Albert Scott Crossfield
( Albert) Scott Crossfield ( born October 2, 1921 in Berkeley, California, † 19 April, 2006 near Atlanta, Georgia ) was an American test pilot. He graduated as a test pilot for North American Aviation 14 flights in the X-15 program.
Life
Scott Crossfield grew up in California and Washington State. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot. From 1946 to 1950 he studied at the University of Washington Aeronautical Engineering. After that he went as a research pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ) at the Edwards Air Force Base.
During the next five years, he flew there, among other things, the types of X-1, XF -92, X-4, X -5, Douglas D -558 -I Skystreak and Douglas D- 558- II Skyrocket.
On November 20, 1953, he presented with a D -558 -II, which was suspended under a bomber brought into the air, a new speed record. He was with 2078 km / h, the first man to reach double the speed of sound.
From 1955 he worked as a test pilot at the North American Aviation. During this time he became Man In Space Soonest (MISS ) selected by the United States Air Force for the project, which had a manned space flight to your destination. After the founding of NASA, this project was discontinued, but was Crossfield thus to the first astronaut selection history.
In North American Aviation Crossfield played a crucial role in the development of supersonic aircraft missiles X - 15th He was one of the twelve X -15 pilot and the only North American. On 8 June 1959 he led the first flight with this type by on September 17, 1959 first flight under its own power. On his fourth flight on 5 November 1959, he had to make an emergency landing. The machine was broken, but Crossfield was uninjured. His last X -15 flight, he performed on December 6, 1960.
Then Crossfield worked as head of quality assurance in North American. Among other things, he was responsible for the tests of the Apollo spacecraft, which was manufactured by North American.
From 1967 Crossfield worked for Eastern Airlines from 1974 to 1975 Hawker Siddeley. From 1977 until his retirement in 1993 Crossfield worked as a technical consultant for the Committee on Science and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives.
From 2001 to 2003 he trained four pilots on a replica of the Wright brothers' Flyer. The plan was a repeat of the historic flight to its 100th anniversary, but had to be canceled due to the weather the event.
On 19 April 2006 Crossfield began with his single-engine Cessna 210A from the airfield in Prattville, Alabama. His goal was to Manassas, Virginia. During a storm, the 84 -year-old crashed in a wooded area in Gordon County, Georgia, and died.
Scott Crossfield was married and had six children.