Gathering of Eagles celebrates X-15 anniversary

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  • By Diane Betzler
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  It was a night for celebrating and reminiscing for the more than 400 people who came to the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Oct. 16 to hear the tales of an era long gone from some of the amazing people who lived it. 

The event was the Gathering of Eagles' annual banquet, which this year celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the first flight of the X-15 and paid tribute to those who were involved with the flight test program that made it all happen. 

The event was emceed by Bill Flanagan, chairman of the Flight Test Historical Foundation, the organization responsible for the birth of the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum. 

The mission of the Museum is to preserve the history of flight testing and the history of Edwards Air Force Base, the place where aviation flight testing all began more than 60 years ago and continues today. 

The X-15 was the first aircraft to fly to the edge of space and is credited for being the aircraft that led the way to today's space missions. Still today, the rocket-powered X-15 is one of the fastest flying aircraft having reached recorded speeds of Mach 6.7, approximately 4,520 mph. 

Flanagan introduced several distinguished guests, and invited Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, commander of the AFFTC at Edwards, to address the audience. 

The general thanked the foundation for its support of the AFFTC Museum on base and the Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale. He shared with everyone the plan to move the Museum just outside the west gate so that the public can have access to it. 

General Eichhorn said the overall plan is to add a restaurant and said officials are considering naming the restaurant after the legendary aviatrix Pancho Barnes, "It may not be a Happy Bottom Riding Club," the general said with a grin, then noted the name is another way of capturing history. 

He commented about the X-15 program and said it was an incredibly talented team that put the X-15 into space and brought it back. 

Flanagan spoke briefly about the need to get today's kids interested in the engineering, space and aerospace fields and said parents and teachers need to work on capturing the child's interest as early as third grade. 

The highlight of the event was when Flanagan introduced a panel of six who were once part of the X-15 program and were there to reminisce and share with everyone what it was like to work on such an incredible project. 

The panel was moderated by David Hartman, well-known former host of television's Good Morning America, and members of the panel were: Retired Maj. Gen. Joe Engle; Retired Col. Charles Bock; Johnny Armstrong; John McTigue; Betty Love; Bob Hoey; and Retired Col. Charles Bock. 

Before opening the panel for discussions Flanagan took a moment to pin four 2009 Eagles, Bob Hoey, John McTigue, Betty Love and Bob White were the recipients of that honor. White, who was unable to attend the anniversary festivities had long-time friend Al Hallonguist accept the honor for him. 

The panel began the discussions reminiscing about the "good old days."
"I worked with some of the best and for some of the best," said Love after being officially pinned as an Eagle. 

"Now that I'm an Eagle maybe I can fly with some of the best," she said.
Love worked on all the airplanes from the X-1 to the X-15. She was considered a human computer because of her ability to store data in her head much like a computer stores information in memory. At the time Love worked on the program computers hadn't yet entered onto the scene. 

Bob Hoey, who worked mission planning and data analysis for the Air Force and NASA X-15 flights, said the Air Force, NASA and North American were the three major agencies involved with the X-15 program. 

Hoey said there will never be another program like the X-15. "It was such a high risk effort, the pressure was on all of us to do the very best," he said.
Panel member McTigue, who was the X-15 project manager, said the X-15 team became a family. "We had a good time, we all respected one another," he said.
General White became primary test pilot for the X-15 in 1958 and flew 16 flights in the aircraft. 

The panel went on to share the good times and the difficult times. McTigue said the nice thing about working on the X-1 project was that management allowed them to do their jobs. McTigue said they weren't as strict about the rules as they are today. 

General Engle said his best memories are of flying the X-15. "I feel very fortunate and blessed to have done that," he said. "The thing that you just can't imagine is working with the X-team. It was an entire team of true professionals working together," he said.
Engle said the profiles and procedures that were developed through testing the X-15 were later used in the shuttle program. "The final approach in the space shuttle is almost identical to the final approach for the X-15," Engle told the audience. He said they used a lot of the X-15 data to convince officials they could land the shuttle. 

Engle, who flew 16 flights in the X-15 and later earned his astronaut wings, said he still thanks God that he got to Edwards because, he said, that's where he learned all about flight testing. 

X-15 teammate Armstrong, who was the first Air Force flight planner on the X-15, agreed with McTigue and said that back then the team was able to do a lot of things that they wouldn't get away with today. 

Armstrong, who planned then Air Force Col. William J. "Pete" Knight's flight that set the maximum speed record of Mach 6.7, shared a scary moment about when Knight's engines shut down during a test flight and Armstrong thought for sure Knight would have to bail. He said there were a few tense moments when they lost radio contact with Knight but as it turned out, Knight was able to maintain control managed to make a successful landing on Mud Lake. Knight's record still maintains the highest speed anyone has ever flown. 

The panel teased Engle about making illegal rolls during some of his flights.
In spite of the antics, Bock pretty much summed it up when he said he has a great deal of admiration for the entire X-15 team, "When it came time to fly that's where the focus was and we got the job done."