WILLIAM J. 'PETE' KNIGHT: A TEST PILOT'S TEST PILOT AND MAN OF THE PEOPLE

摘要

Then-Major William J. 'Pete' Knight poses proudly with the aerial steed that would forever be linked to his name, the North American X-15A-2 - thunderous 'big block' version of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. Unconfirmed rumors have it that the airplane was painted white on Knight's insistence, as the original color of the ablative coating was hot pink. Knight was allegedly quoted as saying "There's no way in hell I'm going to fly a pink airplane!" William J. 'Pete' Knight once stated that test pilots encounter dangor in varying degrees in different flights and test programs, but every pilot has to be aware of it. "You're concerned, you're scared and worried until the launch," he said. "You have to be aware of the dangers. If you're not scared and apprehensive, you're getting too complacent and it's going to bite you."