company, Pacific Air Transport at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington. It was during this time that CLS began taking flying lessons in a Waco 9. On February 25, 1927, he soloed his first flight out of Pearson Field. Gorst sold Pacific Air Transport in 1928 and established Seattle Flying Service out of Seattle, Washington. CLS followed and became an OX-5 Travel Air pilot for the company. From 1928 to 1932, CLS remained with Gorst throughout his various aviation ventures in the Pacific Northwest region. Following Seattle Flying Service, CLS worked as a pilot for Gorst Air Transport's Seattle Air Ferry and Gorst Air Transport out of Cordova, Alaska where he flew a "Boeing Boat" aircraft, as well as Keystone–Loening Amphibians. CLS flew along the Alaska frontier and was the first pilot to carry passengers across the Gulf of Alaska to Cordova on May 11, 1929.

In the early 1930s, CLS met William E. Boeing while he was refueling his commuter plane and Boeing was refueling his yacht at a marina in Alert Bay, British Columbia. The two became good friends, and Boeing soon hired CLS as his personal pilot flying a Douglas DC-5 amphibious aircraft. CLS worked for Boeing in this capacity from 1933 to 1941. During this time period, from 1933 to 1934, CLS also flew as a copilot on Boeing Model 247 aircraft for United Airlines.

In 1941, due to the beginning of World War II, CLS took on a job running production flight tests for the Boeing Company's military aircraft. He flew the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress, B-52 Stratofortress, C-97 Stratofreighter, and the KC-135A Stratotanker. Later, CLS worked on Boeing’s commercial Model 700 series. CLS was the Chief Production Test Pilot for the company until his retirement in 1966.

In 1954, CLS developed an aviation business, Jobmaster Company. The company was based in Renton, Washington, with its first headquarters in a hangar that CLS built next to what is currently Renton Airport near Lake Washington. Jobmaster Company’s function was to adapt various aircraft into seaplanes through modified Edo float conversion kits. This became CLS’s sole work after retiring from Boeing but he still maintained a connection with the company. Under contract with the Boeing Company, CLS built a replica of their first airplane, the Boeing B & W, and flew it to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.

CLS met Myrtle Irene Smith, a schoolteacher from Spokane, Washington while CLS was running passenger flights in and out of Cordova in 1930. Myrtle flew aboard one of CLS's charters on July 4, 1930 and won the distiction of being the first woman to fly across the Gulf of Alaska. The two married on October 28, 1934, in Spokane. The couple had no children together. CLS had a son, Richard Clayton Scott, who was born on December 28, 1939, in Kane, Pennsylvania. His son passed away on December 23, 1961. Myrtle Irene Scott passed away on October 2, 1998, in Mercer Island, Washington.

Clayton L. Scott passed away on September 28, 2006, at his home in Mercer Island, Washington.

Biographical information derived from the collection materials and records on Ancestry.com.

July 15, 1905

Coudersport, Pennsylvania

Clayton Leigh Scott born

1925

Portland, Oregon

Attended Adcox Aviation Trade School

1926

Pearson Field, Vancouver, Washington

Joined Pacific Air Transport as a field attendant and aircraft mechanic

1927 February 25

Pearson Field, Vancouver, Washington

First solo flight

1928

Seattle, Washington

Joined 1928 Seattle Flying Service as a pilot

1929

Seattle, Washington

Joined Gorst Air Transport as a pilot

1929

Cordova Bay, Alaska

Began flying ferries for Gorst Air Transport out of Alaska

Ran first flight across Cordova Bay

1931-1944

Washington

Private pilot for William E. Boeing

1933 October-1934 April

Seattle, Washington

Pilot for United Airlines flying Boeing Model 247s

1934 October 28

Spokane, Washington

Married Myrtle Irene Smith

1941

Seattle, Washington

Joined the Boeing Company as a production test pilot

1954

Renton, Washington

Established Jobmaster Co.

1966

Seattle, Washington

Retired from the Boeing Company as production test pilot

2006 September 28

Mercer Island, Washington

Clayton L. Scott passed away

Jobmaster Company was an aviation business developed by Clayton Scott in 1954, although the company wasn’t formally established as a corporation with the state of Washington until 1965. The company was based out of Renton, Washington with its first headquarters in a hangar that CLS built next to what is currently Renton Airport near Lake Washington. It was when CLS retired from the Boeing Company in 1966 that the business took off.

Initially, CLS supplied modified Howard (Aircraft) DGAs as floatplanes through the addition of Edo floats but quickly expanded. CLS used his early flying experiences with floatplanes to adapt floats to a wide variety of aircraft, including the Piper Aztec, Dornier DO-28, de Havilland Beaver, de Havilland Otter, and Cessna 195. In addition, Jobmaster Company began supplying conversion kits to individuals. While the float plane, as well as conversion kits, were developed for private sale, in 1966 the Boeing Company contracted Jobmaster Company to build a replica of the Boeing B & W seaplane for Boeing’s 50th anniversary.

The main years of operation for the company were from the late 1960s until the late 1990s. Production had slowed down by the early 2000s. Upon CLS passing in 2006, the company became defunct, but it didn’t formally dissolve until 2009.