 71k GIF - 29k JPEG Smithsonian Institution Photograph #79-762 |
Milestone: First Aircraft to Fly Faster Than Twice the Speed of Sound |
| Date of Milestone: November 20, 1953 |
|
| Artifact: Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket |
|
| Pilot: A. Scott Crossfield |
|
| Artifact Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum 2nd Floor above east escalators. [adjacent to Milestones of Flight Gallery] |
|
Piloted by A. Scott Crossfield, on November 20, 1953, the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket became the first aircraft to fly faster than Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. Air-launched from a U.S. Navy Boeing P2B-1S (B-29) the swept-wing, rocket-powered D-558-2 reached Mach 2.005 in a shallow dive at 18,898 meters (62,000 feet). The D-558 series of aircraft was
developed by Douglas under the direction of Edward H. Heinemann for
the U.S. Navy to explore transonic and supersonic flight. The National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor to NASA),
used this Skyrocket, the second one built, to explore the flight characteristics
of swept-wing aircraft. It set several other speed and altitude records
before the program ended in 1956. |
|||||||||||||||||||
More Information: |
|||||||||||||||||||
Exhibitions | Featured Exhibitions | Former Exhibitions | Online Exhibitions
NASM Home Page
©National Air and Space Museum
