Always Another Dawn

Always Another Dawn: The Story of a Rocket Test Pilot is the detailed account of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) and Albert Scott Crossfield's work in the post-war years and beyond pioneering the use of rocket-powered planes. Crossfield and his team paved the path for space exploration making this, his autobiography, essential reading for historians and aviation buffs. All his life Test Pilot Scott Crossfield has carried on a love affair with airplanes. As a child he learned secretly how to fly, and the unyielding ambition to become a superb aviator spurred him to overcome a serious childhood disease. Working for the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), Crossfield achieved national renown testing the rocket-powered planes, X-1, and Skyrocket, taking them to amazing heights where - man had a new view of his life and the world. He has logged more rocket plane flights than most of the chief test pilots combined. He also test-piloted and advised on the X-15 experimental plane. Written in the tradition of Saint-Exupéry and Lindbergh, Scott Crossfield’s inspiring autobiography is a testament to the adventure and achievement of the flight pioneers who dare to live beyond the clouds. Why is “death the handmaiden of the pilot” and how does it feel to face her fifteen miles above the ground? What can a pilot do when fear and panic overtake him? What is it like to be the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound? These are some of the questions Crossfield answers as he explains why he was prepared to devote so much of his time, his dreams, and his aspirations to an experimental plane called the X-15. Always Another Dawn tells of the birth of this plane; the daring of the men who painstakingly designed and built her, counting every extra pound a danger and creating innovations unprecedented in flight history. Here is the courage of the men who flew her, their every take-off a hazardous journey into the unknown. This book is the thrilling story of man’s first faltering steps into space, of the great experiment and the great pilot who “set man on his path toward the stars.” Contents Foreword A Note on Speed “A Modern-Day Lindbergh” The Gypsy Caravan A Sense of Urgency Excitement and Frustration An Unusual Heritage An Isolated Environment “Take Her Up and Try a Spin” Change and Challenge Manhood and Maturity No Penalty for Being Late How Dark the Clouds A Short Man with Santa Claus Eyebrows “Barefoot Boy with Cheek” The Need for Speed Disaster on the Race Track Bright Light Under a Bush Light in the Open “Fastest Man on Earth” “Leaf in a Tempest” “Please Come to a Complete Stop” End of the Line End of an Era Secrets in the Cafeteria Ullage and Capsules Girdles, Brassieres, and Shattered Sinuses The Agricultural Approach A Tornado Named Stormy Wilting Straws in Plaster of Paris Eyes Toward Space Muting the Cassandras Working in a Fish Bowl Time for Extraordinary Action Circus Day A Carnival at Dawn Smoke in the Cockpit The Reluctant Dragon Engulfed in Disappointment “She Blew Sky High” The Old Pro Bad News with the Good “You Have a Fire!” Minor Miracles “The Real Significance” “Prophecies of the Next Age” Chronology