RIP Scott Crossfield

[Minnesota_Flyer]

Wow.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/20/geo....ap/index.html

Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said.

[SoFlo]

Thats horrible. RIP.

[Texguy]

He was 84. There were T-storms in the area. Those 2 things may have been factors.

[flyover]

Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said.

Well at 84, after the life he's had, not a bad way to close the book.

[bLizZuE]

Originally Posted by Texguy

He was 84. There were T-storms in the area. Those 2 things may have been factors.

Why do you even try to speculate?

[flyover]

Originally Posted by bLizZuE

Why do you even try to speculate?

Why not?

[Aero_Engineer]

I just read it on the news, very sad. God bless him. we should all thank him for his contribution to aviation.

[Champcar]

Originally Posted by bLizZuE

Why do you even try to speculate?

I thought the same thing. Thats why Pilots make the worse witnesses.

[dcapilot]

RANGER, Georgia (AP) -- Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said.

Searchers discovered the wreckage of a small plane about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, but the Civil Air Patrol didn't immediately identify the body inside.

Ed Fleming, Crossfield's son-in-law, told The Associated Press from Crossfield's home in Herndon, Virginia, that family had been told it was Crossfield.

Crossfield's Cessna was last spotted in the same area on Wednesday while on flight from Alabama to Virginia.

There were thunderstorms in the area when officials lost radar and radio contact with the plane at 11:15 a.m., said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Crossfield, 84, had been one of a group of civilian pilots assembled by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA, in the early 1950s.

Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager had already broken the speed of sound in his history-making flight in 1947. But Crossfield set the Mach 2 record -- twice the speed of sound -- in 1953, when he reached 1,300 mph in NACA's Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

In 1960, Crossfield reached Mach 2.97 in an X-15 rocket plane launched from a B-52 bomber. The plane reached an altitude of 81,000 feet. At the time, Crossfield was working as a pilot and design consultant for North American Aviation, which made the X-15. He later worked as an executive for Eastern Airlines and Hawker Siddley Aviation.

More recently, Crossfield had a key role in preparations for the attempt to re-enact the Wright brothers' flight on the 100th anniversary of their feat near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. He trained four pilots for the December 17, 2003, flight attempt in a replica of the brothers' flyer, but poor weather prevented the take-off.

Among his many honors, Crossfield was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.

On Wednesday, his plane had left Prattville, Alabama, around 9 a.m. en route to Manassas, Virginia, not far from his home.

[SIUav8er]

Thats sad to hear. I had the oppertunity to actually meet and have dinner with Mr Crossfield 2 years ago at the Cessna Pilots association banquet at Airventure Oshkosh. He will be missed.

[SoFlo]

I wonder how many hours he had?

[SteveC]

In an email from the NTSB:

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

April 20, 2006

************************************************** **********

NTSB INVESTIGATING AIRPLANE CRASH INVOLVING LEGENDARY TEST
PILOT SCOTT CROSSFIELD

************************************************** **********
Washington, DC.- The National Transportation Safety Board is
investigating an aviation accident that apparently took the
life of legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first man
to fly at twice the speed of sound. He was believed to be
the sole occupant of the Cessna 210A that was located today
about 3.3 miles northwest of Ludville, GA.

Todd Fox will serve as the Investigator-in-Charge and will
arrive on-scene this evening. Representatives from the
Federal Aviation Administration, Cessna Aircraft Company,
and Lycoming Engines will participate in the investigation.

Crossfield's plane was last spotted on radar Wednesday in
Georgia.

[SoFlo]

Im curious to know how many hours he had.

[EFC]

What a tragic event....I remember reading about Crossfield's X15 flights as a kid. He was an aviation legend. It's disturbing (at least to a low time pilot like me) to hear about the death of an experienced aviator like Crossfield.

One of the other posters asked how many hours Crossfield had. I don't know the answer to that question but, this accident is a sobering reminder about how unforgiving flying can be no matter how many hours one has.

[flyover]

Originally Posted by EFC

What a tragic event....I remember reading about Crossfield's X15 flights as a kid. He was an aviation legend. It's disturbing (at least to a low time pilot like me) to hear about the death of an experienced aviator like Crossfield.

One of the other posters asked how many hours Crossfield had. I don't know the answer to that question but, this accident is a sobering reminder about how unforgiving flying can be no matter how many hours one has.

On the other hand this is an opportunity to celebrate a great aviator's life. And to visit sites like this: http://www.sierrafoot.org/x-15/adven...dventures.html
and reflect on how amazing it was that a guy like Crossfield lived such a long and productive life, having "pushed the envelope" so many times.

THEN you can reflect on the perils of traversing an area of severe thunderstorms, VFR at 11,500'.

[Doug Taylor]

I didn't realize that Scott was a civilian! That's pretty amazing to be a civilian and involved in the X-plane project.

[TheFlyingTurkey]

Link to a good article about Crossfield:

Scott Crossfield, 84 (AOPA 1043507), a test pilot who set the criteria that made the first manned space flights possible, died in the crash of his 1960 Cessna 210 on April 19 near convective weather over northern Georgia. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) located the wreckage near Ranger, Georgia. He was flying from Prattville, Alabama, to Manassas, Virginia, but radar contact with the Atlanta Air Traffic Control Center was lost at 11:14 a.m. EDT near Ludville, Georgia (six miles from Ranger). Crossfield was alone in the aircraft. "No one loved flying more than Scott Crossfield," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "I've known him since I first came to Washington. I can't think of anyone with more varied aviation experience. And while we don't know yet what caused the accident, it certainly gives us all pause to remember that weather is no respecter of experience or fame." Crossfield was a colonel in the CAP and established the CAP's A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year Award. In 1953 Crossfield became the first pilot to exceed Mach 2, flying a Douglas D-558-2 rocket plane. He was the first to fly the North American X-15 rocket plane but was told in his contract to keep it low and slow—no faster than Mach 3 and no higher than 100,000 feet. He survived an explosion while sitting in an X-15 that blew apart on the test stand. Crossfield, who worked for years on the staff of the House Science and Technology Committee, was responsible for training pilots who flew a 1903 Wright Flyer replica in North Carolina to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight. See the article on Crossfield from AOPA Pilot. Photo courtesy Edwards Air Force Base.

[SteveC]

Wow.

There were 12 pilots in the X-15 program. Five from NASA, five from the Air Force, one from the Navy, and one civilian, Crossfield, from North American Aviation, manufacturer of the X-15.

Some of the X-15 flights:

Flight 1. Crossfield. Hydraulic actuated stabilizers too slow to react resulting in Pilot Induced Oscillation during landing phase. Pilot gets control seconds before touchdown.

Flight 2. Crossfield. Lands after turbopump failure and fire.

Flight 3. Crossfield. Fire in engine bay and gear door failure.

Flight 4. Crossfield. Engine fire and explosion. Fuselage failure on landing (see attachment).

Ground test. Crossfield. Vehicle explosion.

In all Crossfield flew the X-15 fourteen times.

More good X-15 info here: http://www.astronautix.com/craft/x15a.htm

[Citationkid]

Originally Posted by flyover

THEN you can reflect on the perils of traversing an area of severe thunderstorms, VFR at 11,500'.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6579X

He was IFR, look at the track log.

[Red5xwingdriver]

Very sad ! I knew a young lady at the flight school that I was attending that said that he came to her class when she was in high school. She said that she was "starstruck", and, yes, it is very important to maintain good judgement to due vigilance no matter HOW many hours we have up there.
I even remember reading an anecdote in one of my Jeppessen textbooks about how he had some kind of a hydraulic failure in an F-100 super sabre that he was flying that caused him to have to rely on the backup hydraulics. After landing you can actuate the brakes no more than three times before the loss of the backup fluid. He goes on to say that he planned on using the brakes to bring the aircraft to a stop right in front of a hanger to impress the maintainence guys, but apparently pumped the brakes one too many times. Suffice it to say that F-100 ended up crashing into the hanger, (he evidently survived). The point of his story was to illustrate that the mood to "show off" can strike ANY of us at any time, but we must keep it at bay, or else the results could be tragic, or the very least..embarrasing . The NTSB and FAA will find out what caused his crash,but what it means for US though is to honor him and the rest of our community by continuing to be safe and NEVER think that what happened to him couldn't happen to us.

[John2375]

Unfortunately over the coming years, we'll lose many of the great aviators of that amazing era. Simply because of age; of course some have been lost already but Chuck Yeager is 83, John Young is 76, John Glenn is 85...just to name a few..

[triple7]

this guy used to be based in leesburg, he moved to manassas. such a shame. bada$$ test pilot in his day.

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 6579X Make/Model: C210 Description: 210, T210, (Turbo)Centurion
Date: 04/19/2006 Time: 1512

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
City: ELLIJAY State: GA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT WAS ENROUTE FROM PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA TO MANASSAS, VIRGINIA WHEN RADIO
AND RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST APPROXIMATELY 60 MILES NORTH OF ATLANTA, GA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: DNN 1458Z AUTO 12012G24KT 3/4SM TSRA BKN004 OVC015 15/15 A2995 RMK LTG DSNT

OTHER DATA
Activity: Pleasure Phase: Cruise Operation: General Aviation

Departed: 1A9 PRATTVILLE, AL Dep Date: 04/19/2006 Dep. Time: 1405
Destination: HEF MANASSAS, VA Flt Plan: IFR Wx Briefing: Y
Last Radio Cont: 10SW GILMER COUNTY AIRPORT
Last Clearance: CLEARED TO DEVIATE SOUTH FOR WEATHER

FAA FSDO: COLLEGE PARK, GA (SO11) Entry date: 04/21/2006

[MikeD]

Already an existing thread, unfortunately. But I agree with your assessment.

[ETAV8R]

Very sad.
He is a hero to many. I remember having a die-cast X-15 when I was young. It was one of my favorite toys. I believe he is also an astronaut due to the altitude he acheived in the X-15.
RIP Mr. Crossfield.