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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 546 (April 11, 2015)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-11-2015 12:38 AM
   
 USAF pilot Jerry Gentry poses with the X-24A lifting body in April 1968. Gentry was the Air Force project pilot and made 13 flights in the vehicle between April 1969 and November 1970. Other pilots who flew the X-24A were John Manke (NASA) and Cecil Powell (USAF). |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 04-11-2015 04:58 AM
Rank = Major.  |
randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 04-11-2015 10:14 AM
If memory serves, wasn't this vehicle also dubbed the "Flying Potato"? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-12-2015 04:33 AM
That's right.
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sts205cdr
Member Posts: 649
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted 04-12-2015 10:33 AM
That's the Right... |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 04-13-2015 01:58 PM
Nice photo. Gentry barely escaped death while flying a predecessor, the M2-F1. A 'homebuilt' aircraft (total cost, including its initial tow vehicle, a souped-up Pontiac: $30,000), the M2-F1 was an unpowered demonstrator for all subsequent generations of lifting bodies.On July 26, 1965, Gentry was being towed by the Pontiac's successor, a C-47 'Gooney' when he began to experience oscillations and promptly went belly-up. The tow plane pilots watched in horror as the M2-F1 disappeared from view, yelling 'Eject,' but Gentry was released from the plane, completed a barrel roll, and landed hard. The only casualty: damaged modified Cessna landing gear. |
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