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NASA Meatball NASA Dryden D-558-I Aircraft banner
D-558-1 on the ramp D-558-1 on the ramp
Photo Number: E49-090
Photo Date: Oct 1949
Formats: 539x480 JPEG Image (91 KBytes)
1150x1024 JPEG Image (442 KBytes)
3000x2670 JPEG Image (3,533 KBytes)
Photo
Description:

This 1949 NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit photograph of the Douglas D-558-1 #3 Skystreak was taken in front of the NACA hangar at South Base, Edwards Air Force. NACA had the color of the Skystreaks changed from red to white for better optical tracking and photograpy. It was found that the dark red aircraft was hard to see against the dark blue sky over Edwards Air Force Base. The NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit went through several names before the organization became the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in 1976.
Project
Description:		 Conceived in 1945, the D-558-1 Skystreak was designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, in conjunction with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Skystreaks were turojet powered aircraft that took off from the ground under their own power and had straight wings and tails. All three D-558-1 Skystreaks were powered by Allison J35-A-11 turbojet engines producing 5,000 pounds of thrust. All the Skystreaks were initially painted scarlet, which lead to the nickname “crimson test tube.” NACA later had the color of the Skystreaks changed to white to improve optical tracking and photography. The Skystreaks carried 634 pounds of instrumentation and were ideal first-generation, simple, transonic research airplanes. Much of the research performed by the D-558-1 Skystreaks, was quickly overshadowed in the public mind by Chuck Yeager and the X-1 rocketplane. However, the Skystreak performed an important role in aeronautical research by flying for extended periods of time at transonic speeds, which freed the X-1 to fly for limited periods at supersonic speeds.
NASA Photo by: NASA photo
Keywords: D-558-I Aircraft; D-558-1; Douglas D-558-I Skystreak Aircraft; Douglas Aircraft Company; U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics; NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit; National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics; NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

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