April 13, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On April 11, 1992, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III successfully completed its first in-flight refueling mission from a KC-135 Stratotanker.
Feb. 23, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On Feb. 21, 1953, a variant of the Bell X-1, the Bell X-1A, made its first powered flight, flown by Jean “Skip” Ziegler.
March 3, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history 27 Feb 1958 at Edwards - A test team began a series of performance, stability and control flight tests of the Lockheed CL-329 JetStar, a small, high-speed utility transport. The prototype aircraft was configured with two Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engines. (Edwards History Office file photo)
March 8, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On March 10, 1959, the first of four captive-carry flights of the X-15 mated to its Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress “mother ship” (s/n 52-003A) took place. North American Aviation test pilot A. Scott Crossfield was in the cockpit of the X-15.
March 16, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 Airborne Laser conducted the first in-flight test firings of its Target Illuminator Laser. Multiple beams of photons were directed against an NKC-135E Big Crow target aircraft off the California coastline. The kilowatt-class TIL tracks a potential target and measures
March 23, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On March 23, 1948, the Douglas XF3D Skyknight made its first flight, with Douglas test pilot Russell Thaw at the controls. The F3D, a large twin-engine night fighter developed for the Navy, had been trucked in to Muroc Army Airfield from El Segundo, California, for its flight test program.
May 18, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On May 18, 1953, Jacqueline Cochran made two supersonic dives in a Canadian-built (Canadair) F-86E Sabre and became the first woman to exceed the speed of sound. Later that day she flew the same plane over Edwards AFB’s low-level course, a 12-pylon, 100-kilometer track, to a new women’s absolute
May 25, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On May 25, 1999, the F-117 test force completed the Single Configuration Fleet program. The SCF provided a uniform radar absorbing material coating for the entire F-117 fleet, significantly reducing costs and maintenance hours.
May 11, 2017 This week in Edwards flight test history On May 10, 1972, Fairchild Republic’s YA-10A Thunderbolt II made its first flight, flown by company chief test pilot Howard “Sam” Nelson. The twin-engine, twin-tailed ground attack aircraft was designed around the GAU-8 Avenger 30mm rotary cannon.
Oct. 13, 2016 This week in Edwards flight test history: Yeager breaks sound barrier On Oct. 14, 1947, on his ninth powered flight in the airplane, Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager piloted the Bell X-1 “Glamorous Glennis,” named after his wife, to a speed of 699.4 mph at 43,000 feet (Mach 1.06), and became the first to exceed the speed of sound. This X-1 flight established that