Make Your Career Soar
Sixty-three years ago this month, a United States Air Force aircraft broke the storied sound barrier for the first time. While the rocket-powered Bell XS-1 is credited in the history books for this achievement, there is ample and compelling evidence that the North American XF-86 Sabre was in fact the… Read More
Sixty-six years ago this week, the USAF/Bell XS-1 rocket-powered experimental aircraft exceeded the speed of sound when it reached a maximum speed of 700 mph (Mach 1.06) at 45,000 feet. Bell Aircraft Corporation of Buffalo, New York built three (3) copies of the XS-1 under contract to the United States Army… Read More
Forty-six years ago this month, USAF Major William “Pete” Knight piloted the fabled USAF/North American X-15A-2 hypersonic research aircraft to a record speed of 4,520 mph – about a mile and a quarter per second. North American’s original X-15 production run consisted of three (3) aircraft. The X-15A-2 was a rebuild of the… Read More
Twenty-eight years ago this month (September), the USAF/LTV ASM-135 anti-satellite missile successfully intercepted a target satellite orbiting 300 nautical miles above the Earth. The test was the first and only time that an aircraft-launched missile successfully engaged and destroyed an orbiting spacecraft. The United States began testing anti-satellite missiles in the… Read More
Fifty-seven years ago this month, the USAF/Bell X-2 Starbuster rocket-powered research aircraft reached a record speed of 2,094 mph with USAF Captain Milburn G. “Mel” Apt at the controls. This corresponded to a Mach number of 3.2 at 65,000 feet. Mel Apt’s historic achievement came about because of the Air… Read More
From 16-19 September, Aerosciences instructor J. Terry White taught his Aerospace Vehicle Performace (AVP) course to the fine aerospace professionals at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC). This is the fourth course Mr. White has taught to AEDC community in the past 13 months, having previously taught his Fundamentals of Hypersonics (FOH) and Basic Missile Aerodynamics (BMA)… Read More
Fifty-seven years ago this month, the USAF/Bell X-2 research aircraft flew to an altitude of 126,200 feet. This accomplishment took place on the penultimate mission of the type’s 20-flight aeronautical research program. The date was Friday, 07 September 1956. The X-2 was the successor to Bell’s X-1A rocket-powered aircraft which had recorded… Read More
Sensors & Systems instructor John L. Minor just held his Fundamentals of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Missions and Systems (UAV) course at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. The training was held 09-13 September at the Air Force Test Center(AFTC), which conducts developmental test and evaluation of air, space and cyber systems to provide timely, objective and… Read More
Forty-six years ago this month, the Surveyor 5 robotic spacecraft made a successful soft-landing on the Moon’s Mare Tranquilitatis. Touchdown of the 3-legged lander occurred approximately 15 nautical miles northwest of the future Apollo 11 manned lunar landing site. In preparation for the first manned lunar landing, the United States… Read More
Seventy-years ago this week, flight testing of the USAAF/Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet commenced at Army Air Base, Muroc in California. Northrop Chief Test Pilot John W. Myers was at the controls of the experimental pursuit aircraft. The XP-56 (X for Experimental, P for Pursuit) was an attempt at producing a… Read More
