Michael Braukus<br />Headquarters, Washington November 19, 2003<br />(Phone: 202/358-1979)<br /><br /><br />Alan Brown<br />Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.<br />(Phone: 661/276-2665)<br /><br /><br />RELEASE: 03-371<br /><br /><br />"FASTEST MAN ALIVE" RECALLS 50th ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC FLIGHT<br /><br /><br /> On Nov. 20, 1953, shortly before the 50th anniversary of <br />powered flight, A. Scott Crossfield piloted the Douglas D-558-<br />II Skyrocket research aircraft to Mach 2, twice the speed of <br />sound, and became the "fastest man alive."<br /><br /><br />As an aeronautical research pilot at the National Advisory <br />Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Research <br />Station (HSFRS), now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, <br />Crossfield was in the right place at the right time 50 years <br />ago.<br /><br /><br />The U.S. Air Force and Navy were pushing the frontiers of <br />flight, flying experimental research airplanes from Edwards <br />Air Force Base, Calif. Higher, faster and farther was the <br />mantra as speed and altitude records were being set and broken <br />by a cadre of Air Force, Navy and NACA test pilots.<br /><br /><br />Although NACA was primarily interested in obtaining data from <br />flight experiments, the Air Force and Navy had a different <br />agenda. They maintained a friendly interservice rivalry over <br />reaching the next major flight milestone. The Air Force had a <br />major coup with the first supersonic flight by Capt. Charles <br />E. "Chuck" Yeager in the Bell X-1 rocket plane just six years <br />earlier. The military services had an intense interest in <br />being the first to reach Mach 2.<br /><br /><br />"The Air Force was going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of <br />the Wright brothers' first powered flight with another Mach <br />number. It just occurred to us that it would be kind of <br />interesting if we beat Yeager and the Air Force to Mach 2 in <br />the Navy airplane," Crossfield recalled. "We were turned down <br />by headquarters, because we didn't do that kind of thing at <br />NACA. The next thing we knew, NACA director Hugh L. Dryden <br />sent HSFRS chief Walter C. Williams authorization to try for <br />one Mach 2 flight," he said. "It was a very friendly <br />competition. The base was made up of fighter pilots from the <br />top on down, and they're competitive," Crossfield said.<br /><br /><br />The Skyrocket was designed for a top speed of about Mach 1.5, <br />but extensions on the four nozzles of its rocket engine had <br />enabled Crossfield to reach Mach 1.96 in shallow dives in <br />previous flights. "It was very close, but it was all the <br />airplane had in it," he said.<br /><br /><br />The swept-wing research aircraft was carried aloft to the <br />launch altitude of 32,000 feet by a Boeing P2B-S1 (the Navy <br />designation of the B-29 Superfortress) "mother ship" early on <br />Nov. 20, 1953. Dropping clear of the converted bomber, <br />Crossfield ignited the Skyrocket's rocket engine. He reached <br />72,000 feet before pushing over into a shallow dive. The Mach <br />meter gradually crept upward. The needle finally stopped at <br />Mach 2.005 (1,290 mph), just over twice the speed of sound.<br /><br /><br />Crossfield's speed record was short-lived. Less than a month <br />later, on Dec. 12, 1953, Yeager flew the improved X-1A at Mach <br />2.44 (1,612 mph). Crossfield's record flight was part of a <br />carefully planned program of flight research with the <br />Skyrocket. The program featured incremental increases in <br />speed, while NACA instrumentation recorded flight data for <br />each segment. Skyrocket No. 144, the craft Crossfield flew to <br />Mach 2, is enshrined in the National Air and Space Museum in <br />Washington.<br /><br /><br />As the Centennial of Flight approaches, Crossfield is still <br />involved in experimental aviation. As Director of Flight <br />Operations for the Wright Experience, he is training the <br />pilots who will fly a replica of the original Wright Flyer <br />during the ceremonial re-enactment of the first powered flight <br />at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, N.C. The replica will fly <br />on Dec. 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wright <br />brothers' historic flight.<br /><br /><br />Photos of the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket and Scott Crossfield, <br />including several taken the day of the first Mach 2 flight, <br />are available for downloading on the Internet at:<br /><br /><br />www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/D-558-2/index.html.<br /><br /><br />Video footage, including historic flight footage of the <br />Douglas Skyrocket and portions of a recent interview with <br />Crossfield, are available by contacting the NASA Dryden public <br />affairs office at: 661/276-3449.