A pioneering psycho speed demon has died.............

J.C.A._3

Anyone seen the X-15 show they did on the History Channel?

The guy had one of the engines go off like lightning, while he was strapped into a harness...and the engine was tied to the earth and a steel frame. His first flight in the X15 ended with him landing the "glider" (at the time) without half of the landing gear. He walked away.

I'll lay dollars to donuts that something else happened to this great man on this, his final flight. He was too good a pilot to fly into this "pigheaded". There must be extenuating circumstances that will be found.

You might guess that aviation is a facination with me. I wanted to fly, but the military doctors decided otherwise for me. Our field is a great second , but my heart still soars. Godspeed Mr. Crossfield. Chris

Mad Dog_2

doing what he loved.............................................

Scott Crossfield, one of Chuck Yeager's rival peers went down in a small Cessna at the age of 84. Reached for comment at his home Yeager expressed sorrow but the rivalry was still there: to paraphrase - that guy was always taking unnecessary risks! FRom what I read. the man had no fear of speed. Godspeed Sir. Mad Dog

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Edward A. (Ed) Carery

Old Bold Pilots

And to think that after doing all of this, he would fly into thunderstorms in a Cessna SE plane. There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are "No Old Bold Pilots"


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Scott Crossfield, the legendary test pilot who in the 1950's was the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound, was killed Wednesday in the crash of his single-engine Cessna, according to the Civil Air Patrol.

A search had been under way today for an airplane registered to him since it went missing Wednesday while on a flight from Alabama to a suburb of Washington.

His Cessna had left Prattville, Ala., at about 9 a.m. Wednesday en route to Manassas, Va., near where Mr. Crossfield lived.

Aviation officials said there had been thunderstorms in the area at the time that radio and radar contact was lost at about 11:15 a.m.

His body was found today in the wreckage of his airplane in rugged country about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta. A Mr. Crossfield's son-in-law said that authorities had confirmed that the body found in the wreckage was his, The Associated Press reported today.

Mr. Crossfield was one of the nation's leading test pilots in the 1950's and 60's, flying a series of experimental aircraft, including the rocket-powered X-15.

During the 1950's and 1960's, Mr. Crossfield flew most of the rocket-powered experimental aircraft of the era, setting successive speed records. On Nov. 20, 1953, as a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA, he flew the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket to 1,291 miles per hour — twice the speed of sound.

Mr. Crossfield subsequently went to work for North American Aviation, where he helped develop and was the principal pilot for the X-15, which was designed to exceed Mach 3. On one flight in an early version, one of the several rockets exploded, forcing him to make an emergency landing with the plane overloaded with rocket propellant.
Although the aircraft broke on impact with the ground, Mr. Crossfield was uninjured and continued testing.

Altogether, he completed 30 powered and unpowered flights in the X-15, essentially a manned rocket that was launched in midair by being dropped from a B-52 bomber and that was designed to explore hypersonic flight.

Mr. Crossfield retired in 1993 as a technical adviser to the House Committee on Science and Technology.

Brad White_60

Flying 101

Art Teague or Teager I forget which, ran a pilot school (Patriot Aviation?) here in MA some years ago.

Died in a crash when he flew with his son and daughter-in-law into a thunder cell.

No old bold pilots indeed.

Sad ending for a real pioneer, one of the first to "punch a hole in the sky".

Ich Wundermich

On the other hand

we all have to die. Why not doing something that you love?

Gordy

Yeager

If you have not already, read Chuck Yeagers autobiography.
If you have ever viewed the movie "The Right Stuff", the book will help put it all into prospective.

It takes balls to sit in a airplane for 13 flat spins, and punch out before the plane hits the ground on the 14 th spin. In the name of saving the plane. But more so the challenge of not letting the machinery control you. Those test pilots earned what little pay they recieved on the military end. They did it for the challenge, and the love of flying.

My hats off to Mr. Scottie Crossfield, and his commrades for the advancement of aviation in the "Golden Age" of flying. From the late 40's through the late 60's was quit an era for the development of experimental jet airplanes.


Gordy

Robert O'Brien

Sad,but not as sad as a man like that dying in a nursing home.

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Jeff Lawrence_24

Chris

He flew his single engine Cessna 210 into a mother of a thunderstorm we were having here in Georgia. He may have thought it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

At least he went out flying.

Godspeed, Mr Crossfield.

Jeff Lawrence_24

Cessna 210

Is a heck of a bird....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_210

J.C.A._3

Jeff,

I know it's a great airplane,there are thousands of them out there, but I'm thinking... He might have not been flying it at the time.

Folks like that think on their feet (or butts..as the situation arises)and a heart attack or some other unforseen circumstance could well have put him there.

My old boss was a pilot, and flew a Piper Archer 120M successfully for almost 20 years. He passed away while doing a spinning class at the local gym. Doctor said he was gone before he hit the floor, yet he had passed a flight physical 3 weeks before. Stuff occurs. (like Mr. Crossfield, he died doing what he loved....Frank was in the BACK of the class...looking forward at all the lovely younger girls in the same class!) Chris

Jeff Lawrence_24

good point

He may have not been there, after all.

Like I said, he went out flying.