Aviation History: Was the XF-92 designed for altitude testing?

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Everest: No. It was just for the delta-wing investigations.

Aviation History: What was the maximum altitude it could achieve?

Everest: About 50,000 feet, so we didn't even need a pressure suit in it.

Aviation History: Another research aircraft you tested during this time was the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket. There were actually two versions of this experimental aircraft, the D-558-I Skystreak and the D-558-II Skyrocket. What were the major differences between these aircraft?

Everest: The difference was that the D-558-I Skystreak was a jet airplane. The D-558-II Skyrocket had a rocket engine.

Aviation History: What was the purpose of the D-558-II Skyrocket program?

Everest: The purpose was to investigate it as an airplane. It gave me more experience in rocket flight. NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, now NASA) was running the program at the time, and I asked them if I could fly it and they said yes.

Aviation History: How many flights did you make in it?

Everest: Just one.

Aviation History: Was the D-558-II dropped from a B-29, the same way as the X-1?

Everest: Yes, it was. For a short time the Skyrocket held a speed record, but Yeager broke it in the Bell X-ID.

Aviation History: The most exotic-looking research aircraft had to be the Douglas X-3, also known as the "flying stiletto." Was that airplane as much fun to fly as it looked?

Everest: No. Actually, it was pretty bad. It was designed to take off from a runway, but it was so underpowered we had to take off from the more roomy dry lake bed, and we wouldn't break ground (lift off) until we got to 200 knots. Because of that, we started throwing a lot of rubber off the tread of the tires. So then we took all the tread off so we wouldn't damage the airplane. The X-3 was underpowered because it had a small engine in it. When they were designing an engine for the X-3, it got bigger and bigger until finally when it was finished it just wouldn't fit in the airplane. They ended up putting in a smaller, underpowered engine.

Aviation History: How did the X-3 perform?

Everest: On takeoff, it was dangerous because you could blow a tire easily. Also, there was such high wing loading (aircraft weight to wing area ratio) that you had to be careful when you came in for your landing, because if you were underpowered or below proper approach speed, then you had a hell of a time getting back up to proper airspeed. On my first flight in the X-3, I came in at 10,000 feet and tried to make a "peel-out" landing approach over the runway like most fighter jets did. I then put the landing gear and flaps down and was coming in for final approach, when suddenly I got too low on speed and had to go to afterburner to get back on speed again. You had to be extremely careful with the X-3 because of its high wing loading and being underpowered.

Aviation History: Was the Douglas X-3 capable of high-altitude flight?

Everest: No. It wouldn't go anywhere! We did, however, use a lot of the information we got on it about high wing-loaded aircraft to use on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The F-104 was a stubby-winged aircraft as well, and engineering data from the X-3 was incorporated as it was developed.

Aviation History: Wasn't the F-104 used as a simulator for other types of aircraft?

Everest: No. You must be thinking of the NF-104 that had a rocket engine installed in it and was used at test pilot school to simulate very high-altitude flights. Yeager was there at the time; in fact, he tried to set a record in it and got into trouble. He lost control of it and had to punch out (bail out). The ejection seat rockets set his pressure suit on fire and burned him badly.

Aviation History: There was an amazing number of new aircraft designs coming out at that time. Did the test pilots at Edwards see that as a burden, or was each aircraft eagerly anticipated?

Everest: For the most part, eagerly anticipated, though we weren't excited by some of the aircraft, such as the X-3; it was no big deal. The Bell X-5, though, was interesting because we could sweep the wings back and forth, so we definitely anticipated projects like that.

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