One of the greatest test pilots.....
April 20, 2006
Missing Single Engine Aircraft Located
(Georgia) - The 1960 Cessna 210A aircraft belonging to A. Scott Crossfield
of Herndon, Va. has been located. Crossfield was on a flight from
Prattville, Ala. to Manassas, Va. Tuesday morning when the aircraft
disappeared from radar. The last radar contact with the aircraft was in the
north Georgia area. The Civil Air Patrol conducted air and ground searches
along the flight path and located the crash site in Gilmer County. There
were no survivors.
Crossfield, 84, was born in Berkely, Calif. on Oct. 2, 1921.
Crossfield was a colonel in the Civil Air Patrol. He was a strong supporter
of the Civil Air Patrol and, in particular, CAP's aerospace education
program. He created the A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Education Teacher of
the Year Award to recognize and reward teachers for outstanding
accomplishments in aerospace education and for their dedication to the
students they teach. The Scott Crossfield Award for senior members is CAP's
highest award in aerospace education.
At his 80th birthday, in 2001, Crossfield was still flying 200 hours per
year as a private pilot/instrument rating. He was a fighter gunnery
instructor in the U.S. Navy during WWII. In 1950, he joined NASA's
predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and was a
research pilot for the next five years at the High Speed Flight Research
Station at Edwards, Calif. Crossfield was the test pilot for numerous
research aircraft, including the X-1, X-4, X-5, XF-92, the D-558-I and
D-558-II while at Edwards. It is possible that no other test pilot in
aviation history has test flown as many aircraft that are now displayed in
flight museums -- The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Milestones
of Flight Gallery includes the #1 X-15 and the #2 Skyrocket. He also flew
the #2 Bell X-1, the sister ship of the #1 ("Glamorous Glennis"), which also
hangs in the same gallery. On Nov. 20, 1953, he set four speed records
before becoming the first man to reach Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) in
the air-launched, rocket-propelled D-558-2. Crossfield capped his
distinguished test pilot career as the NASA program manager and first
project pilot on the X-15 rocket powered research aircraft, taking the
aircraft to the fringes of outer space.
Among his countless honors, Crossfield received the Lawrence Sperry Award,
Octave Chanute Award, Iven C. Kincheloe Award, Harmon International Trophy
and the Collier Trophy. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of
Fame (1983), the International Space Hall of Fame (1988) and the Aerospace
Walk of Honor (1990).