It’s #ThrowbackThursday and this week we look back to when the U.S.A.F. Test Pilot School (then called the Aerospace Research Pilot School) curriculum trained students for space flight in the late 1960s. The Air Force outfitted three retired Lockheed F-104s with rocket engines and reaction control systems fueled by hydrogen peroxide. While a dramatic closing of the movie The Right Stuff shows then-Colonel Chuck Yeager surviving a December 1963 crash, the surviving two NF-104As were used to train test pilots from 1968-1971. Zooming above 100,000 feet, students wearing full pressure suits practiced flying an aircraft where the atmosphere was too thin for normal aerodynamic controls. These skills were essential to piloting vehicles like the Space Shuttle orbiter. This #TBT video shows the reaction control system in use on NF-104A #760 which, to this day, is proudly displayed outside of the U.S.A.F. Test Pilot School. #Lockheed-NF-104A #UnitedStatesAirForceTestPilotSchool
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:44:42 +0000
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