List of U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni
Famous alumni -- Flight test
Table:
Name

Service

Rank

Class

Notable events

Ref

Milburn G. Apt*

USAF

O-03Captain

1954-0254B

First to exceed Mach 3. Speed record of Mach 3.2 in X-2

[111][112]

Fred J. Ascani

USAF

O-08Major General

1946-246B

Father of Systems Engineering at Wright Field. F-86 speed record

[113]

Richard Bong*

USAF

O-04Major

1945-0145

United States' highest-scoring air ace. Medal of Honor recipient

[114]

James "JB" Brown

USAF

O-04Major

1986-0186A

F-22 Raptor lead test pilot and F-117 Nighthawk chief test pilot

[115]

Robert Cardenas

USAF

O-07Brig. General

1946-1046J

B-29 commander on mission to break sound barrier. Chief USAF test pilot for YB-49 flying wing

[116]

Ken Chilstrom

USAF

O-06Colonel

1945-0145

Tested over twenty German and Japanese aircraft during World War II. First military pilot to fly XP-86. First jet air race. First transport of air mail by jet

[117]
[118]
[119]
[120]

Glen Edwards*

USAF

O-03Captain

1945-0145

Namesake of Edwards Air Force Base

[121]

Frank K. Everest

USAF

O-07Brig. General

1946-0446D

Speed record of Mach 2.9 in the X-2. Subject and co-author of The Fastest Man Alive

[122]

Fitzhugh L. Fulton

USAF

O-07Brig. General

1952-0252B

Altitude record of 85,360 ft (26.02 km) in the B-58. XB-70, YF-12, 747 Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft testiing

[123]

Darryl Greenamyer

Lockheed

O-00n/a

1963-0163A

Piston engine speed record of 776 km/h (482 mph) in an F8F-2. Low altitude speed record of 1,590 km/h (990 mph) in an F-104

[124][125]

Bob Hoover

USAF

O-02Lieutenant

1946-0346C

Flew chase during the Mach one flight. Named "the greatest stick-and-rudder man who ever lived" by Jimmy Doolittle. Noted air show pilot in Shrike Commander and P-51

[126]

Jay Jabour

USAF

O-07Brigadier General

1973-0379B

ATF and first F-22 Test Force Commander

[127]

Tony LeVier

Lockheed

O-00n/a

1945-0145

Lockheed chief test pilot. P-38, P-80, XF-90, XF-104, U-2 testing

[128]

Arthur W. Murray

USAF

O-04Major

1945-0745G

X-1A, X-1B, X-4, X-5 testing

[129]

Art Nalls

USMC

O-05Lt Colonel

1985-0185A

Harrier testing; owner and air show pilot of privately owned Harrier

[130]

Bruce Peterson

NASA

O-00n/a

1963-0163A

M2-F1, M2-F2, HL-10 lifting body flights

[131]

Steve Pisanos

USAF

O-06Colonel

1945-0445D

F-80 Shooting Star, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-4E testing

[132]

Jack Ridley*

USAF

O-06Colonel

1946-0146A

Project engineer for the team that broke the sound barrier

[133]

Robert L. Stephens

USAF

O-06Colonel

1949-0449D

Speed and altitude records testing the YF-12 and SR-71

[134]

Robert E. Thacker

USAF

O-06Colonel

1946-0146

P-80 Shooting Star, P-82 distance/speed record, Lockheed solar-powered aircraft

[135]

With reference to the provided table as well as the relevant paragraphs provided at the end.

Give the answer to the question: What is the birth date of this US test pilot who held a junior rank in the air forces and was killed during the event nicknamed `` Starbuster ? `` ? Return your answer as JSON: {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}.

Milburn G. Mel Apt ( April 9 , 1924 - September 27 , 1956 ) was a US test pilot , and the first man to attain speeds faster than Mach 3 . He was killed after separating from the Bell X-2 in his escape capsule during the record-setting flight that exceeded Mach 3 .
The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services . Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907 , the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the second youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces , [ a ] and the fourth in order of precedence . The U.S. Air Force articulates its core missions as air superiority , global integrated intelligence , surveillance , and reconnaissance , rapid global mobility , global strike , and command and control . The U.S. Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force , one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The Air Force , through the Department of the Air Force , is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force , who reports to the Secretary of Defense , and is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation . The highest-ranking military officer in the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , who exercises supervision over Air Force units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Certain Air Force components are assigned , as directed by the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force , to unified combatant commands . Combatant commanders are delegated operational authority of the forces assigned to them , while the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force retain administrative authority over their members . Along with conducting independent air operations , the U.S. Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field . As of 2017 [ update ] , the service operates more than 5,369 military aircraft , 406 ICBMs and 170 military satellites .
In the United States uniformed services , captain is a commissioned-officer rank . In keeping with the traditions of the militaries of most nations , the rank varies between the services , being a senior rank in the naval services and a junior rank in the ground and air forces .
In fluid dynamics , the Mach number ( M or Ma ) ( /mɑːk/ ; German : [ max ] ) is a dimensionless quantity representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound .
The Bell X-2 ( nicknamed Starbuster ) was an X-plane research aircraft built to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2-3 range . The X-2 was a rocket-powered , swept-wing research aircraft developed jointly in 1945 by Bell Aircraft Corporation , the United States Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ) to explore aerodynamic problems of supersonic flight and to expand the speed and altitude regimes obtained with the earlier X-1 series of research aircraft .
Alfredo John Ascani ( May 29 , 1917 - March 28 , 2010 ) was an American Major General and test pilot of the United States Air Force . He was one of the Men of Mach 1 and was considered father of Systems Engineering at Wright Field .
In the United States Army , United States Marine Corps , and United States Air Force , major general is a two-star general officer rank , with the pay grade of O-8 . Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general . [ Note 1 ] A major general typically commands division-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers . Major general is equivalent to the two-star rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard , and is the highest permanent peacetime rank in the uniformed services . Higher ranks are technically temporary and linked to specific positions , although virtually all officers promoted to those ranks are approved to retire at their highest earned rank .
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design and manage complex systems over their life cycles . At its core , systems engineering utilizes systems thinking principles to organize this body of knowledge . The individual outcome of such efforts , an engineered system , can be defined as a combination of components that work in synergy to collectively perform a useful function . Issues such as requirements engineering , reliability , logistics , coordination of different teams , testing and evaluation , maintainability and many other disciplines necessary for successful system design , development , implementation , and ultimate decommission become more difficult when dealing with large or complex projects . Systems engineering deals with work-processes , optimization methods , and risk management tools in such projects . It overlaps technical and human-centered disciplines such as industrial engineering , process systems engineering , mechanical engineering , manufacturing engineering , control engineering , software engineering , electrical engineering , cybernetics , aerospace engineering , organizational studies , civil engineering and project management . Systems engineering ensures that all likely aspects of a project or system are considered , and integrated into a whole . The systems engineering process is a discovery process that is quite unlike a manufacturing process . A manufacturing process is focused on repetitive activities that achieve high quality outputs with minimum cost and time . The systems engineering process must begin by discovering the real problems that need to be resolved , and identifying the most probable or highest impact failures that can occur - systems engineering involves finding solutions to these problems .
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base ( WPAFB ) ( IATA : FFO , ICAO : KFFO , FAA LID : FFO ) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton , Ohio , in Greene and Montgomery counties . It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields , which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot . Patterson Field is approximately 16 kilometres ( 10 mi ) northeast of Dayton ; Wright Field is approximately 8.0 kilometres ( 5 mi ) northeast of Dayton . The host unit at Wright-Patterson AFB is the 88th Air Base Wing ( 88 ABW ) , assigned to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and Air Force Materiel Command . The 88 ABW operates the airfield , maintains all infrastructure and provides security , communications , medical , legal , personnel , contracting , finance , transportation , air traffic control , weather forecasting , public affairs , recreation and chaplain services for more than 60 associate units . The base 's origins begin with the establishment of Wilbur Wright Field on 22 May and McCook Field in November 1917 , both established by the Aviation Section , U.S. Signal Corps as World War I installations . McCook was used as a testing field and for aviation experiments . Wright was used as a flying field ( renamed Patterson Field in 1931 ) ; Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot ; armorers ' school , and a temporary storage depot . McCook 's functions were transferred to Wright Field when it was closed in October 1927 . Wright-Patterson AFB was established in 1948 as a merger of Patterson and Wright Fields . In 1995 , negotiations to end the Bosnian War were held at the base , resulting in the Dayton Agreement that ended the war . The 88th Air Base Wing is commanded by Col. Thomas Sherman Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Steve Arbona .
The North American F-86 Sabre , sometimes called the Sabrejet , is a transonic jet fighter aircraft . Produced by North American Aviation , the Sabre is best known as the United States ' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War ( 1950-1953 ) , fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles in history . Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war , the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras . Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s , the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces until the last active operational examples were retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994 . [ citation needed ] Its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956 , in the United States , Japan , and Italy . In addition , 738 carrier-modified versions were purchased by the US Navy as FJ-2s and -3s . Variants were built in Canada and Australia . The Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes , and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre ( sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CAC CA-27 ) , had a production run of 112 . The Sabre is by far the most-produced Western jet fighter , with total production of all variants at 9,860 units .
Richard Ira Bong ( September 24 , 1920 - August 6 , 1945 ) was a United States Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II . He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country 's top flying ace in the war , credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft , all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter . He died in California while testing a Lockheed P-80 jet fighter shortly before the war ended .
In the United States Army , Marine Corps , and Air Force , major is a field grade military officer rank above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel . It is equivalent to the naval rank of lieutenant commander in the other uniformed services . Although lieutenant commanders are considered junior officers by their respective services ( Navy and Coast Guard ) , the rank of major is that of a senior officer in the United States Army , the United States Marine Corps , and the United States Air Force . The pay grade for the rank of major is O-4 . The insignia for the rank consists of a golden oak leaf , with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version . Promotion to major is governed by the Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980 .
A flying ace , fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat . The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace has varied , but is usually considered to be five or more . The concept of the ace emerged in 1915 during World War I , at the same time as aerial dogfighting . It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a war of attrition . The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era . For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented , the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies . For most of the war , however , the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare , in which fighters fought in formation and air superiority depended heavily on the relative availability of resources .
The Medal of Honor is the United States of America 's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor . The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress . Because the medal is presented in the name of Congress , it is often referred erroneously as the Congressional Medal of Honor . However , the official name of the current award is Medal of Honor . Within the United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor , and less frequently as Congressional Medal of Honor . U.S. awards , including the Medal of Honor , do not have post-nominal titles , and while there is no official abbreviation , the most common abbreviations are MOH and MH . There are three versions of the medal , one each for the Army , Navy and Air Force . Personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version while members of the Space Force receive the Air Force version . The Medal of Honor was introduced for the Navy in 1861 , soon followed by an Army version in 1862 . The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States ' armed forces . The President typically presents the Medal at a formal ceremony intended to represent the gratitude of the U.S. people , with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin . According to the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States , there have been 3,525 Medals of Honor awarded to 3,506 individuals since the decoration 's creation , with over 40% awarded for actions during the American Civil War .
James E. Brown III ( born August 15 , 1954 ) is an aerospace executive , test pilot instructor , and former United States Air Force officer . As of 2019 [ update ] , he is the vice president , chief operating officer , and test pilot instructor at the National Test Pilot School located in Mojave , California . Previously , Brown was the chief of flight operations for the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale , California . Before that , he was the chief test pilot for the F-22 Raptor program stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California where he performed activities including avionics testing , flight envelope expansion , and the creation of procedural flight manuals for the Air Force . Before that , he was the chief test pilot for the F-117 Nighthawk . Brown is a Fellow and past president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots ( SETP ) and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society .
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a single-seat , twin-engine , all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . The result of the USAF 's Advanced Tactical Fighter ( ATF ) program , the aircraft was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter , but also has ground attack , electronic warfare , and signal intelligence capabilities . The prime contractor , Lockheed Martin , built most of the F-22 's airframe and weapons systems and conducted final assembly , while Boeing provided the wings , aft fuselage , avionics integration , and training systems . The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it formally entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A . Despite its protracted development and various operational issues , USAF officials consider the F-22 a critical component of the service 's tactical air power . Its combination of stealth , aerodynamic performance , and situational awareness enable unprecedented air combat capabilities . Service officials had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs . In 2009 , the program was cut to 187 operational production aircraft due to high costs , a lack of clear air-to-air missions due to delays in Russian and Chinese fighter programs , a ban on exports , and development of the more versatile F-35 . [ N 1 ] The last F-22 was delivered in 2012 .
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat , twin-engine stealth attack aircraft that was developed by Lockheed 's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . The F-117 was based on the Have Blue technology demonstrator . The Nighthawk was the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology . Its maiden flight took place in 1981 at Groom Lake , Nevada , and the aircraft achieved initial operating capability status in 1983 . The Nighthawk was shrouded in secrecy until it was revealed to the public in 1988 . Of the 64 F-117s built , 59 were production versions , with the other five being prototypes . The F-117 was widely publicized for its role in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 . Although it was commonly referred to as the Stealth Fighter , it was strictly a ground-attack aircraft . F-117s took part in the conflict in Yugoslavia , where one was shot down by a surface-to-air missile ( SAM ) in 1999 ; it was the only Nighthawk to be lost in combat . The U.S. Air Force retired the F-117 in 2008 , primarily due to the fielding of the F-22 Raptor . Despite the type 's retirement , a portion of the fleet has been kept in airworthy condition , and Nighthawks have been observed flying as recently as July 2019 .
Robert L. Bob Cardenas ( born March 10 , 1920 ) is a retired brigadier general of the United States Air Force .
In the United States Armed Forces , brigadier general ( BG , BGen , or Brig Gen ) is a one-star general officer with the pay grade of O-7 in the U.S. Army , U.S. Marine Corps , and U.S. Air Force . Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general . The rank of brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral ( lower half ) in the other uniformed services ( the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard , as both Armed Forces and Uniformed Services ; and the Public Health Service and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration , as Uniformed Services ) . The NATO equivalent is OF-6 .
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War . Named in allusion to its predecessor , the B-17 Flying Fortress , the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing , and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan . B-29s also dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which contributed to the end of World War II . One of the largest aircraft of World War II , the B-29 had state-of-the-art technology , including a pressurized cabin ; dual-wheeled , tricycle landing gear ; and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets . The $ 3 billion cost of design and production ( equivalent to $ 43 billion today ) - far exceeding the $ 1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project - made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war . The B-29 's advanced design allowed it to remain in service in various roles throughout the 1950s . The type was retired in the early 1960s , after 3,970 had been built . A few were used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company . The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the Washington until 1954 . The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers , transports , tankers , reconnaissance aircraft and trainers . The re-engined B-50 Superfortress became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop , during a 94-hour flight in 1949 . The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter , first flown in 1944 , was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant , the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser .
The Northrop YB-49 was a prototype jet-powered heavy bomber developed by Northrop Corporation shortly after World War II for service with the U.S. Air Force . The YB-49 featured a flying wing design and was a turbojet-powered development of the earlier , piston-engined Northrop XB-35 and YB-35 . The two YB-49s actually built were both converted YB-35 test aircraft . The YB-49 never entered production , being passed over in favor of the more conventional Convair B-36 piston-driven design . Design work performed in the development of the YB-35 and YB-49 nonetheless proved to be valuable to Northrop decades later in the eventual development of the B-2 stealth bomber , which entered service in the early 1990s .
Kenneth O. K.O . Chilstrom ( born April 20 , 1921 ) is a retired United States Air Force officer , combat veteran , test pilot , and author . He was the first USAF pilot to fly the XP-86 Sabre , chief of fighter test at Wright Field , commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School , and program manager for the XF-108 Rapier . Chilstrom was a pilot in the first jet air race and delivered the first air mail by jet . He flew over eighty combat missions in the Italian Campaign of World War II and tested over twenty foreign models of German and Japanese fighters and bombers to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses .
In the United States Army , Marine Corps , and Air Force , colonel ( /ˈkɜːrnəl/ ) is the most senior field grade military officer rank , immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general . It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services . [ note 1 ] By law , a colonel must have at least 22 years of cumulative service and a minimum of three years as a lieutenant colonel before being promoted . The pay grade for colonel is O-6 . When worn alone , the insignia of rank seen at right is worn centered on headgear and fatigue uniforms . When worn in pairs , the insignia is worn on the officer 's left side while a mirror-image reverse version is worn on the right side , such that both of the eagles faces forward to the wearer 's front .
The North American F-86 Sabre , sometimes called the Sabrejet , is a transonic jet fighter aircraft . Produced by North American Aviation , the Sabre is best known as the United States ' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War ( 1950-1953 ) , fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles in history . Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war , the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras . Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s , the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces until the last active operational examples were retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994 . [ citation needed ] Its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956 , in the United States , Japan , and Italy . In addition , 738 carrier-modified versions were purchased by the US Navy as FJ-2s and -3s . Variants were built in Canada and Australia . The Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes , and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre ( sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CAC CA-27 ) , had a production run of 112 . The Sabre is by far the most-produced Western jet fighter , with total production of all variants at 9,860 units .
Glen Walter Edwards ( March 5 , 1916 - June 5 , 1948 ) was a test pilot for the United States Air Force , and is the namesake of Edwards Air Force Base .
Edwards Air Force Base ( AFB ) ( IATA : EDW , ICAO : KEDW , FAA LID : EDW ) is a United States Air Force installation located in Kern County in Southern California , about 22 miles ( 35 km ) northeast of Lancaster , 15 miles ( 24 km ) east of Rosamond and 5.5 miles ( 8.9 km ) south of California City . It is the home of the Air Force Test Center , Air Force Test Pilot School , and NASA 's Armstrong Flight Research Center . It is the Air Force Materiel Command center for conducting and supporting research and development of flight , as well as testing and evaluating aerospace systems from concept to combat . It also hosts many test activities conducted by America 's commercial aerospace industry . Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager 's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 , test flights of the North American X-15 , the first landings of the Space Shuttle , and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager .
Brigadier General Frank Kendall Pete Everest Jr. ( August 9 , 1920 - October 1 , 2004 ) was a U.S. Air Force officer who is best remembered as an aeroengineer and test pilot during the 1950s .
Fitzhugh L. Fitz Fulton , Jr. ( June 6 , 1925 - February 4 , 2015 ) , ( Lt Col , USAF ) , was a civilian research pilot at NASA 's Dryden Flight Research Center , Edwards , California , from August 1 , 1966 , until July 3 , 1986 , following 23 years of distinguished service as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force .
The Convair B-58 Hustler was a high speed bomber designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair . It was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight . The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force 's ( USAF ) Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . To achieve the high speeds desired , Convair designed it around a large delta wing , which was also used by contemporary fighters such as the Convair F-102 . It was powered by four General Electric J79 engines in underwing pods . It had no bomb bay ; it carried a single nuclear weapon plus fuel in a combination bomb/fuel pod underneath the fuselage . Later , four external hardpoints were added , enabling it to carry up to five weapons . The B-58 was introduced to service in March 1960 , and was operated by two bomb wings ( the 43d Bombardment Wing and the 305th Bombardment Wing ) of the SAC throughout the 1960s . It was considered to be a difficult aircraft to fly , imposing a high workload upon its three-man crews . Replacing the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber , the B-58 was originally intended to fly at high altitudes and supersonic speeds to avoid Soviet interceptors . The B-58 became notorious for its sonic boom , which was often heard on the ground by the public as it passed overhead in supersonic flight . Following the introduction of highly accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles , the B-58 was forced to adopt a low-level-penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value .
The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed , deep-penetration strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command . Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation ( NAA ) , the six-engined Valkyrie was capable of cruising for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet ( 21,000 m ) . At these speeds , it was expected that the B-70 would be practically immune to interceptor aircraft , the only effective weapon against bomber aircraft at the time . The bomber would spend only a brief time over a particular radar station , flying out of its range before the controllers could position their fighters in a suitable location for an interception . High speed also made the aircraft difficult to see on radar displays and its high-altitude and high-speed capacity could not be matched by any contemporary Soviet interceptor or fighter aircraft . The introduction of the first Soviet surface-to-air missiles in the late 1950s put the near-invulnerability of the B-70 in doubt . In response , the United States Air Force ( USAF ) began flying its missions at low level , where the missile radar 's line of sight was limited by terrain . In this low-level penetration role , the B-70 offered little additional performance over the B-52 it was meant to replace , while being far more expensive with shorter range . Other alternate missions were proposed , but these were of limited scope . With the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBMs ) during the late 1950s , manned bombers were increasingly seen as obsolete . The USAF eventually gave up fighting for its production and the B-70 program was canceled in 1961 . Development was then turned over to a research program to study the effects of long-duration high-speed flight .
The Lockheed YF-12 is an American prototype interceptor aircraft evaluated by the United States Air Force in the 1960s . The YF-12 was a twin-seat version of the secret single-seat Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft , which led to the U.S. Air Force 's Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird twin-seat reconnaissance variant . The YF-12 set and held speed and altitude world records of over 2,000 miles per hour ( 3,200 km/h ) and over 80,000 feet ( 24,000 m ) ( later surpassed by the SR-71 ) , and is the world 's largest , heaviest and fastest manned interceptor to date . After retirement it served as a research aircraft for NASA , which used it to develop several significant improvements in control for supersonic aircraft , including the SR-71 .
The Boeing 747 is an American wide-body , long-range , commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft . The first wide-body airplane produced , it was the first plane dubbed a Jumbo Jet . Its distinctive hump upper deck along the forward part of the aircraft has made it one of the most recognizable aircraft . Manufactured by Boeing 's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States , the 747 was originally planned to have 150 percent greater capacity than the Boeing 707 , a common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s . First flown commercially in 1970 , the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years . The 747 uses a double-deck configuration for part of its length and is available in passenger , freighter , and other versions . Boeing designed the 747 's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first-class lounge or extra seating , and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door . Boeing expected supersonic airliners - the development of which was announced in the early 1960s - to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete , while the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would remain robust well into the future . Though the 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold , production passed 1,000 in 1993 . By June 2019 , 1,554 aircraft had been built , with 20 of the 747-8 variants remaining on order . As of January 2017 [ update ] , 60 of the jets have been lost in accidents in which a total of 3,722 people died . The 747-400 , the most common variant in service , has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.85-0.855 ( up to 570 mph or 920 km/h ) with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles ( 8,350 statute miles or 13,450 km ) .
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ( SCA ) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters . One is a 747-100 model , while the other is a short range 747-100SR . The SCAs were used to ferry Space Shuttles from landing sites back to the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center . The orbiters were placed on top of the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices , large gantry-like structures that hoisted the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing then mated them with the SCAs for ferry flights . In approach and landing test flights conducted in 1977 , the test shuttle Enterprise was released from an SCA during flight and glided to a landing under its own control .
Darryl Greenamyer ( August 13 , 1936 - October 4 , 2018 ) was an American aviator . He started his flying career in the US Air Force Reserve . After leaving the Air Force , he then began to work at Lockheed where he eventually became an SR-71 test pilot at Skunk works . While working at Lockheed he met many of the engineers who would later help him make modifications to future race planes . He won his first victory in the Unlimited Class at the Reno Air Races in 1965 . He is the third most successful competitor in Reno Air Race history .
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company . Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995 . The founder , Allan Lockheed , had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise unrelated Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company , which was operational from 1912 through 1920 .
The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II . It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy , the United States Marine Corps , and the air forces of other nations . It was Grumman Aircraft 's last piston engined fighter aircraft . Modified versions have broken speed records for piston-engined aircraft , and are popular among warbird owners and air racers .
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine , supersonic interceptor aircraft which became widely used as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War . Initially a day fighter , it was developed into an all-weather fighter in the late 1960s . It was originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force ( USAF ) , but was later produced by several other nations , seeing widespread service outside the United States . One of the Century Series of fighter aircraft , it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004 . Its design team was led by Kelly Johnson , who contributed to the development of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning , Lockheed U-2 , Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird , and other Lockheed aircraft . The F-104 set numerous world records , including both airspeed and altitude records . Its success was marred by the Lockheed bribery scandals , in which Lockheed had given bribes to a considerable number of political and military figures in various nations to influence their judgment and secure several purchase contracts ; this caused considerable political controversy in Europe and Japan . The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye , especially in German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ) service . Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was put into early retirement from the Luftwaffe due to his outspoken opposition to the selection of the F-104 . The final production version of the fighter model was the F-104S , an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force , and equipped with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles . An advanced F-104 with a high-mounted wing , known as the CL-1200 Lancer , was considered , but did not proceed past the mock-up stage .
Robert Anderson Bob Hoover ( January 24 , 1922 - October 25 , 2016 ) was a United States Army Air Forces fighter pilot in World War II , USAF and civilian test pilot after the war , flight instructor , aviation record-setter , and air show pilot for nearly 50 years until his retirement in 1999 . Known as the pilot 's pilot , Hoover revolutionized modern aerobatic flying and has been described in many aviation circles as one of the greatest pilots ever to have lived .
A lieutenant ( UK : /lɛfˈtɛnənt/ lef-TEN-ənt or US : /luːˈtɛnənt/ loo-TEN-ənt abbreviated Lt , LT , Lieut and similar ) is the second junior-most or in some cases the junior-most commissioned officer in the armed forces , fire services , police , and other organizations of many nations . The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries ( see comparative military ranks ) , but is often subdivided into senior ( first lieutenant ) and junior ( second lieutenant and even third lieutenant ) ranks . In navies it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain ; it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank . The rank is also used in fire services , emergency medical services , security services and police forces . Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure . It often designates someone who is second-in-command , and as such , may precede the name of the rank directly above it . For example , a lieutenant master is likely to be second-in-command to the master in an organisation using both ranks . Political uses include lieutenant governor in various governments , and Quebec lieutenant in Canadian politics . In the United Kingdom , a lord lieutenant is the sovereign 's representative in a county or lieutenancy area , while a deputy lieutenant is one of the lord lieutenant 's deputies .
James Harold Doolittle ( December 14 , 1896 - September 27 , 1993 ) was an American general and aviation pioneer . He made early coast-to-coast flights , won many flying races , and helped develop instrument flying . Doolittle did his undergraduate studies at University of California , Berkeley , graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1922 and earning a doctorate in aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1925 . He was a flying instructor during World War I and a Reserve officer in the United States Army Air Corps , but he was recalled to active duty during World War II . He was awarded the Medal of Honor for personal valor and leadership as commander of the Doolittle Raid , a bold long-range retaliatory air raid on some of the Japanese main islands on April 18 , 1942 , four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor . The attack was a major morale booster for the United States , and Doolittle was celebrated as a hero . Doolittle was promoted to lieutenant general and commanded the Twelfth Air Force over North America , the Fifteenth Air Force over the Mediterranean , and the Eighth Air Force over Europe . After World War II , he retired and left the air force but remained active in many technical fields , and was eventually promoted to general 26 years after retirement .
The Aero Commander 500 family is a series of light-twin piston-engined and turboprop aircraft originally built by the Aero Design and Engineering Company in the late 1940s , renamed the Aero Commander company in 1950 , and a division of Rockwell International from 1965 . The initial production version was the 200-mph , seven-seat Aero Commander 520 . An improved version , the 500S , manufactured after 1967 , is known as the Shrike Commander . Larger variants are known by numerous model names and designations , ranging up to the 330-mph , 11-seat Model 695B/Jetprop 1000B turboprop .
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range , single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War , among other conflicts . The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a design team headed by James Kindelberger of North American Aviation ( NAA ) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission . The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) . Rather than build an old design from another company , North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter . The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940 , 102 days after the contract was signed , and first flew on 26 October . The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine , which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants . The aircraft was first flown operationally by the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber ( Mustang Mk I ) . Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C ( Mustang Mk III ) model and transformed the aircraft 's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft ( 4,600 m ) ( without sacrificing range ) , allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe 's fighters . The definitive version , the P-51D , was powered by the Packard V-1650-7 , a license-built version of the two-speed two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66 , and was armed with six .50 caliber ( 12.7 mm ) AN/M2 Browning machine guns . From late 1943 , P-51Bs and P-51Cs ( supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944 ) were used by the USAAF 's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany , while the RAF 's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF 's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers , roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944 . The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African , Mediterranean , Italian and Pacific theaters . During World War II , Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft .
Brigadier general ( Brig . Gen. ) or brigade general is a senior rank in the armed forces . It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries , usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general . When appointed to a field command , a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops ( four battalions ) . In some countries a brigadier general is informally designated as a one-star general ( OF-6 ) . In some countries , this rank is given the name of brigadier , which is usually equivalent to brigadier general in the armies of nations that use the rank . The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general , or simply a brigadier , would command a brigade in the field . The rank name général de brigade ( which translates as brigade general ) was first used in the French revolutionary armies . In the first quarter of the 20th century , British and Commonwealth armies used the rank of brigadier general as a temporary appointment , or as an honorary appointment on retirement ; in the 1920s this practice changed to the use of brigadier , which was not classed as a general officer . Some armies , such as Taiwan and Japan , use major general as the equivalent of brigadier general ( See also Japan & Taiwan for details. ) . Some of these armies then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks . [ citation needed ] Mexico uses the ranks of both General brigadier and General de brigada .
Anthony W. Tony LeVier ( February 14 , 1913 - February 6 , 1998 ) was an American air racer and test pilot for the Lockheed Corporation from the 1940s to the 1970s .
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II-era American piston-engined fighter aircraft . Developed for the United States Army Air Corps , the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament . Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil ( German : der Gabelschwanz-Teufel ) by the Luftwaffe and two planes , one pilot by the Japanese . Along with its use as a general fighter , the P-38 was utilized in various aerial combat roles including as a highly effective fighter-bomber , a night fighter , and as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks . The P-38 was also used as a bomber-pathfinder , guiding streams of medium and heavy bombers ; or even other P-38s , equipped with bombs , to their targets . Used in the aerial reconnaissance role , the P-38 would account for 90 percent of the aerial film captured over Europe . The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations as the aircraft of America 's top aces , Richard Bong ( 40 victories ) , Thomas McGuire ( 38 victories ) and Charles H. MacDonald ( 27 victories ) . In the South West Pacific theater , the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the introduction of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war . Unusual for a fighter of this time , the exhaust was muffled by the turbo-superchargers , making the P-38 's operation relatively quiet . The two turbo-superchargers also provided the P-38 with good high-altitude performance , making it one of the earliest Allied fighters capable of performing at such altitudes . It was extremely forgiving and could be mishandled in many ways , but the rate of roll in the early versions was too low for it to excel as a dogfighter . The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in large-scale production throughout American involvement in the war , from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day .
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) . Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the design process , production models were flying , and two pre-production models did see very limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II . Designed with straight wings , the type saw extensive combat in Korea with the United States Air Force ( USAF ) as the F-80 . America 's first successful turbojet-powered combat aircraft , it helped usher in the jet age in the USAF , but was outclassed with the appearance of the swept-wing transonic MiG-15 and was quickly replaced in the air superiority role by the transonic F-86 Sabre . The F-94 Starfire , an all-weather interceptor on the same airframe , also saw Korean War service . The closely related T-33 Shooting Star trainer would remain in service with the U.S. Air Force and Navy well into the 1980s , with the last NT-33 variant not retired until April 1997 . Many T-33s still serve in a military role in foreign air arms or are in private hands , although the F-80 itself has long been retired from active service .
The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a United States Air Force requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort . The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo . Lockheed received a contract for two prototype XP-90s ( redesignated XF-90 in 1948 ) . The design was developed by Willis Hawkins and the Skunk Works team under Kelly Johnson . Two prototypes were built ( s/n 46-687 and -688 ) . Developmental and political difficulties delayed the first flight until 3 June 1949 , with Chief Test Pilot Tony LeVier at the controls . Performance of the design was considered inadequate due to being underpowered , and the XF-90 never entered production .
The Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter was a single-engine , high-performance , supersonic interceptor prototype for a United States Air Force ( USAF ) series of lightweight and simple fighters . Only two aircraft were built ; one aircraft was used primarily for aerodynamic research and the other served as an armament testbed , both aircraft being destroyed in accidents during testing . The XF-104s were forerunners of over 2,500 production Lockheed F-104 Starfighters . During the Korean War , USAF fighter pilots were outclassed by MiG-equipped Soviet pilots . Lockheed engineers , led by Kelly Johnson , designed and submitted a novel design to the Air Force , notable for its sleekness , particularly its thin wings and missile-shaped fuselage , as well as a novel pilot ejection system . Flight testing of the XF-104s began with the first flight in March 1954 , encountering several problems , some of which were resolved ; however , performance of the XF-104 proved better than estimates and despite both prototypes being lost through accidents , the USAF ordered 17 service-test/pre-production YF-104As . Production Starfighters proved popular , both with the USAF and internationally , serving with a number of countries , including Jordan , Turkey , and Japan .
The Lockheed U-2 , nicknamed Dragon Lady , is an American single-jet engine , ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force ( USAF ) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) . It provides day and night , high-altitude ( 70,000 feet ; 21,000 m ) , all-weather intelligence gathering . Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953 , it was approved in 1954 , and its first test flight was in 1955 . It was flown during the Cold War over the Soviet Union , China , Vietnam , and Cuba . In 1960 , Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile ( SAM ) . Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down in a U-2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 . U-2s have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq , and supported several multinational NATO operations . The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research , satellite calibration , scientific research , and communications purposes . The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years , along with the Boeing B-52 and Boeing KC-135 . The newest models ( TR-1 , U-2R , U-2S ) entered service in the 1980s , and the latest model , the U-2S , had a technical upgrade in 2012 .
Arthur Warren Kit Murray ( December 26 , 1918 - July 25 , 2011 ) was a United States test pilot . He flew test flights on the Bell X-1 and the Bell X-5 aircraft .
The Bell X-1 , ( Bell Model 44 ) , is a rocket engine-powered aircraft , designated originally as the XS-1 , and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics-U.S. Army Air Forces-U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft . Conceived during 1944 and designed and built in 1945 , it achieved a speed of nearly 1,000 miles per hour ( 1,600 km/h ; 870 kn ) in 1948 . A derivative of this same design , the Bell X-1A , having greater fuel capacity and hence longer rocket burning time , exceeded 1,600 miles per hour ( 2,600 km/h ; 1,400 kn ) in 1954 . The X-1 , piloted by Chuck Yeager , was the first crewed airplane to exceed the speed of sound in level flight and was the first of the X-planes , a series of American experimental rocket planes ( and non-rocket planes ) designed for testing new technologies .
The Northrop X-4 Bantam was a prototype small twinjet aircraft manufactured by Northrop Corporation in 1948 . It had no horizontal tail surfaces , depending instead on combined elevator and aileron control surfaces ( called elevons ) for control in pitch and roll attitudes , almost exactly in the manner of the similar-format , rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me 163 of Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe . Some aerodynamicists had proposed that eliminating the horizontal tail would also do away with stability problems at fast speeds ( called shock stall ) resulting from the interaction of supersonic shock waves from the wings and the horizontal stabilizers . The idea had merit , but the flight control systems of that time prevented the X-4 from any success .
The Bell X-5 was the first aircraft capable of changing the sweep of its wings in flight . It was inspired by the untested wartime P.1101 design of the German Messerschmitt company . In contrast with the German design , which could only have its wing sweepback angle adjusted on the ground , the Bell engineers devised a system of electric motors to adjust the sweep in flight .
Arthur L. Art Nalls , Jr. ( born 1954 ) is a retired United States Marine Corps officer , test pilot , and entrepreneur who owns and operates a unique air show business consisting of two Harrier jump jets as well as other aircraft . He is notable for his contributions to the air show profession restoring and flying uncommon aircraft . Nalls flew Harriers extensively in the military and developed a great enthusiasm for this jet capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing ( V/STOL ) operations . Supported by a group of pilots and maintainers , Nalls performs at air shows in the northeast United States and Canada . According to Nalls , his Sea Harrier XZ439 is the world 's first privately owned and flown Harrier of any kind . In 2014 , he acquired a two-seat Harrier that is the world 's only flyable civilian Harrier trainer aircraft .
The United States Marine Corps ( USMC ) , also referred to as the United States Marines , is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations with the United States Navy as well as the Army and Air Force . The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States . The Marine Corps has been a component of the U.S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834 , working closely with naval forces . The USMC operates installations on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world . Additionally , several of the Marines ' tactical aviation squadrons , primarily Marine Fighter Attack squadrons , are also embedded in Navy carrier air wings and operate from the aircraft carriers . The history of the Marine Corps began when two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting both at sea and on shore . In the Pacific theater of World War II the Corps took the lead in a massive campaign of amphibious warfare , advancing from island to island . As of 2017 , the USMC has around 186,000 active duty members and some 38,500 personnel in reserve .
In the United States Army , U.S. Marine Corps , and U.S. Air Force , lieutenant colonel is a field-grade military officer rank , just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel . It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services . The pay grade for the rank of lieutenant colonel is O-5 . In the United States armed forces , the insignia for the rank are a silver oak leaf , with slight stylized differences between the version of the Army and the Air Force and that of the Navy and the Marine Corps . Promotion to lieutenant colonel is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act ( DOPMA ) of 1980 , for officers in the Active Component , and its companion Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act ( ROPMA ) , for officers in the Reserve Component ( e.g. , Reserve and National Guard ) . DOPMA guidelines suggest that 70 percent of majors be promoted to lieutenant colonel after serving at least three years at their present rank and after 15-17 years of cumulative commissioned service .
The Harrier , informally referred to as the Harrier Jump Jet , is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations ( V/STOL ) . Named after a bird of prey , it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s . The Harrier emerged as the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many attempted during that era . It was a subsonic aircraft , unlike most of its competitors . It was conceived to operate from improvised bases , such as car parks or forest clearings , without requiring large and vulnerable air bases . Later , the design was adapted for use from aircraft carriers . There are two generations and four main variants of the Harrier family , developed by both UK and US manufacturers :
Bruce A. Peterson ( May 23 , 1933 - May 1 , 2006 ) was an American aeronautical engineer , and test pilot for NASA .
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA , /ˈnæsə/ ) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program , as well as aeronautics and aerospace research . [ note 1 ] NASA was established in 1958 , succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ) . The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation , encouraging peaceful applications in space science . Since its establishment , most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA , including the Apollo Moon landing missions , the Skylab space station , and later the Space Shuttle . NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle , the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles . The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for uncrewed NASA launches . NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System ; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program ; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft missions such as New Horizons ; and researching astrophysics topics , such as the Big Bang , through the Great Observatories and associated programs .
The NASA M2-F1 was a lightweight , unpowered prototype aircraft , developed to flight-test the wingless lifting body concept . Its unusual appearance earned it the nickname flying bathtub and was designated the M2-F1 , the M referring to manned , and F referring to flight version . In 1962 , NASA Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight , unpowered lifting-body prototype . It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden . Construction was completed in 1963 .
The Northrop M2-F2 was a heavyweight lifting body based on studies at NASA 's Ames and Langley research centers and built by the Northrop Corporation in 1966 .
The Northrop HL-10 was one of five US heavyweight lifting body designs flown at NASA 's Flight Research Center ( FRC - later Dryden Flight Research Center ) in Edwards , California , from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space . It was a NASA design and was built to evaluate inverted airfoil lifting body and delta planform . It currently is on display at the entrance to the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base .
A lifting body is a fixed-wing aircraft or spacecraft configuration in which the body itself produces lift . In contrast to a flying wing , which is a wing with minimal or no conventional fuselage , a lifting body can be thought of as a fuselage with little or no conventional wing . Whereas a flying wing seeks to maximize cruise efficiency at subsonic speeds by eliminating non-lifting surfaces , lifting bodies generally minimize the drag and structure of a wing for subsonic , supersonic and hypersonic flight , or spacecraft re-entry . All of these flight regimes pose challenges for proper flight safety . Lifting bodies were a major area of research in the 1960s and 70s as a means to build a small and lightweight manned spacecraft . The US built a number of lifting body rocket planes to test the concept , as well as several rocket-launched re-entry vehicles that were tested over the Pacific . Interest waned as the US Air Force lost interest in the manned mission , and major development ended during the Space Shuttle design process when it became clear that the highly shaped fuselages made it difficult to fit fuel tankage . Advanced spaceplane concepts in the 1990s and 2000s did use lifting-body designs . Examples include the HL-20 Personnel Launch System ( 1990 ) and the Prometheus spaceplane ( 2010 ) . The Dream Chaser lifting-body spaceplane , an extension of HL-20 technology , was under development as of 2012 [ update ] as one of three vehicles to potentially carry US crew to and from the International Space Station . In 2015 the ESA Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle performed the first ever successful reentry of a lifting body spacecraft .
Steven Nicholas Pisanos ( born Spiros Pisanos ( Greek : Σπύρος Πίσανος ) ; November 10 , 1919 - June 6 , 2016 ) was a Greek-American aviator and flying ace who served as a fighter pilot with the British Royal Air Force ( RAF ) and later the United States Army Air Forces in World War II . He was credited with shooting down 10 enemy aircraft while flying with the American 4th Fighter Group . Post-war , he achieved the rank of colonel in the United States Air Force , flew in the Vietnam War and , by the end of his career in 1974 , had received 33 decorations and distinctions . His autobiography , The Flying Greek , was published in April 2008 .
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger [ N 2 ] was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force 's air defenses in the late 1950s . Entering service in 1956 , its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets ( primarily the Tupolev Tu-95 ) during the Cold War . Designed and manufactured by Convair , 1,000 F-102s were built . A member of the Century Series , the F-102 was the USAF 's first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter . It used an internal weapons bay to carry both guided missiles and rockets . As originally designed , it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling . The F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion , and by the 1960s , it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles . It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and , later , by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs . Many of the F-102s were transferred from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard by the mid-to-late 1960s , and , with the exception of those examples converted to unmanned QF-102 Full Scale Aerial Target ( FSAT ) drones , the type was totally retired from operational service in 1976 . The follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart , which was an extensive redesign of the F-102 .
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II [ N 1 ] is a tandem two-seat , twin-engine , all-weather , long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft . It first entered service in 1960 with the Navy . Proving highly adaptable , it was also adopted by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force , and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their air arms . The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2 . It can carry more than 18,000 pounds ( 8,400 kg ) of weapons on nine external hardpoints , including air-to-air missiles , air-to-ground missiles , and various bombs . The F-4 , like other interceptors of its time , was initially designed without an internal cannon . Later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon . Beginning in 1959 , it set 15 world records for in-flight performance , including an absolute speed record and an absolute altitude record . The F-4 was used extensively during the Vietnam War . It served as the principal air superiority fighter for the U.S. Air Force , Navy , and Marine Corps and became important in the ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance roles late in the war . During the Vietnam War , one U.S. Air Force pilot , two weapon systems officers ( WSOs ) , one U.S. Navy pilot and one radar intercept officer ( RIO ) became aces by achieving five aerial kills against enemy fighter aircraft . The F-4 continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s , being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force , the F-14 Tomcat in the U.S. Navy , and the F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps .
Colonel Jackie Lynwood Jack Ridley ( June 16 , 1915 - March 12 , 1957 ) was an aeronautical engineer , USAF test pilot and chief of the U.S. Air Force 's Flight Test Engineering Laboratory . He helped develop and test many Cold War era military aircraft . He worked on the Bell X-1 , the first aircraft to achieve supersonic flight . He was highly respected among fellow test pilots , most notably Chuck Yeager , for his engineering skills .
The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the sudden increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound . When aircraft first began to be able to reach close to the speed of sound , these effects were seen as constituting a barrier making faster speeds very difficult or impossible . The term sound barrier is still sometimes used today to refer to aircraft reaching supersonic flight . In dry air at 20 °C ( 68 °F ) , the speed of sound is 343 metres per second ( about 767 mph , 1234 km/h or 1,125 ft/s ) . The term came into use during World War II when pilots of high-speed fighter aircraft experienced the effects of compressibility , a number of adverse aerodynamic effects that deterred further acceleration , seemingly impeding flight at speeds close to the speed of sound . These difficulties represented a barrier to flying at faster speeds . In 1947 it was demonstrated that safe flight at the speed of sound was achievable in purpose-designed aircraft thereby breaking the barrier . By the 1950s , new designs of fighter aircraft routinely reached the speed of sound , and faster . [ N 1 ]
Robert L. Silver Fox Stephens ( 1 December 1921 - 21 May 1984 ) was a United States Air Force test pilot who set several speed and altitude records while testing the Lockheed YF-12 and SR-71 .
The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is a long-range , high-altitude , Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force . It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division . American aerospace engineer Clarence Kelly Johnson was responsible for many of the design 's innovative concepts . During aerial reconnaissance missions , the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats . If a surface-to-air missile launch were detected , the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile . The shape of the SR-71 was based on the A-12 which was one of the first aircraft to be designed with a reduced radar cross-section . The SR-71 served with the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1998 . A total of 32 aircraft were built ; 12 were lost in accidents with none lost to enemy action . The SR-71 has been given several nicknames , including Blackbird and Habu . Since 1976 , it has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft , a record previously held by the related Lockheed YF-12 .
Colonel Robert E. Thacker , USAF ( Ret . ) ( born February 21 , 1918 ) is a retired test pilot , a lifelong aeromodeling enthusiast and designer , one of the few pilots in history to do tours of duty in two different theaters of operation ( Europe and the Pacific ) in World War II and the holder of a number of aviation records .
The North American F-82 Twin Mustang is the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force . Based on the P-51 Mustang , the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II . The war ended well before the first production units were operational . In the postwar era , Strategic Air Command used the planes as a long-range escort fighter . Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow as all-weather day/night interceptors . During the Korean War , Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea . The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s , the first being a North-Korean Yak-11 downed over Gimpo Airfield by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron .