Jean "Skip" Ziegler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean "Skip" Ziegler was a US test pilot. He was killed in an explosion of the Bell X-2 during a test flight on May 12, 1953.

During a Bell captive-carry flight test over Lake Ontario, X-2 number 46-675 suddenly exploded, killing Bell test pilot Jean Ziegler and observer Frank Wolko. The EB-50A mothership managed to land, although damaged. Only after several other mysterious X-plane losses was the cause found to be a rocket engine gasket made of Ulmer leather, which decomposed and became explosively unstable after sustained exposure to liquid oxygen.

[edit] External links

 This biographical article related to aviation is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../j/e/a/Jean__Skip__Ziegler_e37c.html"