First man to fly Mach 2 missing

[JJflyer]

A link courtesy to CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/04/20/georgia.plane/index.html

[Airbubba]

April 20, 2006

Test Pilot's Body Said Found in Wreckage

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:14 p.m. ET

RANGER, Ga. (AP) -- Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said.

Searchers discovered the wreckage of a small plane about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, but the Civil Air Patrol didn't immediately identify the body inside.

Ed Fleming, Crossfield's son-in-law, told The Associated Press from Crossfield's home in Herndon, Va., that family had been told it was Crossfield.

Crossfield's Cessna was last spotted in the same area on Wednesday while on flight from Alabama to Virginia. There were thunderstorms in the area when officials lost radar and radio contact with the plane at 11:15 a.m., said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Crossfield, 84, had been one of a group of civilian pilots assembled by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA, in the early 1950s.

Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager had already broken the speed of sound in his history-making flight in 1947. But Crossfield set the Mach 2 record -- twice the speed of sound -- in 1953, when he reached 1,300 mph in NACA's Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

In 1960, Crossfield reached Mach 2.97 in an X-15 rocket plane launched from a B-52 bomber. The plane reached an altitude of 81,000 feet. At the time, Crossfield was working as a pilot and design consultant for North American Aviation, which made the X-15. He later worked as an executive for Eastern Airlines and Hawker Siddley Aviation.

More recently, Crossfield had a key role in preparations for the attempt to re-enact the Wright brothers' flight on the 100th anniversary of their feat near Kitty Hawk, N.C. He trained four pilots for the Dec. 17, 2003, flight attempt in a replica of the brothers' flyer, but poor weather prevented the take-off.

Among his many honors, Crossfield was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.

On Wednesday, his plane had left Prattville, Ala., around 9 a.m. en route to Manassas, Va., not far from his home.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Missing-Plane.html

[jfill]

Here's a track of his final flight.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6579X

The track log shows a sudden altitude change and a slowing of the aircraft starting at 11:09 AM. He made a turn to the south east. Thunderstorms reported in the area.

RIP

[hobie]

How very sad .....

It's worth doing a Google on him ..... simply input Scott Crossfield to see so much history ........

[QDMQDMQDM]

Age 84, died in his aircraft? Sounds pretty good to me. Better than drooling to death in an old people's home.

Good on you and have a good flight, Mr. Crossfield!

QDM

[spitfire]

Aviation has lost a living legend. I had the privilege of working with him on a number of projects and despite his vast and incredible experiences in aviation, he was one of the nicest, humblest people I've ever met. A true gentleman, who represented everything that there is to like about aviation. RIP.

[Chimbu chuckles]

I remember reading an interview where he talked about his aeroplane...a late 60s model C210A. He had owned a Bonanza during the X15 project and used to fly himself to work at own expense because NA didn't like him flying it and would not recompense him...something about being risky, pretty fecking funny when you think about the X15.

He mentioned in that interview that he had no autopilot because he liked hand flying...also that he'd never had an instrument rating beyond the military one he'd had during WW2....not that I think they were contributing factors...merely an indication of an enthusiast with a low BS threshold, which are the two traits I admired most about him.

A fascinating man...I would suggest he had a bemused smile on his face as he went in...84, god knows how many hrs doing what he loved, and out clean. No better way to end imho...I should be so lucky.

RIP Mr Crossfield:ok:

[OFBSLF]

Another legend gone West.

[AfricanSkies]

Sad to see the real legends put out their hands, and touch the face of God...

Best Respects, Mr. Crossfield.

AS

[brain fade]

Rocket plane explodes.........pilot wets pants!

[Snifferdog]

He sure busted the outside of the envelope this time...bon voyage Mr Crossfield.