In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Acknowledgments So many people helped make this book a reality. As with any work of a historical nature, it will always be true that an author cannot work in a vacuum . There are interviews, research, travel, and more interviews. Each person you meet along the way helps get you to that finish line. However, the biggest hurdle in any book is to get off the blocks. With that in mind, I acknowledge Dr. Richard Hallion, who answered my first phone call on the day I got the idea to pursue this project. His response was to come directly to Edwards Air Force Base so he could point me in the right direction. I grabbed my gear and headed up to meet with him the next day. Dr. Hallion went on to make introductions with several key people, who all eventually sat down to endure my questions. Milt Thompson was the first in a long line of interviews. He and Jack Kolf visited with me several times. I will be forever saddened that neither of these fine gentlemen survived to see this work published. Much later, I found a good friend in Dave Stoddard, formerly of the nasa rocket engine shop. We met after a long hiatus from my writing. He opened more doors than anyone else. For that, and so much more, thank you, Dave. Others I must note include Sheri McKay-Lowe, daughter of x-15 pilot Jack McKay. One of eight children, Sheri spent a lot of time with me in her home, and on the telephone, sharing memories of her parents and her life with seven siblings. Francis French was the one who first put me in touch with my editor, Colin Burgess. I am forever grateful to Francis for getting the ball rolling that night at “Killer Pizza from Mars” and to Colin for believing in me, even when he could have easily given up and gone elsewhere. Colin, you put up with a lot from me throughout the gestation process, reassuring me I was the only person who could tell this story. You are amazing. xviii | acknowledgments Thommy Eriksson first contacted me many years ago, telling me of his love of the x-15 and of his special skill in creating photo-realistic computer images. The marriage of those two skills is seen throughout this book with the amazing images he conjured while skillfully manipulating pixels. My gratitude in what he created is as high as the altitudes reached by the x-15. Special thanks go to all those people who shared their time and stories of the x-15: Brent Adams, Freida Adams, George Adams, Bill Albrecht, Johnny Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, T. D. Barnes, Florence Barnett, Larry Barnett , Roger Barniki, Paul Bikle, Phil Brandt, Dean Bryan, Stan Butchart, Vince Capasso, Scott Crossfield, Sally Crossfield Farley, Bill Dana, Meryl DeGeer, Joe Engle, Frank Fedor, Fitz Fulton, Billy Furr, Charles Gerdel, Byron Gibbs, Don Hallberg, Bob Hoey, David Knight, Pete Knight, Jack Kolf, Eldon Kordes, Terry Larson, Wade Martin, Charlie McKay, John McKay, Mac McKay, Mark McKay, Sheri McKay-Lowe, John McTigue, Phil Moore, Edward Nice, John Painter, Forrest Petersen, Bob Revert, Ralph Richardson, Daniel Riegert, Jim Robertson, Bob Rushworth, Harry Shapiro , Glynn Smith, Dave Stoddard, Harrison Storms, Bill Szuwalski, Milt Thompson, Daryl Townsend, Jim Townsend, Donald Veatch, Grace Walker -Weismann, Gene Waltman, Lonnie Dean Webb, Bob White, Ray White, Walt Williams, and Jim Wilson. Thanks to so many others who helped along the way with this journey: Pat Baker, David Ball of the Civil Air Patrol, Phil Broad, Jim Busby, Greg Cooper, Christine Daniels, Al Esquivel, Bryce Evans and Celee Evans, Dr. Christian Gelzer from the Dryden History Office, Dennis Gilliam, Cathie Godwin, Richard and Robert Godwin from Apogee Books, Bob Holland from Reaction Motors, Eric Jones from the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, Bob Kline, Tony Landis, Joseph and Carolena Lapierre, Pam Leestma, David Livingston from The Space Show, Pete Merlin, Jon Page Risque, Stephanie Smith from the Edwards afb Flight Test Center, Kaya and Mary Tuncer from Space CampTurkey and Global FriendshipThrough Space Education, Larry Turoski, Karen Vance, Thomas Walker, Paul Wood, and Jim Young of the Edwards afb History Office. Special thanks to Robert Lanktree and Genie Parrish for reading through early versions of the manuscript to offer input and corrections. After their perusals, and those of Cherie and Colin, any leftover mistakes are certainly on my own head. [3.128.199.210] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 12...

Share