Toward Mach 2: The Douglas D-558 Program; The NASA History Series, NASA SP-4222

The format is approximately 6.75 inches by 9.75 inches. xiii, [1], 161, [1] pages. Footnotes. Symposium Transcript. Appendix--The Aircraft. Documents. Illustrations. Index. This features comments by Stanley P. Burchart; Robert A. Champine, A. Scott Crossfield (!!!), John Griffith, Richard P. Hallion (!) and Edward T. Schneider. This includes Papers of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Symposium on the D-558 Program, February 4, 1998. J. D. Hunley, known to his friends as Dill, was chief historian for NASA Dryden Flight Research Center before his retirement in 2001. A Ramsey Fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 2001-2002, he has written widely about German history and aerospace history. Among other prizes, he was the winner of the 2006 History Manuscript Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for what became "The Development of Propulsion Technology for U.S. Space-Launch Vehicles, 1926-1991," published by Texas A&M University Press. He received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2010 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award for his two volume set: "Preludes To U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology: Goddard Rockets to Minutemen III" and "U. S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology: Viking to Space Shuttle," published by the University Press of Florida. Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 - April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the United States Air Force and NASA. Richard P. Hallion is Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for analysis and insight regarding the conceptualization, evolution and utilization of sensitive national technological programs and related subject areas. Hallion graduated from the University of Maryland in 1970. He has experience in science and technology museum development, research and management analysis, and has served as a consultant to various professional organizations. He has flown as a mission observer in a range of military and civilian fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Hallion is the author and editor of various books relating to aerospace technology and military operations, as well as articles and essays for a variety of professional journals. He also teaches and lectures widely. The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) is a rocket and jet-powered research supersonic aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the (17 December) 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 1,290 mph, the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound. The "-2" in the aircraft's designation referred to the fact that the Skyrocket was the phase-two version of what had originally been conceived as a three-phase program. The phase-one aircraft, the D-558-1, was jet powered and had straight wings. The third phase, which never came to fruition, would have involved constructing a mock-up of a combat type aircraft embodying the results from the testing of the phase one and two aircraft. The eventual D-558-3 design, which was never built, was for a hypersonic aircraft similar to the North American X-15. The Skyrocket featured wings with a 35-degree sweep and horizontal stabilizers with 40-degree sweep. The wings and empennage were fabricated from aluminum and the large fuselage was primarily magnesium. The Skyrocket was powered by a Westinghouse J34-40 turbojet engine having 3,000 lbf thrust fed through side intakes in the forward fuselage. This engine was intended for takeoff, climb and landing. For high speed flight, a four-chamber Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 engine (t. …