Crossfield Dead, 84

Just letting you guys know that aviation legend Scott Crossfield died in the crash of his Cessna 210A. He was 84.

I just saw that on the evening news. Another true legend is gone.

Always sad to hear of an icon passing, but if he had to go (and we all do eventually) he at least went flying. My condolences to his surviving family and friends.

May he rest in peace

Sad day for aviation.

CAVU and godspeed!

Brian [C):-)]

Sad news indeed… [:(]

Here’s a write-up about it on the CNN website, to any who haven’t read about it.

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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

RANGER, Georgia (AP) – Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first
man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the
wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia,
his son-in-law said.

Searchers discovered the wreckage of a small plane about 50 miles
northwest of Atlanta, but the Civil Air Patrol didn’t immediately
identify the body inside.

Ed Fleming, Crossfield’s son-in-law, told The Associated Press from
Crossfield’s home in Herndon, Virginia, that family had been told it was
Crossfield.

Crossfield’s Cessna was last spotted in the same area on Wednesday while
on flight from Alabama to Virginia.

There were thunderstorms in the area when officials lost radar and radio
contact with the plane at 11:15 a.m., said Kathleen Bergen, a
spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Crossfield, 84, had been one of a group of civilian pilots assembled by
the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA,
in the early 1950s.

Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager had already broken the speed of sound in
his history-making flight in 1947. But Crossfield set the Mach 2 record
– twice the speed of sound – in 1953, when he reached 1,300 mph in
NACA’s Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

In 1960, Crossfield reached Mach 2.97 in an X-15 rocket plane launched
from a B-52 bomber. The plane reached an altitude of 81,000 feet. At the
time, Crossfield was working as a pilot and design consultant for North
American Aviation, which made the X-15. He later worked as an executive
for Eastern Airlines and Hawker Siddley Aviation.

More recently, Crossfield had a key role in preparations for the attempt
to re-enact the Wright brothers’ flight on the 100th anniversary of
their feat near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. He trained four pilots for
the December 17, 2003, flight attempt in a replica of the brothers’
flyer, but poor weather prevented the take-off.

Among his many honors, Crossfield was inducted into the National
Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.

On Wednesday, his plane had left Prattville, Alabama, around 9 a.m. en
route to Manassas, Virginia, not far from his home.

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"Silence broke one misty morn,

the Eagle’s wings all marred and torn.

His body breaks the grassy sod,

and returns the Eagle’s soul to God" … Epitaph of an Aviator

Take care,

Frank

May he always have air under his wings and a strong tail wind

Darwin, O.F. [alien]