HEADLINE NEWS
Editor's Note:This section of Jim Slade's Air Lines is devoted to current news stories about aviation and its people. The latest story will be posted at the top of the column. Some accounts will come from established news organizations, others will be provided by our friends in the field.
Scott Crossfield
1921 - 2006
Those of us who knew him, covered him, or simply met him think of Scott Crossfield as the X-15 pilot. Those years may define his career more than any of the rest.
NASA's biographers describe them this way:
"He made aeronautical history on November 20, 1953, when he reached the aviation milestone of Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) or more than 1,320 miles per hour in the D-558-II Skyrocket. Taken aloft in the supersonic, swept-wing research aircraft by a Boeing P2B Superfortress "mother ship" (the Navy designation of the B-29), he dropped clear of the bomber at 32,000 feet and climbed to 72,000 feet before diving to 62,000 feet where he became the first pilot to fly more than twice the speed of sound. His flight was part of a carefully planned program of flight research with the Skyrocket that featured incremental increases in speed while NACA instrumentation recorded the flight data at each increment.
Following his five years at the Edwards unit (redesignated the NACA High Speed Flight Station in 1954), Crossfield left the NACA in 1955 to work for North American Aviation on the design and building of the X-15 rocket-powered airplane. There, he served as both pilot and design consultant for the revolutionary new aircraft.
"Responsible for many of the operational and safety features incorporated into the X-15, Crossfield guided the rocket-powered airplane on its first free flight in 1959 and subsequently qualified the first two X-15s for flight before North American turned them over to NASA and the U.S. Air Force. He flew the two aircraft a total of 14 times (not counting 16 captive flights), reaching a maximum speed of Mach 2.97 (1,960 miles per hour) and a maximum altitude of 88,116 feet."
That by no means covers all his accomplishments, but that's how most of us will recall him when his name comes up.
Thank you, Mr. Crossfield. For all of it.
DC-3 Celebrates 70 Years
December 2nd, 2005.
All of us remember where we were..and, probably how old we were..when we saw our first DC-3. This year, the "Queen of the Fleet" celebrates her 70th anniversary. Here are some folks who didn't forget:
 --Photo by Douglas Anderson.
Tribute flight, hangar party in works for
70th anniversary of Douglas DC-3
Hall of Fame's Duggy the DC-3 to lead Santa Monica flyover
(Dayton, Ohio - November 4, 2005) On December 17, 1935, aircraft designer and builder, Donald Douglas, watched as the first Douglas DC-3 transport gracefully took to the sky on its maiden flight from Clover Field, the Santa Monica, California site of the Douglas Aircraft Factory. The date coincided with the anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903, by Douglas' choosing. Witnessing the 1909 flight demonstrations by Orville Wright for the Army as a 17-year-old profoundly inspired Douglas' career path of aeronautical design.
On December 17, 2005, the National Aviation Hall of Fame will observe the 70th anniversary of this historic DC-3 milestone, and the 102nd anniversary of powered flight, as part of festivities taking place at the Santa Monica Airport. The general aviation airport was originally known as Clover Field and formerly the site of the sprawling Douglas Aircraft Company factory, which was torn down in 1975.
Safe and reliable, as well as built for passenger comfort, the DC-3 quickly became a benchmark of flight, enabling the fledgling airline industry to carry passengers at a profit for the first time. While revolutionizing commercial air travel, military variants of the DC-3 were considered integral to the allies' victory in WWII.
Out of the 10,631 of the type built under Douglas guidance from 1935 until 1947, it is estimated that over 1,200 of the sturdy twin engine transports are  still flyable worldwide. One of those is Duggy the DC-3, named for Donald Douglas, a 1969 enshrinee to the NAHF. Duggy is the flying ambassador and classroom for Project SkyReach, the Hall of Fame's youth education program. Duggy and his SkyReach crew will lead a flyover of DC-3s and its military derivative, C-47's, over Santa Monica on December 17, 2005, in tribute to Douglas and the thousands who helped design, build and fly the venerable transport.
The aerial anniversary armada will make a circuit over Santa Monica Airport to coincide with the 2:00 PM groundbreaking for DC-3 Monument Park, where the Spirit of Santa Monica, a restored DC-3, will eventually stand on a pedestal in tribute to the legacy of Douglas Aircraft. The Spirit of Santa Monica was donated to the airport by David Price, President of the Santa Monica Museum of Flying, and has undergone over 3,000 hours of restoration by a team of volunteers.
Duggy and several other DC-3's from the larger group will then land to join the Spirit of Santa Monica at a USO-style Christmas party in celebration of the anniversary that begins at 3:00 PM at the Santa Monica Air Center/Barker Hangar. The party is co-presented by the Santa Monica Museum of Flying and the National Aviation Hall of Fame and will feature a swing band, food and beverages, and period historical displays in addition to the Douglas DC-3's on static display for public tours. Admission is a suggested donation of $50 per person to the Museum of Flying that will benefit the DC-3 Monument Park construction.
During the day Duggy will be open for public and media tours, where NAHF docents will provide information on SkyReach and elaborate on the significance of the DC-3 to aviation history - specifically its key role in the advancement of commercial air transportation.
A Congressionally chartered 501(c)(3) non-profit headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, the NAHF is supported through membership dues and tax-deductible contributions from individuals and corporations. For more information call NAHF Executive Director Ron Kaplan at (937) 256-0944 x16 or visit www.nationalaviation.org.
My friend, Tom Jones, worked many hours aboard the Space Shuttles to earn the right to produce this book. He did well..
BOOK PREVIEW
Sky Walking
An Astronaut's Memoir
by
Thomas D. Jones
 Harper Collins: Astronaut Tom Jones had trained for years for one climactic moment: his first step through an airlock into the vast nothingness of space. What neither he nor anyone else had counted on was a door that refused to open. But that is the nature of space flight (as recent experience tragically proves) -- anything can, and sometimes does, go wrong. Fully aware of the possibility of disaster, astronauts still dare to venture to the edge of the cosmos in search of knowledge and adventure. Sky Walking is the story of one of those brave explorers. Jones spent eleven years in the NASA astronaut program, making four trips into space. He ultimately spent fifty-two days orbiting Earth, including more than nineteen hours outside during extravehicular activity -- that is, sky walking. Jones's readers get the inside story, written with a lyrical pen, on life in the new century with NASA, the space shuttle, and the International Space Station.
They'll read about the shock and thrill of liftoff, find out how strange it was for a former Cold Warrior to find himself working hand-in-hand with his former rivals, the Russians, and get a vicarious feel for the overwhelming experience of a walk in space -- orbiting Earth at more than 17,000 miles per hour, 200 miles up, with only a spacesuit separating Jones from oblivion.
Category: science
Format: Hardcover
On Sale: 01/31/2006
Price: $26.95
Betty Darst sent the following picture of Patty Wagstaff, taken at the end of one of Patty's spectacular aeroperformances this year at Osh Kosh:
Betty writes:
She had just finished her air show performance on Friday at Oshkosh.
While she was still in the air a special lifetime award was
announced. You see the folks applauding as they approach her - she is
getting out of the cockpit and does not yet know about the award.
Betty
In case you've been in a cave somewhere and missed it, the post office has just issued a page of stamps depicting a few of the important milestones in aviation history:
 The stamps were released at Oshkosh and promptly sold out. We Ercoupers were particularly pleased to see our pet airplane among them.
The coupe was a big advance in aviation of the late thirties, built as a plane that won't stall or spin and simple to fly. No rudder pedals; coupled controls. The Ercoupe was also the first light plane to use tricycle gear..and they all laughed at it then. They're not laughing now, particularly since the Ercoupe depicted (and mine, a 1946 415-C) qualifies for the new Sport Pilot class.
I hope you'll forgive the editorial hubris; life is good, mostly.
Click for more Headline News.
|
