Milburn G. Apt
Encyclopedia
Milburn G. "Mel" Apt was a US test pilot
. He was killed in the destruction of the Bell X-2
during a test flight.
After having been launched from a B-50 bomber
over the Mojave Desert
in California, Capt. Milburn G. Apt (USAF), flying an X-2 rocket-powered plane on its 13th powered flight, set a record speed of 3,377 km/h, or Mach 3.196
at 19,977 m (65,541 ft). Subsequent loss of control from inertia coupling
led to the breakup of the aircraft and the death of the pilot.
The X-2, initially an Air Force program, was scheduled to be transferred to the civilian National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for scientific research. The Air Force delayed turning the aircraft over to the NACA in the hope of attaining Mach 3 in the airplane. The service requested and received a two-month extension to qualify another Air Force test pilot, Capt. Milburn "Mel" Apt, in the X-2 and attempt to exceed Mach 3.
In the run-up to his first rocket-plane flight, Apt had several ground briefings in the simulator. His simulator training had indicated control difficulties in high-speed flight, and possible techniques for handling them. On 27 September 1956, Apt made his first X-2 flight. Apt raced away from the B-50 under full power, quickly outdistancing the F-100 chase planes. At high altitude, he nosed over, accelerating rapidly. At 65,000 feet, the X-2 reached Mach 3.2 (2,094 mph), making Apt the first man to fly more than three times the speed of sound. Upon rocket burnout, Apt found himself further from home than anticipated. The planned flight profile called for slowing to Mach 2.4 before turning back to base. The additional time to slow before turning may have put him beyond safe gliding range of his planned runway.
Still above Mach 3, he began a turn back to Edwards. The X-2 began a series of diverging rolls and tumbled out of control. Apt tried to regain control of the aircraft. Unable to do so, Apt separated the escape capsule. Too late, he attempted to bail out and was killed when the capsule hit the Edwards bombing range. The rest of the X-2 crashed five miles away.
Apt earned a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from the Air Force Institute of Technology
in 1951.
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
. He was killed in the destruction of the Bell X-2
Bell X-2
-Popular culture:* The 1956 film Toward the Unknown starred the X-2, William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith. A brainwashed former POW tries to return to test flying; co-starring the Martin XB-51 and the Edwards AFB flight line....
during a test flight.
After having been launched from a B-50 bomber
B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
over the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
in California, Capt. Milburn G. Apt (USAF), flying an X-2 rocket-powered plane on its 13th powered flight, set a record speed of 3,377 km/h, or Mach 3.196
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
at 19,977 m (65,541 ft). Subsequent loss of control from inertia coupling
Inertia coupling
Inertia coupling is a potentially lethal phenomenon of high-speed flight in which the inertia of the heavier fuselage overpowers the aerodynamic stabilizing forces of the wing and empennage...
led to the breakup of the aircraft and the death of the pilot.
The X-2, initially an Air Force program, was scheduled to be transferred to the civilian National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for scientific research. The Air Force delayed turning the aircraft over to the NACA in the hope of attaining Mach 3 in the airplane. The service requested and received a two-month extension to qualify another Air Force test pilot, Capt. Milburn "Mel" Apt, in the X-2 and attempt to exceed Mach 3.
In the run-up to his first rocket-plane flight, Apt had several ground briefings in the simulator. His simulator training had indicated control difficulties in high-speed flight, and possible techniques for handling them. On 27 September 1956, Apt made his first X-2 flight. Apt raced away from the B-50 under full power, quickly outdistancing the F-100 chase planes. At high altitude, he nosed over, accelerating rapidly. At 65,000 feet, the X-2 reached Mach 3.2 (2,094 mph), making Apt the first man to fly more than three times the speed of sound. Upon rocket burnout, Apt found himself further from home than anticipated. The planned flight profile called for slowing to Mach 2.4 before turning back to base. The additional time to slow before turning may have put him beyond safe gliding range of his planned runway.
Still above Mach 3, he began a turn back to Edwards. The X-2 began a series of diverging rolls and tumbled out of control. Apt tried to regain control of the aircraft. Unable to do so, Apt separated the escape capsule. Too late, he attempted to bail out and was killed when the capsule hit the Edwards bombing range. The rest of the X-2 crashed five miles away.
Apt earned a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from the Air Force Institute of Technology
Air Force Institute of Technology
The Air Force Institute of Technology is a graduate school and provider of professional and continuing education that is part of the United States Air Force. It is located on Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. A component of Air University and Air Education and Training Command, AFIT has been...
in 1951.