| William J. "Pete" Knight | |
|---|---|
| USAF Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | November 18, 1929 |
| Died | May 8, 2004 (aged 74) |
| Other occupation | Test Pilot |
| Selection | 1960 Dyna-Soar Group |
| Missions | X-15 Flight 190 |
| Mission insignia | |
William J. "Pete" Knight (November 18, 1929 – May 8, 2004) was a U.S. politician, combat pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. Knight holds the world's speed record for flight in a winged, powered aircraft. As a politician, he is noted as the author of California Proposition 22, which forbade the state from performing or recognizing same-sex marriage.
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Knight joined the United States Air Force in 1951. While only a Second Lieutenant, he flew an F-89 at the National Air Show in 1954 and won the Allison Jet Trophy.
Starting in 1958, Knight served as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. He was a project test pilot for the F-100, F-101 Voodoo, F-104 Starfighter and later, T-38 and F-5 test programs. In 1960, he was one of six test pilots selected to fly the X-20 Dyna-Soar, which was slated to become the first winged orbital space vehicle capable of lifting reentries and conventional landings. After the X-20 program was canceled in 1963, he completed the astronaut training curriculum at Edwards AFB and was selected to fly the North American X-15.
He had more than his share of eventful flights in the X-15. While climbing through 107,000 feet at Mach 4.17 on June 29, 1967, he suffered a total electrical failure and all onboard systems shut down. After arching over at 173,000 feet, he calmly set up a visual approach and, resorting to old-fashioned "seat-of-the-pants" flying, he glided down to a safe emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nevada. For his remarkable feat of airmanship that day, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.
On October 3, 1967, Knight set a world aircraft speed record for manned aircraft by piloting the X-15A-2 to 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h) (Mach 6.72), a record that still stands today. During 16 flights in the aircraft, Knight also became one of only five pilots to earn their astronaut wings by flying an airplane in space, reaching an altitude of 280,500 feet.
After nearly ten years of test flying at Edwards AFB, he went to Southeast Asia in 1968 where he completed a total of 253 combat sorties in the F-100. Following his combat tour, he served as test director during development of the F-15 Eagle at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He also was the Program Director for the International Fighter (F-5) Program at Wright-Patterson. In 1979, he returned to Edwards AFB, and served as a test pilot for the F-16 Fighting Falcon. After 32 years of service and more than 6,000 hours in the cockpits of more than 100 different aircraft, he retired from the USAF as a Colonel in 1982.
In honor of his achievements, Knight was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor with the inaugural class of 1990. Also, the Scaled Composites White Knight spacecraft launch plane was named after Knight and fellow X-15 pilot Robert White.
In 1984, he was elected to the city council of Palmdale, California, and four years later became the city's first elected mayor. Along with becoming the fastest man in the world when he flew the X-15, he was also the Mayor of Palmdale when it was the fastest growing city in both California and the United States. In 1992, he was elected to serve in the California State Assembly representing the 36th District. He served in the State Senate representing the 17th District from 1996 until his death on May 7, 2004. Knight's youngest son, Steve Knight is the Assemblyman for the 36th Assembly District, the seat previously held by his father.
During his term in the Senate, Knight gained statewide attention in 2000 as the author of Proposition 22, aka the "Knight Initiative," the purpose of which was to ban same-sex marriage: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The proposition passed with 61.4% approval and 38.6% against. In 2004, Knight's middle son, David Knight, who is gay, married his partner when San Francisco performed same-sex marriages in defiance of state law. These marriages were later nullified by the California Supreme Court in August 2004 (The two were allegedly estranged from one another up until Pete's death in 2004.).[1] As a statute, Proposition 22 was eventually ruled unconstitutional in 2008. A state constitutional amendment commonly known as Proposition 8, again banned same sex marriage when it was passed later that year. A federal district court later overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010 deeming it unconstitutional. Same sex marriage remains illegal pending an appeal to the federal ruling.[2]
In the city of Palmdale, Pete Knight High School was opened in his memory. The school began its first year in the school year of 2003-2004 and celebrated its first graduating class in 2007.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom McClintock |
California State Assemblyman 36th District December 7, 1992 – November 30, 1996 |
Succeeded by George Runner |
| Preceded by Don Rogers |
California State Senator 17th District December 2, 1996 – May 8, 2004 |
|