Albert scott crossfield biography of donald

Albert Scott Crossfield October 2, — April 19, was an American naval officer and test pilot.

Albert Scott Crossfield, Jr., was born at Berkeley, California, 2 October , the second of three children of Albert Scott Crossfield and.

In , he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. He served with the U. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. From to , he worked in the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering in and , respectively.

Crossfield demonstrated his flight test skills on his very first student solo. His instructor was not available on the designated early morning, so Crossfield, on his own, took off and went through maneuvers he had practiced with his instructor, including spin entry and spin recovery. During the first spin, Crossfield experienced vibrations, banging, and noise in the aircraft that he had never encountered with his instructor.

Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, – April 19, ) was an American naval officer and test pilot.

He recovered, climbed to a higher altitude, and repeated his spin entry and spin recovery, getting the same vibration, banging and noise. On his third spin entry, at yet an even higher altitude, he looked over his shoulder as he was spinning and observed the instructor's door disengaged and flapping in the spin. He reached back, pulled the door closed, and discovered all the vibrations, banging and noise stopped.

Satisfied, he recovered from the spin, landed, and fueled the airplane. He also realized his instructor had been holding the door during their practice spin entries and recoveries, and never mentioned this door quirk. In later years, Crossfield often cited his curiosity about this solo spin anomaly and his desire to analyze what was going on and why it happened, as the start of his test pilot career.

During one of his X-1 flights, the cockpit windows completely frosted and Crossfield was literally flying blind.