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	Douglas Skyrocket - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Douglas Skyrocket D-558-II The Douglas Skyrocket (the D-558-2; also found, D-558-II) was a rocket-powered research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy.
		The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was among the early transonic research aircraft like the X-1, X-4, X-5, and XF-92.
		D-558-2 #1 Skyrocket is on display at the Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Douglas_Skyrocket (1571 words)

	NASA - NASA Dryden Fact Sheets - D-558-II
		The Navy contracted with Douglas to design the airplane, and in the course of the design process, the D-558 came to be divided into two separate phases, with phase one being a straight-wing turbojet aircraft and phase two consisting of a swept-wing design with turbojet and rocket propulsion.
		While Douglas was constructing the D-558-IIs, the NACA continued to furnish the contractor data it needed on aircraft performance based on tests in Langley wind tunnels and with rocket-propelled models from the Wallops Island Pilotless Aircraft Research Station.
		The second Skyrocket, NACA 144, is in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. NACA 145 is on display in front of the Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.
	www.nasa.gov /centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-035-DFRC.html (1751 words)

	Science Fair Projects - Douglas Skyrocket
		The Douglas Skyrocket (the D-558-2) was a rocket-powered research aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy.
		The Douglas D-558-2 "Skyrockets" were among the early transonic research airplanes like the X-1, X-4, X-5, and XF-92.
		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 (uncommanded rotation of the nose of the airplane upwards)--a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during take-off and landing and in tight turns.
	all-science-fair-projects.com /science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/D-558 (1696 words)

	D-558 II Skyrocket
		The Skyrocket was the phase-two version of what had originally been conceived as a three-phase program, with the phase-one aircraft having straight wings.
		These marks were soon surpassed by the Skyrocket in its pure rocket configuration, as Douglas test pilot Bill Bridgeman accelerated to a speed of Mach 1.88 (l,180 mph) and climbed to an altitude of 74,494 feet in August of 1951.
		The Skyrockets were flown until Dec. 1956 and completed a total of 161 flights with the NACA before being retired.
	www.globalsecurity.org /military/systems/aircraft/d-588-ii.htm (2010 words)

	Douglas Skyrocket : Edwards Air Force Base (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-25)
		With a loud roar, a Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket lifted from the Rogers Dry Lake bed in a cloud of smoke from its Jet Assisted Take-Off (JATO) boosters on Feb. 25, 1949.
		While the first two Skyrockets were laboring to take off and climb to altitude, the air-dropped Bell X-1s were streaking high overhead on pure rocket power.
		Douglas test pilot Bill Bridgeman soon took the revamped D-558-II to Mach 1.88 and an unofficial altitude record of 79,494 feet.
	www.edwards.af.mil /moments/docs_html/49-02-25.html (361 words)

	Aviation News Magazine - First double Mach-Buster (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-25)
		Douglas remedied the two problems by increasing the height of the vertical fin by roughly 18in, raising it to an even 13ft (coincidentally giving it an even more graceful line) and installing a raised cockpit similar to the D-558-I Skystreak.
		Like the first Skyrocket, this aeroplane lacked its XLR-8-RM-6 rocket engine, but NACA agreed to accept the aircraft and utilise it with the provision that when the rocket engine became available the agency could return the Skyrocket to Douglas for its installation.
		Douglas recognised the safety and performance advantages accruing from air launching and studied modifying one Skyrocket by removing its turbojet engine and replacing the engine with increased fuel for the rocket engine.
	www.airpictorial.com /pages/firstDoubleMachBuster.html (2371 words)

	D-558-2 EM-0007-04: Scott Crossfield launch from B-29
		The goals of that program were to investigate the characteristics of swept-wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds with particular attention to pitchup (uncommanded rotation of the nose of the airplane upwards) -- a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during takeoff and landing and in tight turns.
		While Douglas Aircraft was constructing the D-558-2 airplanes, the NACA continued to furnish the contractor data it needed on aircraft performance based on tests in Langley Research Center wind tunnels and with rocket-propelled models from the Wallops Island Pilotless Aircraft Research Station, Wallops Island, Virginia.
		Skyrocket 143 flew all but one of its missions as part of the Douglas Aircraft contractor program to test the airplane's performance.
	www.dfrc.nasa.gov /gallery/Movie/D-558-2/HTML/EM-0007-04.html (1471 words)

	NACA - D-558-2 Skyrocket - 1/32 Scale Mahogany Model
		Also partners in the flight research were the Navy-Marine Corps and the Douglas Aircraft Co. The HSFRS became the High-Speed Flight Station in 1954 and is now known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
		Douglas pilot John F. Martin made the first flight at Muroc Army Airfield (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) in Calif. on February 4, 1948.
		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 airplane upwards)--a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during take-off and landing and in tight turns.
	www.silentthundermodels.com /nasa_space_models/skyrocket_D-558-2.html (400 words)

	Douglas D-558
		The Navy issued a letter of intent to Douglas on June 22, 1945, for construction of six Model D-558 aircraft, having straight, thin wing and tail surfaces, and turbojet propulsion.
		The safety hazards of operating a heavily loaded rocket-propelled airplane from the ground later caused Douglas to modify the D-558-2 #2 and #3 for air launching from the bomb bay of a converted Boeing P2B-1S (Navy B-29) Superfortress.
		The historic Douglas D558-2 #2, NACA 144, the first Mach 2 airplane, is in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum.
	www.nasm.si.edu /research/aero/aircraft/douglas_d558.htm (865 words)

	Douglas Skyrocket
		On Nov. 30, 1953, pilot A. Scott Crossfield nudged the Skyrocket, which had been air-launched from a Boeing B-29, into a shallow dive at 18,900 m and reached 2,136 km/h (Mach 2.01).
		NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) used the Skyrocket to explore the flight characteristics of swept-wing aircraft.
		The Skyrocket set a number of speed and altitude records before the program was ended in 1956.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/D/Douglas_Skyrocket.html (183 words)

	AV Press: The history of Mach 2
		What he didn't know as the aircraft sped to 1,291 mph was that he and the Skyrocket pilots who followed were setting speed benchmarks that would still stand for military and civilian aircraft four decades later.
		Meanwhile, Douglas and the Navy decided to end the D-558 I Skystreak at three models and make three more with swept wings, called the D-558 II Skyrocket.
		Skyrockets were designed for 1.5 Mach, but by using certain flying techniques, it was possible to exceed Mach 2 without the instabilities some pilots encountered at about Mach 1.5, Crossfield said.
	www.avpress.com /machbusters/history.hts (1142 words)

	D-558-2
		The D-558-II Skyrocket exceeded the speed of sound at Edwards AFB, Calif. It was powered by both a Westinghouse J-34 turbojet engine and a Reaction Motors, Inc. rocket motor.
		The Skyrocket made aviation history when it became the first airplane to fly twice the speed of sound The II 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, with the phase-one aircraft having straight wings.
		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 (uncommanded rotation of the nose of the airplane upwards)—a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during take-off and landing and in tight turns.
	www.friends-partners.org /partners/mwade/craft/d5582.htm (838 words)

	Skystreak,Skyrocket & Stiletto:Douglas High-Speed Planes - by Scott Libis
		The Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, D-558-2 Skyrocket, and X-3 Stiletto were among the first aircraft to blend airframe to powerplant in ways that would set the standard for many modern-day aircraft designs.
		These aircraft were at the forefront of a renaissance in aeronautical discovery, the likes of which have not been seen since.
		One of the D-558-2 Skyrockets even became the first manned aircraft to exceed Mach 2.
	www.motorbooks.com /ProductDetails_16555.ncm (331 words)

	Breaking Mach 2 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-25)
		At the request of the Navy and the NACA, Douglas Aircraft Company conceived and built a cigar-shaped, swept wing craft that was designed to study the behavior of such a configuration at transonic and supersonic speeds.
		For, just down the Edwards flightline, there was a craft that was specifically designed to fly twice the speed of sound: an advanced version of the original X-1, the X-1A – and an Air Force pilot by the name of Yeager who was impatiently waiting his chance.
		Sick with the flu, he sat in the cockpit of the Skyrocket on Nov. 20, knowing that this would be his final chance.
	www.edwards.af.mil /history/docs_html/tidbits/mach2.html (517 words)

	Aerospaceweb.org \| Aircraft Museum - D-558-2 Skyrocket
		Based on these findings, Douglas designed a completely new aircraft, the D-558-2 Skyrocket, with a larger diameter fuselage containing a turbojet for takeoff and low-speed flight as well as a rocket engine for high-speed flight.
		Although overshadowed by the X-1, the Skyrocket was an exceptionally successful program that provided a great deal of useful data on supersonic flight.
		In particular, the D-558-2 uncovered the tendency of swept-wings to pitch-up in certain conditions and was used to explore the effects of a number of aerodynamic devices at supersonic speeds.
	www.aerospaceweb.org /aircraft/research/d5582 (557 words)

	Dryden Flight Research Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		It conducted extensive tests into aircraft stability in the transsonic range, optimal supersonic wing configurations, rocket plume effects, and high-speed flight dynamics.
		On November 20, 1953, the Douglas Skyrocket became the first aircraft to fly at over twice the speed of sound when it attained a speed of Mach 2.005.
		Unlike the X-1, the Skyrocket could also takeoff from a runway with the help of JATO units.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Dryden_Flight_Research_Center (785 words)

	ROBERT APGAR CHAMPINE
		In May 1948, he was killed on his nineteenth flight of the Douglas D-558-I #2 which crashed after takeoff due to compressor disintegration.
		The NACA D-558-II Skyrocket was delivered to NACA as a brand new airplane that had never been flown, Bob had the privilege of making the first flight.
		But on Bob's first flight in the Skyrocket, which featured thirty-five degree swept-back wings and a forty-nine degree swept-back tail in addition to being seven feet longer than the D-558-I Skystreak, he believed it might be his last.
	hometown.aol.com /GRC6431/myhomepage (6961 words)

	Aircraft: Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
		A Douglas D-558-II was flown to 74,495fl at Mach 1.88 by Pilot William 'Bill' Bridgeman at Edwards AFB.
		A Douglas D-558-II flown by pilot Scott Crossfield, was the first to exceed Mach 2, reaching 1,291 (Mach 2.01) at an altitude of 62,000 ft.
		When the credits were displayed at the end, the Douglas firm and the U.S. Navy were given credit for their involvement in the show.
	www.aero-web.org /specs/douglas/d558ii.htm (885 words)

	TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Out of This World -- Jul 16, 1951 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-25)
		Although the figures were secret, the carefully worded announcement said that at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, the Douglas Skyrocket (D558-2) had "attained the highest speed and altitude ever recorded by a piloted plane."
		Its turbojet was removed, the air intakes (not needed for rocket propulsion) were covered over, and the 40-ft. fuselage was fitted with extra tanks that doubled its capacity for the volatile rocket fuels.
		Last month, like its predecessor, the X-1, the Skyrocket was hooked up into the enlarged bomb-bay of a 6-29 and hauled 35,000 feet into the cold, thin air over the Mojave.
	www.time.com /time/archive/printout/0,23657,889097,00.html (607 words)

	Crossfield, Albert Scott (1921-)
		A test pilot of the early X-planes and the first human to fly at twice the speed of sound.
		Crossfield learned to fly with the Navy during World War II and became an aeronautical research pilot with NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1950, flying the X-1 as well as the Douglas Skyrocket (D558-II) and other experimental jets.
		In 1953, he achieved Mach 2 in a Skyrocket, and on the first powered flight of the X-15 in 1959 reached Mach 2.11 and an altitude of 15,953 m.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/C/Crossfield.html (180 words)

	LevittownRelics - Walt Disney School Skyrocket
		He contacted Douglas Aircraft who informed him that it was not flyable and was a wind tunnel test model.
		The D-558-II "Skyrocket" was an experimental aircraft, which first nudged, then penetrated the sonic barrier.
		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.
	mywebpages.comcast.net /levittownrelics/rocket/index.htm (648 words)

	NASA Dryden D-558-2 Skyrocket Photo Collection
		Scott Crossfield in cockpit of the Douglas D-558-2 after first Mach 2 flight.
		High-Speed Research Station Director Walter C. Williams, NACA pilot A. Scott Crossfield, and Director of Flight Operations Joe Vensel in front of the Douglas D-558-2 after the first Mach 2 flight.
		Scott Crossfield talks to newsmen in front of NACA South Base hangar after his first flight to Mach 2 in the Douglas D-558-2.
	www.dfrc.nasa.gov /Gallery/Photo/D-558-2/index.html (414 words)

	Aviation History Facts: January
		The MPL is scheduled to touch down in the Martian southern polar region in December.
		First flight of Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket supersonic research aircraft is made.
		It is launched from underneath its B-29 mother-ship and exceeds Mach 1 (the speed of sound) in a dive.
	www.centennialofflight.gov /user/fact_jan.htm (1758 words)

	Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100 - Douglas D-588-2 Skyrocket
		he 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.
		Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket - Aircraft of The Smithsonian
	www.nasm.si.edu /galleries/gal100/skyrocket.html (164 words)

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