Mon, Oct 10, 2005
Two Test Pilots Talk About Their Flights And Their
Aircraft
It has been just over one year since the privately-funded
SpaceShipOne flew into space, twice within five days, to claim the
Ansari X-Prize. With that in mind, we felt it would be an
appropriate time to revisit one of our inaugural Aero-Cast
features: our coverage of a presentation from this year's
AirVenture 2005, featuring former X-15 pilot Scott Crossfield --
the first man to fly a winged vehicle into suborbital space
-- and Mike Melvill, pilot of SpaceShipOne's first flight into
space, as well as the first of the two X-Prize-winning flights.
Once the crowd's applause died down (and after some technical
glitches were worked out), the two men gave a spirited talk to the
packed audience gathered at the Theater In The Woods. Both men
captivated the crowd with their tales and observations of their
experiences, with Melvill discussing his flight into space aboard
SpaceShipOne last year and Crossfield giving insight into what it
felt like to pilot the rocket-powered X-15 in test flights over 40
years before.
Melvill had the mike (bad pun) for most of the presentation, but
Crossfield easily provided the best one liners. Here's an example:
When Mike asks Scott if he ever felt nervous while piloting the
X-15, Crossfield replies "I wasn't doing any psychological or
emotional evaluations... I was busy flying an airplane! I don't
know what you were doing..."
Listen To Mike Melvill And Scott
Crossfield At Oshkosh
To listen, just click on the link above to download the
Aero-Cast to your iPod, or similar audio device. Don't have an
iPod? Well, you can then download any of our Aero-Casts right to
your computer, and listen to them at your convenience!
Aero-News Aero-Casts: If it's IN the air (or space), we have it
ON the air!
More News
Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]
Aero Linx: The T-6 Racing Association The T-6 Racing Association is all about T-6‘s and racing. Our mission is to bring great racing to our fans in Reno and other venues wher>[...]
Also: Electra Aero, AMO-CBP v Smugglers, Naval King Airs, Boeing Deal To the surprise of everyone involved, Waco Kitchen shut down both airport operations with little warning and h>[...]
Also: WACO Kitchen Bails, French SportPlane Mfr to FL, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Innovation Preview Bobby Bailey, a bit of a fixture in sport aviation circles for his work with>[...]
Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]