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Always Another Dawn: The Story of a Rocket Test Pilot
All his life Test Pilot Scott Crossfield has carried on a love affair with airplanes. As a child he learned secretly how to fly, and the unyielding ambition to become a superb aviator spurred him to overcome a serious childhood disease. Working for the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), Crossfield achieved national renown testing the rocket-powered planes, X-1 and Skyrocket, taking them to amazing heights where “man had a new view of his life and the world.” He has logged more rocket plane flights than most of the chief test pilots combined.
Written in the tradition of Saint-Exupéry and Lindbergh, Scott Crossfield's inspiring autobiography is a testament to the adventure and achievement of the flight pioneers who dare to live beyond the clouds. Why is “death the handmaiden of the pilot” and how does it feel to face her fifteen miles above the ground? What can a pilot do when fear and panic overtake him? What is it like to be the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound? These are some of the questions Crossfield answers as he explains why he was prepared to devote so much of his time, his dreams, and his aspirations to an experimental plane called the X-15.
When he heard about plans for the X-15, pilot Crossfield knew that his major challenge had begun. For this was to be the first manned aero-spaceship, the first plane to fly at the fantastic rate of six times the speed of sound, and one of America's major bids for supremacy in the race for space. From its very inception the X-15 was surrounded by many challenges: the dictum of some high councils that manned aircraft were already obsolete, unbelievably tough engineering problems, interservice rivalries, and countless dangers. Always Another Dawn tells of the birth of this plane; the daring of the men who painstakingly designed and built her, counting every extra pound a danger and creating innovations unprecedented in flight history. Here is the courage of the men who flew her, their every take-off a hazardous journey into the unknown.
Scott Crossfield’s belief in the X-15 was his faith in the future of man in space. Probing our “new frontier” Crossfield experienced fires and explosions, failures and disappointments, and the final triumph of knowing that he had flown a miracle. This book is the thrilling story of man’s first faltering steps into space, of the great experiment and the great pilot who “set man on his path toward the stars.”
Written in the tradition of Saint-Exupéry and Lindbergh, Scott Crossfield's inspiring autobiography is a testament to the adventure and achievement of the flight pioneers who dare to live beyond the clouds. Why is “death the handmaiden of the pilot” and how does it feel to face her fifteen miles above the ground? What can a pilot do when fear and panic overtake him? What is it like to be the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound? These are some of the questions Crossfield answers as he explains why he was prepared to devote so much of his time, his dreams, and his aspirations to an experimental plane called the X-15.
When he heard about plans for the X-15, pilot Crossfield knew that his major challenge had begun. For this was to be the first manned aero-spaceship, the first plane to fly at the fantastic rate of six times the speed of sound, and one of America's major bids for supremacy in the race for space. From its very inception the X-15 was surrounded by many challenges: the dictum of some high councils that manned aircraft were already obsolete, unbelievably tough engineering problems, interservice rivalries, and countless dangers. Always Another Dawn tells of the birth of this plane; the daring of the men who painstakingly designed and built her, counting every extra pound a danger and creating innovations unprecedented in flight history. Here is the courage of the men who flew her, their every take-off a hazardous journey into the unknown.
Scott Crossfield’s belief in the X-15 was his faith in the future of man in space. Probing our “new frontier” Crossfield experienced fires and explosions, failures and disappointments, and the final triumph of knowing that he had flown a miracle. This book is the thrilling story of man’s first faltering steps into space, of the great experiment and the great pilot who “set man on his path toward the stars.”
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
182 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Albert Scott Crossfield
7 books1 followerAlbert Scott Crossfield was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 9, 2016
This autobiography of Scott Crossfield through his X-15 pilot days gripped me. I have read a number of test pilot stories, but I found this to give the best sense of the interplay between the aircraft design and flight test process. When preparing to fly a rocket plane at Oshkosh, Crossfield wandered in, and declared it the coolest thing he'd seen since his Edwards days -- our team treasured that. But in reading the book, having lived some of that life, I can see now what he saw, how similar the feel of the team. Highly recommend this book for aviation and space buffs. Especially interesting how, in 1960, the outline of what would one day be the Shuttle was being seen.
May 28, 2019
I grew up in Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s in a town just south of LAX. My dad worked for the phone company but almost everyone else on my street worked for the aircraft factories, including North American, the company that built the X-15 and employed Scott Crossfield.
It was a fascinating time for a kid who liked airplanes and the space program was in its infancy. Those test pilots got a lot of press and were heroes to my friends and me. We knew when a plane was flying at Edwards and we were excited when records were set.
This book brought it all back to me and I found my memories more vivid than I expected.
Crossfield was a stud pilot and one of my heroes. For those who like airplanes, the spirit of exploration and those who risk all to push the envelope of scientific and engineering knowledge, Scott Crossfield has a tale to tell.
He’s gone now - left this life in his 80s in the cockpit of an aircraft. But his story lives here.
July 13, 2021
Scott Crossfield, one-time fastest man alive and
the first person to fly the X-15 rocket aircraft. Written while still involved with the experimental programme in 1960, in parts it shows its age. Mostly however it is a good read for any historic aviation buff.
Particularly enjoyable are the flights in the Navy Skyrocket aircraft, in which he became the first person to travel faster than Mach 2. The jacket sleeve of the annotated issue is deceptive in that Crossfield never flew the rocket-assisted Starfighter.
The weaker areas of the book however covered his X-15 flying. Strong on the initial journey from concept to reality as “the bull” - pilots would later describe it - it is scant on technical details. As the book ends in 1960, it also fails to cover the ensuing 8 years of flight. The aircraft would later go on to exceed Mach 6, and was flown by twelve test pilots in total - among them Neil Alden Armstrong.
An interesting account overall, and a real page-turner. For a more technical and in-depth study of the aircraft however, I would look elsewhere.
the first person to fly the X-15 rocket aircraft. Written while still involved with the experimental programme in 1960, in parts it shows its age. Mostly however it is a good read for any historic aviation buff.
Particularly enjoyable are the flights in the Navy Skyrocket aircraft, in which he became the first person to travel faster than Mach 2. The jacket sleeve of the annotated issue is deceptive in that Crossfield never flew the rocket-assisted Starfighter.
The weaker areas of the book however covered his X-15 flying. Strong on the initial journey from concept to reality as “the bull” - pilots would later describe it - it is scant on technical details. As the book ends in 1960, it also fails to cover the ensuing 8 years of flight. The aircraft would later go on to exceed Mach 6, and was flown by twelve test pilots in total - among them Neil Alden Armstrong.
An interesting account overall, and a real page-turner. For a more technical and in-depth study of the aircraft however, I would look elsewhere.
October 18, 2018
As a child, Scott Crossfield secretly learned to fly. Told he would never be physically strong enough to fly, due to serious bouts of pneumonia and rheumatic fever, he found he could not let go of the dream of flight and ultimately earned for himself a place as a renowned and dedicated test pilot for the X-1 and Skyrocket rocket planes.
Told with candor, this is the story of a man dedicated to flight, the man who was the first to fly at twice the speed of sound. It is also the story of the X-15, the rocket plane that flew its brave and daring pilots into journeys into the unknown.
Told in Scott Crossfield’s own words, this account of a life of flight reveals a pilot who had faith in the future of man in space, a pilot who believed that the experimental plane had a place in that quest. In these pages, readers will meet the legendary pilot who flew a miracle and set man on his path toward the stars.
Highly recommended.
Told with candor, this is the story of a man dedicated to flight, the man who was the first to fly at twice the speed of sound. It is also the story of the X-15, the rocket plane that flew its brave and daring pilots into journeys into the unknown.
Told in Scott Crossfield’s own words, this account of a life of flight reveals a pilot who had faith in the future of man in space, a pilot who believed that the experimental plane had a place in that quest. In these pages, readers will meet the legendary pilot who flew a miracle and set man on his path toward the stars.
Highly recommended.
February 16, 2024
The book was written in 1960 and it definitely shows through. This is not to say that it was not a good book, it was actually a very enjoyable read and very well written. The author could have summarized the last, maybe 100 pages down to 40 or 50, as he did go into somewhat excruciating detail in each of the x15 flights. Otherwise, I'm very glad that I read this book and learned a what about the x15, as well as interestingly the mindset of the day. This was written before Kennedy's congressional announcement of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade, or really before any clear goals of space exploration had been made in the country. As such, the author shows how there were many different mindsets on how to go about entering and exploring space. Would very much recommend to anyone to read who has an interest in this time period of history or aviation.
March 15, 2019
Insight into pushing the boundaries of flight and man
Scott Crossfield brings to life an amazing time in the history of aviation, shining a spotlight on the struggle to develop ideas into reliable technologies. Failures, setbacks, politics and human condition are all laid bare. The triumphs are exclamation points scattered throughout. The book comes to a rather abrupt end and felt as though there was more to the story but we will need to seek it elsewhere. There are several typos due I believe to OCR digital conversion that are a little distracting but easy to figure out and move past. All-in-all a great read for the aviation buff and historically minded.
Scott Crossfield brings to life an amazing time in the history of aviation, shining a spotlight on the struggle to develop ideas into reliable technologies. Failures, setbacks, politics and human condition are all laid bare. The triumphs are exclamation points scattered throughout. The book comes to a rather abrupt end and felt as though there was more to the story but we will need to seek it elsewhere. There are several typos due I believe to OCR digital conversion that are a little distracting but easy to figure out and move past. All-in-all a great read for the aviation buff and historically minded.
October 28, 2020
If you liked The Right Stuff then this is for you.
From that glorious era when aviation was still making huge strides off the backs of great engineers with new ideas and the confidence to try them out and pilots with balls so big they needed a wheelbarrow to transport them. A story about the greatest flying machines of the 50's and 60's all flown by one of the greatest test pilots you've probably never heard of.
From that glorious era when aviation was still making huge strides off the backs of great engineers with new ideas and the confidence to try them out and pilots with balls so big they needed a wheelbarrow to transport them. A story about the greatest flying machines of the 50's and 60's all flown by one of the greatest test pilots you've probably never heard of.
July 30, 2019
Loved this book. Scott Crossfield is a her of mine, and Edwards Air Force Base was close to home. So this was kind of like reading my childhood history. The X planes were remarkable, and the insight into a test pilot's life and thinking processes is fascinating. The writing style is very readable!
September 6, 2019
Enjoyed the first half of it more than the second half, which was kind of a slog and a lot more details about the X-15 than I was really interested in. I read this on a Kindle and the conversion was VERY sloppy - lots of typos like I's that should be 1's and weird punctuation.
September 14, 2020
Great Book
I am sorry that the authors have passed away. The irony is he was killed when his light plane crashed!! Overall, this is a great book. His work on the X-15 is rarely mentioned. He one man that had The Right Stuff.
I am sorry that the authors have passed away. The irony is he was killed when his light plane crashed!! Overall, this is a great book. His work on the X-15 is rarely mentioned. He one man that had The Right Stuff.
February 7, 2023
Easy to read
Love learning from the people who made history. This story of the original test pilots that made space travel possible is gripping. It tells the cold hard reality of the cost of lives but also the thrill of victory and the path they took to get there.
Love learning from the people who made history. This story of the original test pilots that made space travel possible is gripping. It tells the cold hard reality of the cost of lives but also the thrill of victory and the path they took to get there.
September 11, 2018
I was just a kid
I was just a kid when this went down. Had no idea what the real story was but I built a real nice model from revelle
Thanks
I was just a kid when this went down. Had no idea what the real story was but I built a real nice model from revelle
Thanks
November 21, 2018
Historical quality
I gave 5 stars because of the historical value and the amount of technical information. Also the video and the book are spot on. Very good reading!
I gave 5 stars because of the historical value and the amount of technical information. Also the video and the book are spot on. Very good reading!
December 31, 2018
Very informative.
A nice, first person account t of what it was like to fly the early rocket planes. There was a lot more to it than just hopping in the plane and flying.
A nice, first person account t of what it was like to fly the early rocket planes. There was a lot more to it than just hopping in the plane and flying.
January 16, 2019
This story of Scott Crossfield is well written and contains little known details of test flying in general and rocket airplanes in particular.
November 26, 2020
Puts you in the pilot's seat. Great read
January 19, 2021
I thought it was an okay read. Nothing else to do. Read it, since I bought it. Only $1.07, after tax. Not my usual genre, for books.
February 7, 2019
Albert Scott Crossfield is one of America's greatest aviation heroes and pioneers along with Chuck Yeager. Crossfield was the first man to break Mach 2 and Mach 3 which is twice and thrice the speed of sound. The stories he tells, mostly about his time at Edwards Air Force Base an hour north of LA near Palmdale and Lancaster, are as riveting and ambitious as the experimental flights he performed.
He takes you inside the cockpit on numerous test flights and brings you on base and in the production facility and even to the memo pages he sent to Washington during the 1950's and the Korean War. His story is the story of the X-15 and Crossfield's single minded focus to create and fly that plane, and it is one everyone should read.
He takes you inside the cockpit on numerous test flights and brings you on base and in the production facility and even to the memo pages he sent to Washington during the 1950's and the Korean War. His story is the story of the X-15 and Crossfield's single minded focus to create and fly that plane, and it is one everyone should read.
March 12, 2019
Very good.
I liked this a lot. It was well written and a story about someone about whom you care. Recomended! It also filled in the history of that time.
I liked this a lot. It was well written and a story about someone about whom you care. Recomended! It also filled in the history of that time.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews