‘You flew very, very gently and did the best you could while flying like a bat out of hell.’ That’s how Frank K. ‘Pete’ Everest described test-flying the Bell X-2, a rocket-powered research plane in which he would light the fuse and go–nearly to 2,000 mph.

From 1950 through 1956 Everest flew an average of eight newly designed aircraft per month as a U.S. Air Force test pilot. Jet aircraft production and design had reached an all-time high, and with the breaking of the sound barrier in 1947 by Chuck Yeager, experimental research aircraft became commonplace in the hangars of Muroc Flight Test Base (which later became Edwards Air Force Base). Airplanes such as the Bell X-1A, X1-B, X-1D, Northrop X-4, Douglas 558-II Skyrocket, Bell X-5, Convair XF-92A and the Douglas X-3 all contributed to significantly to aerodynamic research.

Everest’s crowning achievement came with his record-breaking flights in the Bell X-2 when, in July 1956, he became the world’s fastest test pilot, pushing the speed envelope to Mach 3 (1,900 mph). For this effort, Everest won the Harmon International Trophy, the ‘Oscar’ of aviators. Everest is extremely proud of the work he has done as a test pilot. Thinking back to the time of constantly flying in the latest airplanes to roll off the production line, he says, ‘It was the heyday of flight testing.’

Frank Kendall Everest, Jr., was born in Fairmont, W.Va., in 1920. It was not until 10 years later that he would see his first airplane, a Curtiss Jenny flying over his parents’ home. From that day on, ‘Pete’ (a nickname given to him by his father) set his goal on becoming a pilot one day. When World War II broke out in Europe, he had the opportunity to realize his goal. The government, anticipating the need for new pilots for the war effort, set up a civilian pilot training program (CPTP) at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The University of Virginia was among the schools selected for the pilot training program, and Pete Everest was in the very first class.

Everest learned to fly in a Piper J-2 Cub and progressed to Waco and Stearman trainers. Shortly after, he was accepted to the Aviation Cadet Training Corps. At first he flew the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk on more than 100 combat missions. He would have to wait until 1945 to get the chance to fly that most prestigious WWII fighter plane, the North American P-51 Mustang.

Everest was requested to transfer over to the Chinese-American Composite Wing Group in Hunan, China. There, both Chinese and American fighters flew raids and bombing missions against Japanese-occupied portions of China. While on a combat mission near Hankow, Everest flew in low over a Japanese supply ship column and ended up with his airplane riddled with enemy machine-gun fire. In the harrowing moments that ensued, Everest left the crippled P-51 over the side of the cockpit only to find to his dismay that his parachute had become caught on the plane. As the airplane plummeted toward the ground, Everest tried to make his way back into the cockpit and, as he did, somehow he freed himself. His chute opened, and he landed safely–but in an area of China held by the Japanese.

Shortly afterward, Everest was captured and brutally treated at a prisoner of war detaining area. After several sessions of intense interrogation by Japanese officers, he was warned that if he did not provide some substantial information regarding the size and location of his squadron, he would suffer severe consequences. After refusing to give information other than his name, rank and serial number, Everest was shackled and brought out to a courtyard where he saw a large block of wood covered with blood stains. There, he was made to kneel and place his head on the block. As a Japanese officer raised his sword, Everest told him, ‘Stop,’ and said that he might be able to provide some information after all.

Reluctantly, the officer had him dragged back to the interrogation area. Everest remembered what intelligence officials in the Army had told him: ‘If you’re in a life-threatening situation, you can discuss the aircraft you flew.’ The Japanese were always interested in information regarding enemy aircraft, but Everest doubled the statistical data on such areas as speed of the aircraft, armament and bombload. The gamble paid off, and his life was spared. Three months later the war in the Pacific ended, and Pete Everest went home.

In 1946 he put in for a new assignment, hoping to be selected for a job at the Wright Field Test Flight division in Dayton, Ohio. Out of 800 officers who applied, Everest and three other pilots were chosen for the job that would eventually make him famous as a test pilot.

It was at Wright Field that Pete Everest began flying the latest developments in jet aircraft, but it wasn’t until 1950, when he was transferred to Muroc Flight Test Base in Southern California, that his name would enter the history books.

Barry E. DiGregorio recently interviewed Everest for Aviation History Magazine to learn firsthand what it was like to fly ‘like a bat out of hell.’

Aviation History: In 1949, you were asked by the chief of Flight Test Operations at Wright Field if you would be interested in doing some altitude tests in the Bell X-1. What was the altitude record at that time and how high did you hope to go?

Everest: The altitude record was actually held by a balloonist at about 72,000 feet. We wanted to break that record.

Aviation History: After Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, he continued flying the X-1 until the end of the program. What was Yeager’s altitude record prior to your flight?

Everest: He had taken the X-1 to about 60,000-65,000 feet.

Aviation History: What altitudes was the Bell X-1 capable of reaching safely?

Everest: We hoped to get up to 74,000 feet.

Aviation History: Since high-altitude flight was still in its infancy in 1949, how much was actually known about the atmosphere above 60,000 feet?

Everest: We made altitude chamber tests and knew almost everything that would happen. We knew that you would not be alive very long above 60,000 feet without protection if the cabin pressure failed, because your blood would expand and boil in the extremely low atmospheric pressure. We made tests in the altitude chamber with ‘partial’ pressure suits and tested them very thoroughly before we made the attempt to go to high altitudes. They were designed to keep your body from expanding in the rarefied atmosphere in an emergency that caused a loss of normal cockpit pressurization.

Aviation History: Would you describe the early X-1 pressure suit?

Everest: It was a portable ‘torture chamber’! That was one real tight suit. Every suit was tailor-made for each individual and had capstans [flexible, expandable air pipes] running along each arm and leg and down the back. You attached the helmet to the suit where there were restraining wires to hold it on–if you didn’t and the suit was pressurized, the helmet would pop up and probably choke you or even pop off your head. The helmet itself had capstans running around the inside along your forehead, behind your ears, under your neck and back around the other side. If the suit had to be operated, all these capstans expanded so they retained your body so that it didn’t expand in the low pressure and in turn allow your blood to boil. It was very uncomfortable even without being expanded. When it did expand, it became a torture chamber, as the capstans tightened the suit up. It was so tight that you burst a lot of the little capillaries under your skin tissue. You ended up looking like you were in a fight with two or three wildcats–that’s how badly the suit would scratch you.

Aviation History: Do you recall the first time you met Chuck Yeager?

Everest: He was at Wright Field the same time I was. We were both West Virginia boys, and we did a lot of flying together. My impression of him was that he was a damn good fighter pilot and shot down quite a few enemy planes in Europe during World War II. He was shot down himself later on in the war. After his return, [General Dwight D.] Eisenhower requested that he be put back in combat again because that’s how Chuck wanted it. I thought that was pretty much what you would call the ‘right stuff.’ We were good friends then and still are.

Aviation History: Jack Ridley worked exclusively with the Bell X-1 program as its chief flight test engineer. What kind of person was Jack?

Everest: He was a great guy, too. We were neighbors at Edwards Air Force Base and lived two doors away from one another. We saw a lot of each other and played lots of golf. He was one of the finest Air Force engineers. He was reassigned for some reason to Japan, where he was killed in an accident. It’s too bad, because Jack could have done more good for the Air Force with a different assignment.

Aviation History: As I recall, you had numerous problems with the Bell X-1; some were life-threatening. Do you remember what some of those problems were?

Everest: I had engine problems on my third flight and an engine explosion on my fourth flight, when one of the rocket tubes blew up due to a propellant leak. On my seventh flight, the canopy cracked and I lost cabin pressure at 69,000 feet. That was the first time a pressure suit had been used in an emergency.

Aviation History: You also had problems with the rocket igniters, correct?

Everest: Yes, but that’s not a serious problem. If they didn’t ignite, you just wouldn’t go.

Aviation History: How would you describe an altitude flight in the Bell X-1?

Everest: You accelerated so fast that it was tough to follow the flight plan to give you the proper Mach number to climb at and the proper angle to climb. This is because you couldn’t see very well in the little X-1, as it had a flat canopy. So you tried to pick the proper nose-up angle to maintain the established Mach number. When you reached a certain altitude, you’d try to make sure you didn’t end up with the airplane vertical; otherwise, it would be an out-of-control flight. Obviously, at high altitudes your elevator controls were no good, so you used the movable horizontal stabilizer to try and keep the proper attitude on climb, while also trying to maintain the proper climb Mach number. It wasn’t an easy thing to do at high altitudes because the X-1 didn’t respond that fast in a thin atmosphere.

Aviation History: What consideration was given to an emergency exit from the X-1 in flight?

Everest: That would have been a tough job, because the door was on the side of the aircraft. If you did get out, you’d have to contend with avoiding the wings as well as the horizontal tail surfaces. Jack Ridley had a flight in the X-1 and had a small electrical fire inside. Apparently some wire behind the instrument panel shorted out, and he was getting lots of smoke. He started to get a little concerned about bailing out. Yeager was flying in the chase plane that day, and he heard Ridley yell: ‘I got a fire in here. Something’s burning!’ Yeager’s response to him was, ‘As long as you’re not burning, Jack, don’t worry about it.’ Ridley was able to land OK.

Aviation History: None of the X-1 pilots gave serious consideration to bailing out?

Everest: Not really.

Aviation History: Are you saying that if some catastrophe occurred on board the X-1 that the pilot intended to stay with the plane until it crashed?

Everest: Of course not. If you lost control or the airplane blew up or had a serious fire in the cockpit, then obviously you’d try to get out of it. But that never occurred. It was a nice little airplane and very easy to fly except when it was loaded with propellants. It became sloppy then.

Aviation History: Was this because of the propellants sloshing around in the tank and their weight?

Everest: Yes. Once the propellants were halfway gone, the X-1 flew like a decent airplane. When the propellants were completely used, the X-1 flew more like a glider.

Aviation History: In 1950, when Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Captain Glen Edwards, you became assistant chief in the test flight section. How long would a pilot be assigned there?

Everest: Most Air Force assignments only lasted three or four years, but at Edwards you would stay there for about six. It was the heyday of flight testing, with all the different airplanes being developed. We all wanted to stay at Edwards as long as we could.

Aviation History: How did you become assigned to different research projects?

Everest: In my case, I selected my own. Although I came out as an assistant, I shortly took over as chief test pilot. So I was doing all the assignments.

Aviation History: What kinds of aircraft were being tested at the time?

Everest: All the new jets were coming out; the Lockheed F-80s and T-33s, North American F-86s, Lockheed F-90s and F-94s; and with the new bombers you had the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. Then you had all the cargo airplanes and all types of different helicopters. During the six years that I spent at Edwards Air Force Base, I think I averaged flying about eight different airplanes per month. We also did bomb ballistic tests, rocket tests and gun tests. It was a very busy and exciting period.

Aviation History: How would the various phases of a test program be arranged upon the arrival of a new aircraft?

Everest: When a plane went into production, early copies were sent to the Edwards test center, and a bunch of the ‘using’ agency command pilots were brought in. If it was a fighter, the user was the Tactical Air Command. If it was an interceptor, then that’s Air Defense Command. We flew them as long and hard as we could to see what weaknesses they had, if any, and to try to help correct problems before the manufacturers produced too many of them. For example, the early North American F-100 Super Sabre had a problem with inertia coupling. If you were pulling high Gs with a high roll rate, the opposing forces on the airplane would overcome the stabilizing effect of wings and control surfaces, causing the pilot to lose control. We lost a lot of airplanes and pilots that way when aircraft tumbled out of control. We soon discovered that the F-100 did not have a large enough vertical tail fin surface. The manufacturer then redesigned it–built a larger vertical tail, which eliminated that particular problem. We continued with that approach with the new production airplanes. It worked out well for the Air Force.

Aviation History: One of the next generation of new research aircraft at the time was the Convair XF-92, which had a delta-wing design. Since this was one of the many research aircraft you tested, could you describe the XF- 92’s flight characteristics and handling capabilities?

Everest: Unfortunately, the XF-92 was built for wind tunnel studies only. There was an argument among the engineers–some felt that it could never fly. So Convair, to make it fly, stuck an engine in it, and we started flying it. It wasn’t a very stable airplane because they didn’t attempt in those days to run stability tests on it, per se. Then Convair decided it wanted to get the XF-92 to go supersonic. Since it didn’t have an afterburner on it, we dove it like you would an F-86 and other early jets to break the sound barrier. But we just couldn’t get it to go supersonic. Convair then took it back to the factory and put an afterburner on it. We then were able to dive it supersonic. There was another argument that’s still going on between the pilots and engineers. The engineers figured the XF-92 was going supersonic in level flight. But we pilots said it couldn’t have, because we never saw any indication on the Mach meter or saw the airspeed indicator jump. Normally, you get a reading on your instruments when you go supersonic. One of the deficiencies of the XF-92 was that it had only one flight-control system–a single hydraulic flight-control system. One of the last flights made in that aircraft was by me. I took off from Rogers Dry Lake and shortly after the takeoff the master caution warning light came on. I looked down and saw I was losing the flight control system’s hydraulic pressure. I then turned around to land on the lake bed, and the controls froze just as I touched down. We stopped flying that bird. We had done everything with it we had really wanted to, and felt there wasn’t any sense in taking a chance on losing both pilot and plane in further testing.

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