Joseph A. "Joe" Walker -XB-70

USAF Astronaut

Nationality	American
Born	20 February 1921 Washington, Pennsylvania
Died	8 June 1966 Barstow, California
Occupation¹	Test Pilot
Rank	Captain, USAF
Space time	22m
Selection	1958 MISS Group
Missions	X-15 Flight 90, X-15 Flight 91
Mission insignia	X-15
¹ previous or current.

Joseph Albert "Joe" Walker (20 February 1921 - 8 June 1966) was an American test pilot and a USAF astronaut.

In 1963, Walker made two X-15 flights beyond 100 kilometers - the edge of space. These were the only powered spaceplane flights past that threshold until SpaceShipOne in 2004. These flights qualified him as an astronaut under both U.S. Air Force and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale rules. Joe Walker was the first person to enter space twice.

Biography

Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, Walker earned a degree in physics from Washington and Jefferson College before entering the United States Army Air Forces. He flew the P-38 Lightning and F-5A reconnaissance plane (a modified P-38) in World War II, and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters.

After World War II, Walker joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, as a physicist. While at the Cleveland facility, Walker became a research pilot and conducted icing research in flight as well as in the icing wind tunnel. He transferred to the High-Speed Flight Research Station in Edwards, California in 1951, to become a research pilot.

For fifteen years, Walker served as a pilot at the Edwards Flight Research Facility (now known as Dryden Flight Research Center); by the mid-1960s, he was a Chief Research Pilot. Walker worked on several pioneering research projects. He flew three versions of the Bell X-1: the X-1#2 (2 flights, first on August 27, 1951), X-1A (1 flight), X-1E (21 flights). When Walker attempted a second flight in the X-1A on 8 August 1955, the aircraft was damaged in an explosion just before being launched from the JTB-29A mothership. Walker, unhurt, climbed back into the mothership, and the X-1A was jettisoned.

Other research planes that he flew were the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak #3 (14 flights), Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket] #2 (3 flights), D-558-II #3 (2 flights), Douglas X-3 (20 flights), Northrop X-4 Bantam (2 flights), and Bell X-5 (78 flights). For the X-3 Stiletto, Walker was project pilot and made all of the flights; he considered the X-3 the worst plane he ever flew. In addition to research aircraft, he flew chase planes and programs involving the F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, and the B-47 Stratojet.

In 1958, Walker was one of the pilots selected for the USAF Man In Space Soonest project, but that project never came to fruition.

In 1960, he was the first NASA pilot to fly the X-15 aircraft, following Scott Crossfield, the manufacturer's test pilot. On the first flight, he didn't realize how much power the engine had, and he crashed backward into his seat, screaming, "Oh, my God!"; a flight controller jokingly replied "Yes? You called?" Walker would go on to fly the X-15 24 times, including the only two flights to exceed 100 kilometers in altitude, Flight 90 (19 July 1963; 106 km) and Flight 91 (22 August 1963; 108 km). Walker was the first civilian to fly into space. He also achieved the fastest speed in the X-15A-1: 4,104 mph (Mach 5.92) during a flight on 27 June 1962 (the fastest flight in any X-15 was Mach 6.7 by Pete Knight).

Walker was also the first pilot of the Bell Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, which was used to develop piloting and operational techniques for moon landings. On October 30, 1964, he took the LLRV on its maiden flight, reaching an altitude of 10 feet and a total flight time of just under one minute. He piloted 35 flights in all on the LLRV.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Walker in a pressure suit with the X-1E

Walker's X-1E was decorated with nose art of two dice and the name "Little Joe" (Little Joe being a slang term in craps). Similar artwork — reading "Little Joe the II" — was applied to his X-15 for record-setting Flight 91. These were two rare cases of research aircraft carrying nose art.

Walker flew weather recon flights during WWII earning the Distinguished Flying cross, awarded by General Nathan Twining in July 1944 and the Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters.

Walker was a charter member and one of the first Fellows of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He received the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the Harmon International Trophy for Aviators, the Iven C. Kincheloe Award and the Octave Chanute Award. His alma mater awarded him an honorary Doctor of Aeronautical Sciences degree in 1961. The National Pilots Association named him 1963 Pilot of the Year.

Walker was killed on June 8, 1966, when his F-104 Starfighter chase plane collided with an XB-70 Valkyrie; Walker had been flying in a tight group formation for a publicity photo, and was knocked out of control by the supersonic bomber's wake, though Chuck Yeager stated that Walker's inexperience at formation flying was to blame.^[1] Several Air Force colonels' careers ended as a result of the accident.

Joe Walker was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor in 1991, and the International Space Hall of Fame in 1995. He officially received his astronaut's wings posthumously, in 2005. Joe Walker Middle School in Quartz Hill, California is named in his honor as well as the Joe Walker Elementary School in Lagonda, Pennsylvania.

Wikipedia

References

^ Yeager, Chuck and Janos, Leo. Yeager: An Autobiography. Page 226 (paperback). New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0-553-25674-2.

Joseph (Joe) A. Walker. Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.

X-1A with pilot Joe Walker. Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.

Joe Walker in pressure suit with X-1E. Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Archive. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.

Frank H. Winter and F. Robert van der Linden (June 1991). "Out of the Past". Aerospace America.

Coppinger (2005-06-30). "Three new NASA astronauts, 40 years late". Flight International.

David Lefer. "Higher, faster, greater; X-15 test pilot who held record for altitude, speed is honored", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1995-11-02, p. C1.

The Crash of Walker's F-104N. Check-Six.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-24.

Thompson, Milton O. (1992) At The Edge Of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. ISBN 1-56098-107-5

Joseph A. Walker Memorial Web Site (http://www.josephawalker.com

Personal: Male, Married, Four children. Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, USA. Killed in collision of F-104 chase plane with XB-70 bomber. NASA US Army

Astronaut Group: Man-In-Space-Soonest - 1958, Test Pilot (USAF). Deceased Entered space service: 1960. Left space service: 22 August 1963. Number of Flights: 3.00. Total Time: 0.0223 days.

Born in Washington Pennsylvania; married, four children. Received BA degree in physics in 1942 from Washington and Jefferson College. Joined Army Air Force and flew P-38's in World War II. Joined NACA in March 1945 and served as project pilot on D-558, X-1, X-3, X-4, and X-5 before being assigned chief X-15 pilot for NASA. Obtained both USAF and FAI astronaut wings on record 108 km flight. After X-15 tested LLRV lunar module trainer. Killed when F-104 he was flying in formation with XB-70 number 2 became caught in a vortex, went out of control, colliding with the XB-70 and resulting in the destruction of both aircraft.

Joseph A. Walker was a Chief Research Pilot at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center during the mid-1960s. He joined the NACA in March 1945, and served as project pilot at the Edwards flight research facility on such pioneering research projects as the D-558-1, D-558-2, X-1, X-3, X-4, X-5, and the X-15. He also flew programs involving the F-100, F-101, F-102, F-104, and the B-47.

Walker made the first NASA X-15 flight on March 25, 1960. He flew the research aircraft 24 times and achieved its fastest speed and highest altitude. He attained a speed of 4,104 mph (Mach 5.92) during a flight on June 27, 1962, and reached an altitude of 354,300 feet on August 22, 1963 (his last X-15 flight).

He was the first man to pilot the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) that was used to develop piloting and operational techniques for lunar landings.

Walker was born February 20, 1921, in Washington, Pa. He lived there until graduating from Washington and Jefferson College in 1942, with a B.A. degree in Physics. During World War II he flew P-38 fighters for the Air Force, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Seven Oak Clusters.

Walker was the recipient of many awards during his 21 years as a research pilot. These include the 1961 Robert J. Collier Trophy, 1961 Harmon International Trophy for Aviators, the 1961 Kincheloe Award and 1961 Octave Chanute Award. He received an honorary Doctor of Aeronautical Sciences degree from his alma mater in June of 1962. Walker was named Pilot of the Year in 1963 by the National Pilots Association.

He was a charter member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and one of the first to be designated a Fellow. He was fatally injured on June 8, 1966, in a mid-air collision between an F-104 he was piloting and the XB-70.