On the Frontier; Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981 [NASA SP-4303]

Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1984. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good. xix, [1], 385, [7] pages. Frontis. Illustrations. Map. A Note on Sources. Source Notes. Index. Foreword by Neil Armstrong, Cover has some wear and soiling. Embossed stamp on fep. Dr. Richard P. Hallion is Senior Adviser for Air and Space Issues, Directorate for Security, Counterintelligence and Special Programs Oversight, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for analysis and insight regarding the conceptualization, evolution and utilization of sensitive national technological programs and related subject areas. Dr. Hallion graduated from the University of Maryland in 1970. He has broad experience in science and technology museum development, research and management analysis, and has served as a consultant to various professional organizations. He has flown as a mission observer in a range of military and civilian fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Dr. Hallion is the author and editor of numerous books relating to aerospace technology and military operations, as well as articles and essays for a variety of professional journals. He also teaches and lectures widely. This is one of the NASA History Series. This little known classic history of flight-testing the Xplanes is reborn, sweepingly revised and updated with new and recently released information. Aviation enthusiasts will savor the most detailed account available of record-setting aircraft like the X-1 and XZ-15, flown by Chuck Yeager and other legends, as well as all the cutting-edge NASA and Defense Department programs that perfected the aeronautical concepts and technology used in US military, space, and commercial craft. A completely updated and reinterpreted text, three new chapters, dozens of rare photographs, and the complete statistical record of nearly six decades of testing make this required reading for anyone interested in manned flight. The Armstrong Flight Research Center, located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. It was originally named in honor of Hugh L. Dryden, a prominent aeronautical engineer who at the time of his death in 1965 was NASA's deputy administrator, and it is still variously known as Dryden or the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) while the details of the name change are decided (the name change to AFRC went into effect on March 1, 2014). First known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Muroc Flight Test Unit, the DFRC has also been known as the High-Speed Flight Research Station (1949) and the High-Speed Flight Station (1954). The facility was renamed, effective March 1, 2014, the Armstrong Flight Research Center in honor of Neil Armstrong, the first human being to walk on the surface of the moon. Similarly the Western Aeronautical Test Range at the facility was renamed the NASA Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range. The facility is NASA's premier site for aeronautical research and operates some of the most advanced aircraft in the world. It was also the home of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 designed to carry a Space Shuttle orbiter back to Kennedy Space Center if one landed at Edwards. David McBride is currently the center's director. He succeeded Kevin Petersen, who retired in April 2008. Until 2004, Armstrong Flight Research Center operated the oldest B-52 Stratofortress bomber, a B-52B model (tail number 008) which had been converted to drop test aircraft, dubbed 'Balls 8.' It dropped a large number of supersonic test vehicles, ranging from the X-15 to its last research program, the hypersonic X-43A, powered by a Pegasus rocket. The aircraft was retired and is currently on display near the North Gate of Edwards.