What started as a hobby for four rocket fanatics went on to break the sound barrier: Lovell Lawrence, Hugh Franklin Pierce, John Shesta, and Jimmy Wyld were the four founders of Reaction Motors, Inc. who built the XLR-11 Rocket Engine.
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What started as a hobby for four rocket fanatics went on to break the sound barrier: Lovell Lawrence, Hugh Franklin Pierce, John Shesta, and Jimmy Wyld were the four founders of Reaction Motors, Inc. who built the XLR-11 Rocket Engine. The XLR-11 engine is on display in the NASA Exchange Gift Shop, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA.
This engine, familiarly known as Black Betsy, a 4-chamber rocket that ignited diluted ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen into 6000 pounds or more of thrust powered the X-1 series airplanes.1996NASA Photo› X-1 Project Description