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CROSS-COUNTRY SPEED RECORD - Steamy
waves of heat shimmered over the runway at Floyd Bennett Field
in New York City on July 16, 1957 when the F8U-1P (RF-8A),
piloted by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. John Glenn, came in for a
smooth landing at the end of a cross-country flight, a
speed-record-setting flight.
Three hours, 23 minutes, eight and four-tenth seconds earlier,
Major Glenn (later to become the first American astronaut to
orbit the Earth) and his flying partner, LCDR Charles Demmler,
USN, had departed Los Angeles, Calif. in their F-8 Crusaders on
"Project Bullet," a transcontinental speed run. Demmlers F-8
sustained a damaged refueling probe en route, forcing him to
land.
Glenn continued on, however, completing three refueling contacts
with AJ-2 Savage tankers, forcing him to drop down to 25,000
feet and reduce speed to 350 mph. Despite these restrictions, he
was still able to average 725.55 mph for the run, equivalent to
Mach-1.1 at 35,000 feet. Using his cameras at predetermined
periods, Glenn successfully documented the record-setting flight
with continuous photo coverage over the entire route. |
