Gee Whiz, Murphy – It’s John Stapp
Colonel John Stapp died in 1999 at the age of 89. An amazingly old age given what he put his body through in those 89 years. John Stapp joined the USAF and studied the biophysical effects of flight. Not just the cruising back and forth stuff, the violent...Chuck Yeager: Fame, Danger And Janet Leigh, But No Fortune
Piloting the X-1 beyond the speed of sound was an accomplishment of skill, bravery and dedication. And when Chuck Yeager pushed passed Mach 1 the newly formed Air Force pushed just as hard to pick up every opportunity for publicity it could. Thing is, the Air Force...X-planes Get Ugly: The X-3
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say, but the X-3 has looks that surely only its designer could love. It wasn’t just hit by the ugly stick, it was the ugly stick. But ugly isn’t only skin deep, the X-3 had another ugly secret waiting to be found....The Boundaries Push Back: The Bell X-2
The development and flying of the Bell X-1 was no picnic, but in the newly formed USAF’s hands it raced through test objectives: breaking records, setting standards and un-shrouding the mysteries of supersonic flight. By the end of the forties, it, and aircraft...Nigel Blackwell
Nigel Blackwell was born in rural Oxfordshire in England. He has a love of books, a PhD in Physical Chemistry, and a black belt in pointing out the obvious. As a teenager he toured Europe, and hasn't stopped traveling since. He loves seeing the wonders of the world and meeting the people in it, and hasn't been anywhere that doesn't have the potential for a story. He now lives in Texas with his wife and daughter, where they enjoy the sunshine and listen to the coyotes howl at night.