Robert Michael White

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This article is not about Robert M. White, American theoretical physicist

Robert Michael White
USAF Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	1924
Other occupation	Test Pilot
Selection	1958 MISS Group
Missions	X-15 Flight 62
Mission insignia

Major-General Robert Michael White (born 1924) was a military aircraft test pilot and United States Air Force commander, who broke a number of records with the North American X-15 experimental aircraft during the 1960s, and was responsible for the design and development of several modern military aircraft.

Contents 1 Early history 2 Test pilot program 3 Post-test pilot career 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Early history

White was born in New York in 1924. He joined the U.S. Air Force in July 1944, towards the end of World War II. After the end of World War II, he returned to the United States, studying electrical engineering at New York University. In May 1951, he was recalled to active duty, serving as a pilot and engineering officer at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York, later becoming a systems engineer. Flying at this altitude also qualified him for astronaut wings, and he became the first of the tiny handful of "Winged Astronauts" to achieve that coveted status without using a conventional spacecraft. President John F. Kennedy used the occasion to confer the most prestigious award in American aviation, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, jointly to White and three of his fellow X-15 pilots; NASA's Joseph Walker, CDR Forrest S. Peterson of the United States Navy, and North American Aviation test pilot Scott Crossfield. A day later, Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis E. LeMay awarded White his new rating as a Command Pilot Astronaut.

[edit] Test pilot program

White attended the U.S. Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, and became a test pilot, flying advanced models such as the F-86 Sabre, F-89 Scorpion, the new F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-105 Thunderchief. He was promoted to deputy chief of the Flight Test Operations Division, later becoming assistant chief of the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch.

White was designated the Air Force's primary pilot for the X-15 program in 1958. While the new plane was undergoing its initial tests, he attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, graduating in 1959. He made his first test flight of the X-15 on April 15, 1960, when the aircraft was fitted with two interim, 16 000 lbf (71 kN) thrust rocket engines. Four months later he flew to an altitude of 136 000 ft (41.5 km, above Rogers Dry Lake. White would have participated in the Air Force's Man In Space Soonest, had it come to fruition.

In February, 1961, White unofficially set a new air speed record when he flew the X-15 at a speed of 2 275 mph (3660 km/h), following the installation of a 57 000 lbf (254 kN) thrust XLR-99 engine. White was the first human to fly an aircraft at Mach 4 and later Mach 5 over the next eight months. On 9 November 1961, White flew the X-15 at 4093 mph (6590 km/h), making him the first pilot to fly a winged craft at six times the speed of sound (Mach 6).

On 17 July 1962, Major White flew the X-15 to an altitude of 314 750 feet (59 miles, 96 km). This qualified him for an Astronaut Badge, becoming the first "Winged Astronaut", one of few who have flown into space without a conventional spacecraft.

[edit] Post-test pilot career

In October, 1963, White retired from the test pilot program and became commander of an operational fighter squadron in Bitburg, West Germany. In August 1965 he returned to the United States.

In May, 1967, he was stationed in Southeast Asia, as Deputy Commander for Operations stationed at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. He flew 70 combat missions over North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He was transferred in October to the Seventh Air Force Headquarters at Tan Son Nhut Airfield, Republic of Vietnam, serving as chief of the Attack Division in the Directorate of Combat Operations.

In June, 1968, White was responsible for managing development and production planning for the F-15 Eagle weapons system, a new air superiority fighter which later entered service in the mid-1970s, and as as of 2005 remains in active service.

On 31 July 1970, White assumed command of the second-largest U.S. Air Force base, Edwards Air Force Base, becoming responsible for a wide range of roles including overseeing research and development of manned and unmanned aircraft and aerospace vehicles. During White's command, evaluation began of other aircraft vital to the Air Force, including the F-15 Eagle, the A-X ground attack aircraft (eventually to become the A-10 Thunderbolt II used in the first Gulf War), and the revolutionary E-3A Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft.

White was promoted to the rank of major general on 1 July 1972. He served at the Flight Test Center until 17 October 1972. The following month, he assumed the duties of Commandant, Air Force Reserve Officer's Training Corps. In February 1975, he won his second star and in March became Chief of Staff of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force.

White retired from active duty with the Air Force as a major general, in February 1981.

In 1992, White was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor. General White was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton Ohio, on 15 July 2006. Also in honor of his achievements, the Scaled Composites White Knight spacecraft launch plane was named after White and fellow X-15 pilot Pete Knight.

[edit] External links

• Air Force Link biography

[edit] References

• Thompson, Milton O. (1992) At The Edge Of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. ISBN 1-56098-107-5