Lakebed Legacies: July is a Hot Month for Dryden Research
July 1, 1954 - NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station was redesignated NACA High-Speed Flight Station.
July 15, 1954 - X-2 (46-674) was delivered to Edwards Air Force Base beneath EB-50D (48-096).
July 31, 1954 - Maj. Charles "Chuck" Yeager delivered F-100A (52-5778) to NACA HSFS.
July 21, 1955 - X-2 (46-674) and EB-50D (46-096) returned to Edwards Air Force Base following rocket engine installation in the X-2.
July 25, 1955 - X-2 (46-674) was delivered to NACA HSFS calibration hangar for installation of NACA instrumentation.
July 9, 1959 - ETF-51D (44-84958/NACA 148) departed NASA HSFS.
July 16, 1965 - Capt. Jerauld Gentry inadvertently rolled the M2-F1 lifting body inverted during an air-tow flight, while still attached to the C-47H (17136/N817NA). After a successful release and landing, Gentry said, "I'm the first one to roll this toad!"
July 17, 1965 - Al White and Col. Joe Cotton delivered XB-70 (62-0207) to Edwards Air Force Base from Palmdale.
July 1, 1966 - Lt. Col. Robert Rushworth made an emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nev., in X-15A-2 (56-6671), Rushworth's last X-15 flight. The wing of the X-15 sliced into the top of a camper on the highway while it was being trucked back to Edwards.
July 25, 1967 - A section of the right wing fuel tank on F-4A (145313), piloted by Hugh Jackson, blew up, leaving a hole about 1.5 feet wide and four feet long in the upper and lower surfaces of the wing. Jackson landed on the lakebed (Runway 18). After the aircraft was finally parked on the NASA ramp, he posed for a photo while standing inside the hole.
July 2, 1975 - Three former Luftwaffe F-104G aircraft were delivered to NASA FRC from Germany. F-104G (N824NA) was piloted by Tom McMurtry. TF-104G (N825NA) was piloted by Bill Dana and Einar Enevoldson. F-104G (N826NA) was piloted by Gary Krier.
July 28, 1977 - Runway suitability tests for the Space Shuttle Approach and Landings Test program were conducted with landings on Runway 17 using NKC-135A (55-3128), piloted by Phil Bruce and Paul Schaul.
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