Street dedication becomes emotional tribute Published Jan. 5, 2010 By Diane Betzler EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. -- What started out to be a typical street dedication to one of Edwards' finest became an emotional tribute when family members, friends and Air Force leaders gathered at the dedication ceremony for a street named Jordan. Located on base at the corner of what's now Jordan Street and South Fogleman Loop, the street was named after a record-setting U.S. Air Force test pilot, Lt. Col. Joe B. Jordan. The dedication ceremony took place Dec. 14, the date the then Captain Jordan flew high enough to capture the world's altitude record. Jordan made that famous flight in a F-104C Starfighter in which he soared to a height of 103,395.5 feet above the Earth 50 years ago that day. The accomplishment was recognized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who invited Jordan to the White House and presented him with the Harmon International Trophy for his amazing achievement. Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, hosted the dedication ceremony and addressed his comments to the Jordan family. "On Dec. 14, 1959 your dad soared high above Edwards Air Force Base doing what test pilots dream about doing -- taking their aircraft and pushing it to its limits," he said to Joe Jordan's son, Ken, and to the celebrated test pilot's daughter, Carrie, who were among the distinguished guests attending the event. "I'm jealous," the general told the younger Jordans. "To be able to go up that high and see the curvature of the Earth and see what it's all about... Getting that view of California is something the rest of us only dream about," General Eichhorn said. The general lauded many of Colonel Jordan's other accomplishments during his 22-year-long military career and said the test pilot conducted system tests on a wide range of aircraft. "Your dad did many things, as an F-111 test pilot, he tested the capsule in a way that no other test pilot wanted to test the capsule," the general grinned. General Eichhorn was referring to an incident when the F-111 Jordan was flying caught fire during a gunfire test and Jordan was forced to eject. According to records of the incident, Jordan ignored injuries he suffered while ejecting and spent his energy documenting the experience so that he could present his findings in a written report and hopefully pave the way to improve ejection seats and make them safer for future pilots. Johnny Armstrong, chief engineer of Hypersonic Combined Test Force at the AFFTC was the flight test engineer for Jordan for that record-setting flight test program. He praised Colonel Jordan for his professional accomplishments and for the personable kind of a guy that he was. Mr. Armstrong said that until that fateful day, the Russians held the altitude record and said proudly that Colonel Jordan took the record from "those darn Russians." "Records are set to show the other guys that we have hardware that they better pay attention to," Armstrong said. He talked about what it took to qualify the F-104C for the record-breaking flight and said it took a few creative minds and some major modifications to the aircraft. "They installed an F-104B aft fuselage with a large tail, and they added an engine inlet cone to allow a higher Mach speed. They also installed instrumentation suited for the program's specific needs," Mr. Armstrong shared. He recalled that at the same time the U.S. Navy had also been given permission to top the altitude record and in fact did so on Dec. 7, 1959 when the Navy flew its aircraft to 98,561 feet above the Earth, more than exceeding the required 3 percent height increase needed to break the Russians' record. "That kind of put us on a stop mode for a little bit, but a few days later the Air Force gave us the go-ahead," Armstrong said. He said once their testing began they (Joe Jordan's Air Force team) had new qualifications to meet and now faced the challenge of exceeding 101,395.5 feet. "On Dec. 10 Joe flew to 95,220 feet. On Dec. 11 he flew twice, once reaching a height of 97,910 feet and once soaring all the way up to 100,000 feet. Dec. 12 Joe flew to 97,800 feet and on Dec. 14, 50 years ago today; he took his aircraft to the record-breaking height of 103,395.5 feet. He not only beat the Russians that day, but he broke the Navy's record too," Armstrong proudly stated. Armstrong said the Navy wasn't too happy about that and said President Eisenhower jokingly asked Jordan, 'Couldn't you have gone an extra foot?' The dedication ceremony was narrated by Maj. James Quashnock who introduced the event's special guests and distinguished visitors and rated the Jordan family members as the event's most distinguished visitors at the dedication. Other family members who attended the street renaming ceremony was the test pilot's cousin, retired Col. John Jordan, who also flew F-100s and F-105s with the celebrated test pilot and John Jordan's wife, Carol. Other distinguished guests included Arnold Bryant, Joe Jordan's F-104 crew chief. Bryant said Jordan was great to work with. "He never questioned me when I told him something wasn't right with the aircraft, he would just tell me to let him know when the aircraft was ready," Bryant said of his former boss. Major Quashnock called on General Eichhorn and Ken and Carrie Jordan to unveil the street sign. As Joe Jordan's family uncovered the Jordan Street sign Major Quashnock said, "In honor of the sacrifice given by (Lt. Col.) Joe B. Jordan, we are dedicating this street in his honor. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Jordan Street." Ken Jordan followed the unveiling with an emotional account of what Joe Jordan, the family man, was like. He shared some quality moments he enjoyed with his dad and talked about a round of golf they played together some years ago. "He wasn't a great golfer, but he could swing ok. Dad went first, he swings, and he whiffed it and I almost fell down laughing," the younger Jordan said, his voice cracking with emotion recalling moments he'll never get to share again with an American hero that to him was simply dad. Ken Jordan said that when his turn came he knew that he couldn't do worse but was a little bit nervous about it since he made such a big deal about laughing at his father's misfortune. "All I needed to do was make contact with the ball to top my father's play," he said, thinking that shouldn't be too difficult. The younger Jordan stepped up to the plate and took his shot and guess what.... He too, whiffed it! Ken Jordan said everyone there laughed at them both. "It's a good thing Dad was a better pilot than he was a golfer." The younger Jordan said he wasn't really aware of the importance of what his father did for a living until he was in the fifth grade and got to spend a day with his father at Edwards. "Dad was in a YF-17 and had been approved for a maximum power takeoff and I watched him go down the runway and straight up in 30 seconds and I thought, Wow, my dad is cool!" In a voice charged with emotion, Ken Jordan told those attending the dedication, "To have my dad's name on a street sign here at Edwards is really special." "This just fits perfectly with what Edwards is all about," said General Eichhorn. "Pushing the envelope, pushing the science __ going up to greater heights than any man or any person has gone to before. It's with great pleasure that we name a street after Joe Jordan,"