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Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
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Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) is a rocket and jet-powered research supersonic aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the (17 December) 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 1,290 mph (2076 km/h), the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound.
The "-2" in the aircraft's designation referred to the fact that the Skyrocket was the phase-two version of what had originally been conceived as a three-phase program. The phase-one aircraft, the D-558-1, was jet-powered and had straight wings. The third phase, which never came to fruition, would have involved constructing a mock-up of a combat-type aircraft embodying the results from the testing of the phase one and two aircraft. The eventual D-558-3 design, which was never built, was for a hypersonic aircraft similar to the North American X-15.
When it became obvious that the D558-1 fuselage could not be modified to accommodate both rocket and jet power, the D558-2 was conceived as an entirely different aircraft. The supply contract was changed on January 27, 1947 to drop the final three D558-1 aircraft and substitute three new D558-2 aircraft.
The Skyrocket featured wings with a 35-degree sweep and horizontal stabilizers with a 40-degree sweep. The wings and empennage were fabricated from aluminum and the large fuselage was primarily magnesium. The Skyrocket was powered by a Westinghouse J34-40 turbojet engine having 3,000 lbf (13 kN) thrust fed through side intakes in the forward fuselage. This engine was intended for takeoff, climb and landing. For high-speed flight, a four-chamber Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 engine (the Navy designation for the Air Force's XLR11 used in the Bell X-1), was fitted. This engine was rated at 6,000 lbf (27 kN) static thrust at sea level. A total of 250 US gallons (950 L) of aviation fuel, 195 US gallons (740 L) of alcohol, and 180 US gallons (680 L) of liquid oxygen were carried in fuselage tanks.
The Skyrocket originally had a flush cockpit canopy, but visibility from the cockpit was poor, so it was re-configured with a raised cockpit with conventional angled windows. This resulted in a larger profile area at the front of the aircraft, which was balanced by an additional 14 inches (36 cm) of height added to the vertical stabilizer. Like its predecessor, the D558-1, the D558-2 was designed so that the forward fuselage, including the cockpit, could disconnect from the rest of the aircraft in an emergency. Once the forward fuselage had slowed down, the pilot could escape from the cockpit by parachute.
Douglas pilot John F. Martin made the first flight at Muroc Army Airfield (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) in California on 4 February 1948 in an aircraft equipped only with the jet engine. The goals of the program were to investigate the characteristics of swept-wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds with particular attention to pitch-up (un-commanded rotation of the nose of the aircraft upwards), a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during takeoff and landing, and in tight turns.
The three aircraft gathered a great deal of data about pitch-up and the coupling of lateral (yaw) and longitudinal (pitch) motions; wing and tail loads, lift, drag and buffeting characteristics of swept-wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds; and the effects of the rocket exhaust plume on lateral dynamic stability throughout the speed range. (Plume effects were a new experience for aircraft.) The number three aircraft also gathered information about the effects of external stores (bomb shapes, drop tanks) upon the aircraft's behavior in the transonic region (roughly 0.7 to 1.3 times the speed of sound). In correlation with data from other early transonic research aircraft such as the XF-92A, this information contributed to solutions to the pitch-up problem in swept-wing aircraft.
Its flight research was done at the NACA's Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, redesignated in 1949 the High-Speed Flight Research Station (HSFRS). The HSFRS became the High-Speed Flight Station in 1954 and was then known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. In 2014 it was renamed Armstrong Flight Research Center in honor of Neil Armstrong.
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Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (or D-558-II) is a rocket and jet-powered research supersonic aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the United States Navy. On 20 November 1953, shortly before the (17 December) 50th anniversary of powered flight, Scott Crossfield piloted the Skyrocket to Mach 2, or more than 1,290 mph (2076 km/h), the first time an aircraft had exceeded twice the speed of sound.
The "-2" in the aircraft's designation referred to the fact that the Skyrocket was the phase-two version of what had originally been conceived as a three-phase program. The phase-one aircraft, the D-558-1, was jet-powered and had straight wings. The third phase, which never came to fruition, would have involved constructing a mock-up of a combat-type aircraft embodying the results from the testing of the phase one and two aircraft. The eventual D-558-3 design, which was never built, was for a hypersonic aircraft similar to the North American X-15.
When it became obvious that the D558-1 fuselage could not be modified to accommodate both rocket and jet power, the D558-2 was conceived as an entirely different aircraft. The supply contract was changed on January 27, 1947 to drop the final three D558-1 aircraft and substitute three new D558-2 aircraft.
The Skyrocket featured wings with a 35-degree sweep and horizontal stabilizers with a 40-degree sweep. The wings and empennage were fabricated from aluminum and the large fuselage was primarily magnesium. The Skyrocket was powered by a Westinghouse J34-40 turbojet engine having 3,000 lbf (13 kN) thrust fed through side intakes in the forward fuselage. This engine was intended for takeoff, climb and landing. For high-speed flight, a four-chamber Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 engine (the Navy designation for the Air Force's XLR11 used in the Bell X-1), was fitted. This engine was rated at 6,000 lbf (27 kN) static thrust at sea level. A total of 250 US gallons (950 L) of aviation fuel, 195 US gallons (740 L) of alcohol, and 180 US gallons (680 L) of liquid oxygen were carried in fuselage tanks.
The Skyrocket originally had a flush cockpit canopy, but visibility from the cockpit was poor, so it was re-configured with a raised cockpit with conventional angled windows. This resulted in a larger profile area at the front of the aircraft, which was balanced by an additional 14 inches (36 cm) of height added to the vertical stabilizer. Like its predecessor, the D558-1, the D558-2 was designed so that the forward fuselage, including the cockpit, could disconnect from the rest of the aircraft in an emergency. Once the forward fuselage had slowed down, the pilot could escape from the cockpit by parachute.
Douglas pilot John F. Martin made the first flight at Muroc Army Airfield (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) in California on 4 February 1948 in an aircraft equipped only with the jet engine. The goals of the program were to investigate the characteristics of swept-wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds with particular attention to pitch-up (un-commanded rotation of the nose of the aircraft upwards), a problem prevalent in high-speed service aircraft of that era, particularly at low speeds during takeoff and landing, and in tight turns.
The three aircraft gathered a great deal of data about pitch-up and the coupling of lateral (yaw) and longitudinal (pitch) motions; wing and tail loads, lift, drag and buffeting characteristics of swept-wing aircraft at transonic and supersonic speeds; and the effects of the rocket exhaust plume on lateral dynamic stability throughout the speed range. (Plume effects were a new experience for aircraft.) The number three aircraft also gathered information about the effects of external stores (bomb shapes, drop tanks) upon the aircraft's behavior in the transonic region (roughly 0.7 to 1.3 times the speed of sound). In correlation with data from other early transonic research aircraft such as the XF-92A, this information contributed to solutions to the pitch-up problem in swept-wing aircraft.
Its flight research was done at the NACA's Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, redesignated in 1949 the High-Speed Flight Research Station (HSFRS). The HSFRS became the High-Speed Flight Station in 1954 and was then known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. In 2014 it was renamed Armstrong Flight Research Center in honor of Neil Armstrong.
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