posted 02-16-2014 06:41 AM               

Space Cover #253: Pete Knight and the X-15

Well, in our ongoing bios of unsung X-15 pilots (SCOTW's 80, 143, 165, 196, 207, 226, and 243), let’s now focus on Air Force pilot William J. “Pete” Knight.

Pete Knight joined the Air Force in 1951 as a pilot. He both completed his engineering degree and entered test pilot school in 1958. Knight was selected to be a pilot for the X-20 Dyna Soar and worked to develop the space plane until it was canceled in late 1963. He then completed more test pilot training and was selected to fly the X-15 in 1965, completing his first mission on September 30, 1965. He flew more missions through 1965-66 including a Mach 6.33 (4,250 mph) record speed run on November 18, 1966.

The cover at top was one of two carried on that speed run flight (Ellington-Zwisler Vol 2, #US 97). The typed cachet was filled in by Knight, and he mailed it back to the requester from Edwards on November 22.

Knight beat that speed record, reaching Mach 6.72 (4,504 mph) on October 3, 1967. The eye-popping cover carried on that flight was featured in SCOTW 192.

Two weeks later, Knight earned his astronaut wings, reaching 53 miles altitude on October 17, 1967. The cover below was hand canceled at Edwards that day, cacheted by the local Boy Scout troop, and autographed by Knight.

Knight left the X-15 program after it ended in 1968 having flown a total of 16 missions. He went to Viet Nam, completing 253 combat sorties in F-100 fighter planes. He then moved through several test programs in the Air Force including a stint as the vice-commander back at Edwards. Knight retired from the Air Force in 1982, and in the ensuing years entered California politics. Pete Knight was serving as a California State Senator when he died in 2004.