Douglas D - 558 - 2 Skyrocket The Douglas D - 558 - 2 Skyrocket ( or D - 558 - II ) was a rocket and jet - powered supersonic research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy . On 20 November 1953 , shortly before the 50th anniversary of powered flight , Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2 , or more than 1 , 290 mph ( 2076 km / h ) , the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound . Design and development . 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 . When it became obvious that the D558 - 1 fuselage could not be modified to accommodate both rocket and jet power , the D558 - 2 was conceived as an entirely different aircraft . A contract change order was issued on 27 January 1947 to formally drop the final three D558 - 1 aircraft and substitute three new D558 - 2 aircraft instead . 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 of primarily magnesium construction . The Skyrocket was powered by a Westinghouse J34 - 40 turbojet engine 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 ( the Navy designation for the Air Force ' s XLR - 11 used in the Bell X - 1 ) , was fitted . This engine was rated at 6 , 000 lbf ( 27 kN ) static thrust at sea level . A total of of aviation fuel , of alcohol , and of liquid oxygen were carried in fuselage tanks . The Skyrocket was configured with a flush cockpit canopy , but visibility from the cockpit was poor , so it was re - configured with a raised cockpit with conventional angled windows . This resulted in a greater profile area at the front of the aircraft , which was balanced by an additional 14 inches ( 36 cm ) of height added to the vertical stabilizer . Like its predecessor , the D558 - 1 , the D558 - 2 was designed so that the forward fuselage , including cockpit , could be separated from the rest of the aircraft in an emergency . Once the forward fuselage had decelerated sufficiently , the pilot would then be able to escape from the cockpit by parachute . Operational history . Douglas pilot John F . Martin made the first flight at Muroc Army Airfield ( later renamed Edwards Air Force Base ) in California on 4 February 1948 in an aircraft equipped only with the jet engine . The goals of the program were to investigate the characteristics of swept - wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds with particular attention to pitch - up ( un - commanded rotation of the nose of the aircraft upwards ) , a problem prevalent in high - speed service aircraft of that era , particularly at low speeds during takeoff and landing , and in tight turns . The three aircraft gathered a great deal of data about pitch - up and the coupling of lateral ( yaw ) and longitudinal ( pitch ) motions ; wing and tail loads , lift , drag and buffeting characteristics of swept - wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds ; and the effects of the rocket exhaust plume on lateral dynamic stability throughout the speed range . ( Plume effects were a new experience for aircraft . ) The number three aircraft also gathered information about the effects of external stores ( bomb shapes , drop tanks ) upon the aircraft ' s behavior in the transonic region ( roughly 0 . 7 to 1 . 3 times the speed of sound ) . In correlation with data from other early transonic research aircraft such as the XF - 92A , this information contributed to solutions to the pitch - up problem in swept - wing aircraft . Its flight research was done at the NACA ' s Muroc Flight Test Unit in California , redesignated in 1949 the High - Speed Flight Research Station ( HSFRS ) . The HSFRS became the High - Speed Flight Station in 1954 and is now known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center . The three aircraft flew a total of 313 times – 123 by the number one aircraft ( Bureau No . 37973 — NACA 143 ) , 103 by the second Skyrocket ( Bureau No . 37974 – NACA 144 ) , and 87 by aircraft number three ( Bureau No . 37975 – NACA 145 ) . Skyrocket 143 flew all but one of its missions as part of the Douglas contractor program to test the aircraft ' s performance . NACA aircraft 143 was initially powered by the jet engine only , but was later fitted with the rocket engine . In this configuration , it was tested by Douglas from 1949 to 1951 . After Douglas ' test program , it was delivered to NACA , who stored it until 1954 . In 1954 - 55 the contractor modified it to an all - rocket air - launch capability with the jet engine removed . In this configuration , NACA research pilot John McKay flew the aircraft only once for familiarization on 17 September 1956 . The 123 flights of NACA 143 served to validate wind - tunnel predictions of the aircraft ' s performance , except for the fact that the aircraft experienced less drag above Mach 0 . 85 than the wind tunnels had indicated . NACA 144 also began its flight program with a turbojet powerplant . NACA pilots Robert A . Champine and John H . Griffith flew 21 times in this configuration to test airspeed calibrations and to research longitudinal and lateral stability and control . In the process , during August 1949 they encountered pitch - up problems , which NACA engineers recognized as serious because they could produce a limiting and dangerous restriction on flight performance . Hence , they determined to make a complete investigation of the problem . In 1950 , Douglas replaced the turbojet with an LR - 8 rocket engine , and its pilot , Bill Bridgeman , flew the aircraft seven times up to a speed of Mach 1 . 88 ( 1 . 88 times the speed of sound ) and an altitude of 79 , 494 ft ( 24 , 230 m ) , the latter an unofficial world ' s altitude record at the time , achieved on 15 August 1951 . In the rocket configuration , the aircraft was attached beneath the bomb bay of a Navy P2B , a variant of the B - 29 bomber . The P2B would fly to about , then release the rocket plane . During Bridgeman ' s supersonic flights , he encountered a violent rolling motion known as lateral instability . The motion was less pronounced during the Mach 1 . 88 flight on 7 August 1951 than during a Mach 1 . 85 flight in June when he pushed over to a low angle of attack . The NACA engineers studied the behavior of the aircraft before beginning their own flight research in the aircraft in September 1951 . Over the next couple of years , NACA pilot Scott Crossfield flew the aircraft 20 times to gather data on longitudinal and lateral stability and control , wing and tail loads , and lift , drag , and buffeting characteristics at speeds up to Mach 1 . 878 . At that point , Marine Lt . Col . Marion Carl flew the aircraft to a new ( unofficial ) altitude record of 83 , 235 feet ( 25 , 370 m ) on 21 August 1953 , and to a maximum speed of Mach 1 . 728 . The altitude record was not recognized by the Federation of Aeronautique Internationale , because at that time aircraft making record attempts had to take off on their own power . Following Carl ' s completion of these flights for the Navy , NACA technicians at the High - Speed Flight Research Station ( HSFRS ) near Mojave , California , outfitted the LR - 8 engine ' s combustion chambers with nozzle extensions to prevent the exhaust gas from affecting the rudders at supersonic speeds . This addition also increased the engine ' s thrust by 6 . 5 percent at Mach 1 . 7 and 70 , 000 feet ( 21 , 300 m ) . Even before Marion Carl had flown the Skyrocket , HSFRS Chief Walter C . Williams had petitioned NACA headquarters unsuccessfully to fly the aircraft to Mach 2 to garner the research data at that speed . Finally , after Crossfield had secured the agreement of the Navy ' s Bureau of Aeronautics , NACA director Hugh L . Dryden relaxed the organization ' s usual practice of leaving record setting to others and consented to attempting a flight to Mach 2 . In addition to adding the nozzle extensions , the NACA flight team at the HSFRS chilled the fuel ( alcohol ) so more could be poured into the tank and waxed the fuselage to reduce drag . Project engineer Herman O . Ankenbruck drew up a plan to fly to about 72 , 000 feet ( 21 , 900 m ) and push over into a slight dive . Crossfield made aviation history on 20 November 1953 , when he flew to Mach 2 . 005 , 1 , 291 miles per hour ( 2 , 078 km / h ) . It was the only Mach - 2 flight the Skyrocket ever made . Following this flight , Crossfield and NACA pilots Joseph A . Walker and John B . McKay flew the aircraft for such purposes as to gather data on pressure distribution , structural loads , and structural heating , with the last flight in the program occurring on 20 December 1956 , when McKay obtained dynamic stability data and sound - pressure levels at transonic speeds and above . Meanwhile , NACA 145 had completed 21 contractor flights by Douglas pilots Eugene F . May and William Bridgeman in November 1950 . In this jet - and - rocket - propelled craft , Scott Crossfield and Walter Jones began the NACA ' s investigation of pitch - up lasting from September 1951 well into summer 1953 . They flew the Skyrocket with a variety of wing - fence , wing - slat and leading edge chord extension configurations , performing various maneuvers as well as straight - and - level flying at transonic speeds . While fences significantly aided recovery from pitch - up conditions , leading edge chord extensions did not , disproving wind - tunnel tests to the contrary . Slats ( long , narrow auxiliary airfoils ) in the fully open position eliminated pitch - up except in the speed range around Mach 0 . 8 to 0 . 85 . In June 1954 , Crossfield began an investigation of the effects of external stores ( bomb shapes and fuel tanks ) upon the aircraft ' s transonic behavior . McKay and Stanley Butchart completed the NACA ' s investigation of this issue , with McKay flying the final mission on 28 August 1956 . Besides setting several records , the Skyrocket pilots had gathered important data and understanding about what would and would not work to provide stable , controlled flight of a swept - wing aircraft in the transonic and supersonic flight regimes . The data they gathered also helped to enable a better correlation of wind - tunnel test results with actual flight values , enhancing the abilities of designers to produce more capable aircraft for the armed services , especially those with swept wings . Moreover , data on such matters as stability and control from this and other early research aircraft aided in the design of the Century Series of fighter aircraft , all of which featured the movable horizontal stabilizers first employed on the X - 1 and D - 558 series . Variants . All three of the Skyrockets had 35 - degree swept wings . Until configured for air launch , NACA 143 featured a Westinghouse J - 34 - 40 turbojet engine rated at static thrust . It carried of aviation gasoline and weighed 10 , 572 lb ( 4 , 795 kg ) at takeoff . NACA 144 ( and NACA 143 after modification in 1955 ) was powered by an LR - 8 - RM - 6 rocket engine rated at static thrust . Its propellants were of liquid oxygen and of diluted ethyl alcohol . In its launch configuration , it weighed 15 , 787 lb ( 7 , 161 kg ) . NACA 145 had both an LR - 8 - RM - 5 rocket engine rated at static thrust and featured a Westinghouse J - 34 - 40 turbojet engine rated at static thrust . It carried of liquid oxygen , of diluted ethyl alcohol , and of aviation gasoline for a launch weight of 15 , 266 lb ( 6 , 925 kg ) . Survivors . D - 558 - 2 # 1 Skyrocket is on display at the Planes of Fame Museum , Chino , California . The number two Skyrocket , the first aircraft to fly Mach 2 , is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D . C . The third aircraft is displayed on a pylon in the grounds of Antelope Valley College , Lancaster , California .