Chapter I: Foreword: 15

A NOTE ON SPEED 16

1. “A Modern-Day Lindbergh” 19

2. The Gypsy Caravan 25

3. A Sense of Urgency 38

4. Excitement and Frustration 45

5. An Unusual Heritage 53

6. An Isolated Environment 62

7. “Take Her Up and Try a Spin” 72

8. Change and Challenge 82

9. Manhood and Maturity 89

10. No Penalty for Being Late 99

11. How Dark the Clouds 109

12. A Short Man with Santa Claus Eyebrows 119

13. “Barefoot Boy with Cheek” 125

14. The Need for Speed 135

15. Disaster on the Race Track 145

16. Bright Light Under a Bush 154

17. Light in the Open 162

18. “Fastest Man on Earth” 171

19. “Leaf in a Tempest” 180

20. “Please Come to a Complete Stop” 190

21. End of the Line 200

22. End of an Era 209

23. Secrets in the Cafeteria 217

24. Ullage and Capsules 226

25. Girdles, Brassieres, and Shattered Sinuses 234

26. The Agricultural Approach 244

27. A Tornado Named Stormy 246

28. Wilting Straws in Plaster of Paris 253

29. Eyes Toward Space 262

30. Muting the Cassandras 271

31. Working in a Fish Bowl 280

32. Time for Extraordinary Action 289

33. Circus Day 297

34. A Carnival at Dawn 307

35. Smoke in the Cockpit 317

36. The Reluctant Dragon 327

37. Engulfed in Disappointment 338

38. “She Blew Sky High” 346

39. The Old Pro 359

40. Bad News with the Good 367

41. “You Have a Fire!” 376

42. Minor Miracles 388

43. “The Real Significance” 399

44. “Prophecies of the Next Age” 407

CHRONOLOGY 411

INDEX 415

_Foreword_

Long ago at Edwards, I heard a story that stuck in my mind. Two small boys, the sons of pilots, were discussing their fathers. One said to the other: “Aw, your father _can’t_ be a test pilot. He hasn’t written a book.”

Now I have joined the clan, but, I hope, with a difference. Inevitably I have reminisced, as, it seems, all pilots must. But the intent of this book is broader than mere memoirs. Put simply, the objective is to restate an old principle: that not talk but action is the key to man’s progress, and in this age, freedom from enslavement.

A. SCOTT CROSSFIELD

_Los Angeles, Calif.

August 1960_

_A Note on Speed_

We have used the modern method of expressing aviation speed--the Mach number. Mach 1.0 is the speed at which sound travels through the air. On an average day at sea level, the speed of sound, or Mach 1.0, is about 760 miles an hour. At higher, colder altitudes on the same day, it is less. For example, at 35,000 feet it might be only 660 miles an hour. Since most of the flying described in this account is at high altitude, Mach 1.0 is, on an average day, about 660 miles an hour. The speed is also expressed in terms of fractions of a Mach number. Thus Mach .5 is half of Mach 1 or half of 660 miles an hour--about 330 miles an hour. Speeds above Mach 1.0 are also expressed in whole Mach numbers and fractions of Mach numbers. For example, Mach 1.5 is the equivalent of one and a half times the speed of sound, or about 1,000 miles an hour. Mach 2.0--or twice the speed of sound--is twice 660 miles an hour, or about 1,320 miles an hour. Mach 2.5 is about 1,650 miles an hour. Mach 3 is about 2,000 miles an hour.

ALWAYS ANOTHER DAWN ►

“There is no liberty except the liberty of someone
making his way towards something.”

--ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPÉRY