Best X 15
Joe Engle was an American test pilot and NASA astronaut who flew the North American X-15 rocket plane above 50 miles on three separate flights, qualifying him for USAF astronaut wings. He later commanded the Space Shuttle *Columbia* on its second orbital flight (STS-2) in 1981, making him the only p...
Albert Scott Crossfield (1921–2006) was an American naval officer, aerospace engineer, and test pilot. On November 20, 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, in the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket over the Mojave Desert. Crossfield later played a key role in the devel...
William "Pete" Knight was a United States Air Force test pilot and politician. On October 3, 1967, he set the world speed record for a winged crewed aircraft by flying the X-15 at Mach 6.70 (4,520 mph). This speed record remains unbroken for crewed winged aircraft. Following his military aviation ca...
Joseph "Joe" Walker was an American test pilot who flew the North American X-15 for NASA. In 1963, he reached an altitude of 354,200 feet, making him the first person to fly an airplane into space and exceeding the 50-mile threshold for astronaut wings. He also served as the chief research pilot at...
