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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 319 Introduced in House (IH)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 319

Honoring the accomplishments of members of the United States Air Force 
and other Americans working under Air Force leadership who contributed 
          to the development of supersonic flight technology.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 5, 1998

 Mr. Hall of Ohio submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
           was referred to the Committee on National Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
Honoring the accomplishments of members of the United States Air Force 
and other Americans working under Air Force leadership who contributed 
          to the development of supersonic flight technology.

Whereas the Army Air Force was the lead United States agency for the development 
        of supersonic flight technology;
Whereas on October 14, 1947, United States Air Force Captain Charles E. 
        ``Chuck'' Yeager's flight in the Bell XS-1 rocket-propelled supersonic 
        research aircraft was the first to exceed the speed of sound;
Whereas the United States Air Force developed the X-series aircraft, which, as 
        airborne research tools, enabled aeronautical science to make a bold 
        leap forward;
Whereas many individual Americans selflessly gave their time, energy, and 
        expertise to achieve the technological breakthrough in aeronautical 
        science that supersonic flight represented;
Whereas on June 30 and July 1, 1947, representatives of the Army Air Force's Air 
        Materiel Command and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics met 
        at Wright Field, Ohio, and finalized plans for the first supersonic 
        flight;
Whereas the individuals who devoted themselves to achieving this breakthrough 
        and to the overall improvement of air and space flight include--

    Captain (later Air Force brigadier general) Charles E. ``Chuck'' 
Yeager, Air Force Bell XS-1 test pilot and the first pilot to exceed the 
speed of sound;

    Captain Jackie Ridley, Air Force test pilot and flight test planner for 
the Bell XS-1 aircraft's supersonic research missions at Muroc Dry Lake, 
California;

    Colonel (later Air Force general) Albert Boyd, chief of flight testing 
at the Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, Ohio;

    Ezra Kotcher, Air Force engineer who developed the design requirements 
for the Bell XS-1 aircraft and who was a tireless advocate for the 
procurement of supersonic research aircraft;

    Fred D. Orazio, Sr., Air Force engineer who developed preliminary 
design studies for a supersonic demonstrator aircraft powered by a turbojet 
engine;

    George Bailey, Air Force engineer who developed preliminary design 
studies for a supersonic demonstrator aircraft powered by a rocket motor;

    John Stack, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics research 
scientist and visionary pioneer of the supersonic research aircraft 
concept;

    Walter C. Williams, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics flight 
test director who managed and directed the efforts to conduct flight 
research with the Bell XS-1 aircraft at Muroc Dry Lake, California;

    Robert Woods, Bell Aircraft Corporation chief engineer who took on the 
challenge to build a supersonic aircraft and who assembled the design team 
that made its construction possible;

    Jack Woolams, Bell Aircraft Corporation test pilot who first proved the 
flight worthiness of the Bell XS-1 aircraft and who championed the aircraft 
until his tragic death in an air racing accident;

    Chalmers H. ``Slick'' Goodlin, Bell Aircraft Corporation test pilot who 
validated the design of the Bell XS-1 aircraft during its contractor flight 
tests; and

    Richard H. Frost, Bell Aircraft Corporation test pilot and engineer who 
provided technical instruction, guidance, and counsel to the Bell XS-1 
aircraft test team as it approached ever-higher speeds in pursuit of the 
goal of supersonic flight; and

Whereas these Americans and many others brought to the world a new era of high-
        speed flight that made possible the tremendous advances in international 
        air transport that followed: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) honors the accomplishments of members of the United 
        States Air Force and other Americans working under Air Force 
        leadership to develop supersonic flight technology; and
            (2) finds that the example of those who worked to develop 
        supersonic flight technology serves as both an inspiration and 
        challenge to Americans today as they stand poised on the 
        threshold of a new century of flight.
                                 <all>
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