Re: Scott Crossfield Killed In Crash

Here's a little more on Scott Crossfield.

Iain


SCOTT CROSSFIELD DIES IN SINGLE-ENGINE CRASH
A. Scott Crossfield, 84 (AOPA 1043507), a test pilot who set the criteria 
that made the first manned space flights possible, died in the crash of 
his 1960 Cessna 210 on April 19 near convective weather over northern 
Georgia. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) located the wreckage near Ranger, 
Georgia. He was flying from Prattville, Alabama, to Manassas, Virginia, 
but radar contact with the Atlanta Air Traffic Control Center was lost 
at 11:14 a.m. EDT near Ludville, Georgia (six miles from Ranger). 
Crossfield was alone in the aircraft. "No one loved flying more than 
Scott Crossfield," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "I've known him since 
I first came to Washington. I can't think of anyone with more varied 
aviation experience. And while we don't know yet what caused the accident, 
it certainly gives us all pause to remember that weather is no respecter 
of experience or fame." Crossfield was a colonel in the CAP and 
established the CAP's A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Education Teacher 
of the Year Award. In 1953 Crossfield became the first pilot to exceed 
Mach 2, flying a Douglas D-558-2 rocket plane. He was the first to fly 
the North American X-15 rocket plane but was told in his contract to 
keep it low and slow--no faster than Mach 3 and no higher than 100,000 feet. 
He survived an explosion while sitting in an X-15 that blew apart on 
the test stand. Crossfield, who worked for years on the staff of the 
House Science and Technology Committee, was responsible for training 
pilots who flew a 1903 Wright "Flyer" replica in North Carolina to celebrate 
the 100th anniversary of flight. See the article on Crossfield from 
"AOPA Pilot" ( http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2003/plts0311.html ).