Space Cover #301: NASA Pilot Tom McMurtry: A TributeResearch pilot Thomas McMurtry passed away recently at age 79. McMurtry's many accomplishments and duties included research pilot and Director of Flight Crew Operations at Dryden Flight Research Center. And his many awards included NASA's Exceptional Service Award.
He graduated from the US Navy Test Pilot School and later joined NASA in 1967. During his 32 years at NASA, he piloted the U-2, X-24B Lifting Body aircraft, F-8A, AD-1, FY-12C (later called the SR-71 Blackbird), F-104 and F-15.
But perhaps his greatest achievements were his involvement in two significant NASA flight programs: the X-24B Lifting Body Program and the (ALT) Approach and Landing Test/Enterprise Program.
McMurtry piloted the X-24B on two of its 36 free flights, including the X-24B's final flight, becoming the last pilot to fly a lifting body aircraft. The top cover marks the first of his two X-24B flights and is nicely autographed by him.
These two covers both mark McMurtry's second and final X-24B flight. The top cover was flown aboard the B-52 mothership and was signed by both the B-52 mothership pilot and McMurtry. The bottom cover also marks the X-24B's final flight and is autographed by McMurtry and the other five X-24B pilots. Sadly two of these pilot's lives ended tragically, with Dick Scobee dying aboard Challenger and Mike Love dying not long after the end of the X-24B Program in an aircraft crash at Edwards AFB.
McMurtry was the co-pilot of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) on the ALT flights, including the first Enterprise free flight, with Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton aboard Enterprise.
At the top is a photograph of the SCA/Enterprise combo on the first tailcone off flight (fourth free flight) and the cover at the bottom marks the first Active Captive flight of the SCA/Enterprise pair and is autographed by McMurtry and three other SCA crew members.
Covers were done in good quantities for the X-24B and ALT flights, and collectors would have an interesting challenge in assembling complete collections of flight covers for the X-24B's 36 free flights (49 all together) and the ALT Program's 13 flights: Inactive Captive (5 flights with Enterprise unmanned); Active Captive (3 flights with 2-man crew aboard Enterprise); and free flights (5).
posted 01-24-2015 07:46 AM
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