On July 11, 1957, Lockheed engineering test pilot William C. “Bill” Park, Jr. was flying the first XF-104 as chase for F-104A flight tests when the prototype developed uncontrollable tail flutter. Pilot Bill Park was forced to eject when the entire tail group was ripped from the airplane.

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The U.S. Air Force premier demonstration squadron “Thunderbirds” sit on Grissom’s parking ramp prior to the kick-off of the Grissom Air & Space Expo Sept. 7, 2019. The airshow brought in more than 50,000 spectators the first day alone and featured several civilian and military aircraft.

Tags:   Air Force AF Grissom Grissom ARB Reserve Airman 434th Air Refueling Wing 434th ARW KC-135R Stratotanker Stratotanker KC-135 Refueling Citizen Airmen Benjamin Mota Ben Mota Grissom Air Reserve Base Indiana United States

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The U.S. Navy Convair XF2Y-1 Sea Dart (BuNo 135762) disintegrates in mid-air over San Diego Bay on 4 November 1954, California (USA), during a demonstration for Navy officials and the press, killing Convair test pilot Charles E. Richbourg when he inadvertently exceeded the airframe limitations.

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USS Essex (CVA-9) takes spray over the bow while steaming in heavy seas, 12 January 1960. Note S2F type airplane at the rear of the flight deck, with its engines turning. Other planes visible, amidships, include AD and F4D types. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Essex (CVA-9) takes spray over the bow while steaming in heavy seas. Essex, with assigned Carrier Air Group 10 (CVG-10), was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea from 7 August 1959 to 26 February 1960. A Grumman TF-1 Trader COD plane is readied for launch from the angled flight deck. Several Douglas AD-6 and AD-5W Skyraider and Douglas F4D-1 Skyrays are parked behind the island. An AD-5 (BuNo 132463) assigned to United States Fleet Activities Naples, Italy, is parked on the elevator.

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Air Force pilot Major Cecil Powell stands in front of the X-24A after a research flight. Built for the Air Force by Martin Marietta, the X-24A was a bulbous vehicle shaped like a tear drop, with three vertical fins at the rear for directional control. It weighed 6,270 pounds, was just over 24 feet long, and had a width of nearly 14 feet. The first unpowered glide flight of the X-24A was on April 17, 1969. The pilot was Air Force Major Jerauld Gentry. Gentry also piloted the vehicle on its first powered flight March 19, 1970. It was flown 28 times in a program which, like the HL-10, helped validate the concept that a space shuttle vehicle could be landed unpowered. Fastest speed in the X-24A was l,036 mph (Mach 1.6). The pilot was John Manke, who also reached the highest altitude in the vehicle, 71,400 feet. He was also the pilot on its final flight June 4, 1971. The X-24A was later modified with a different nose configuration and became the X-24B.

Tags:   X-24 Lifting Body X-24A X-24B Major Cecil Powell NASA Flight Research Center

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