History
On November 20,
1953, the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket became the first aircraft to fly faster than
Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. Piloted by A. Scott Crossfield, it was
air-launched from a U.S. Navy Boeing P2B-1S (B-29) the swept-wing,
rocket-powered D-558-2 reached Mach 2.005 in a shallow dive at 18,898 meters
(62,000 feet). This swept wing research plane attained Mach 2.005 (1,291 mph)
while in a shallow dive at an altitude of 62,000 feet. Seconds afterward, the
plane’s XLR-8 rocket engine exhausted its fuel supply and shut down.
Crossfield glided earthward to a smooth dead-stick landing on Muroc Dry Lake, at
Edwards Air Force Base, California.
D-558-2 #2 was just one of six different D558 research airplanes ordered by the
U.S. Navy from the Douglas Aircraft Company for obtaining aerodynamic
information at transonic and supersonic speeds. The Navy issued a letter of
intent to Douglas on June 22, 1945, for construction of six Model D-558
aircraft, having straight, thin wing and tail surfaces, and turbojet propulsion.
The D-558-1 and D-558-2 greatly differed from one another in detail design and
there was little commonality between them. Both took off from the ground.
Because of its engine type and airframe design, the D-558-1 was limited to
approximately Mach 1, the speed of sound. The more powerful D558-2, using its
6,000-pound-thrust rocket engine fueled with liquid oxygen and diluted ethyl
alcohol, could easily exceed Mach 1. The safety hazards of operating a heavily
loaded rocket-propelled airplane from the ground later caused Douglas to modify
the D-558-2 #2 and #3 for air launching from the bomb bay of a converted Boeing
P2B-1S (Navy B-29) Superfortress. At the same time, Douglas modified the D-558-2
#2 to all-rocket propulsion, utilizing the space formerly taken up by its
turbojet engine for additional rocket fuel. Thus modified, the D-558-2 #2 was
capable of reaching Mach 2, which it did while being flown in a special
high-speed flight research program by the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA).
The D-558-1 and D-558-2 were of mixed aluminum and magnesium construction. Both
types featured jettisonable nose sections to serve as emergency escape capsules.
and both were designed to carry heavy instrumentation payloads for flight
research purposes. The first two D-558-1 Skystreaks were bright glossy red
overall, but the D-558-1 #3 and later D-558-2 Skyrockets were glossy white,
which proved more desirable for optical tracking purposes. The historic Douglas
D558-2 #2, NACA 144, the first Mach 2 airplane, is in the collection of the
National Air and Space Museum.
The
Kit
Revell’s
Skyrocket kit was originally released in 1955, with subsequent releases in the
1960’s and most recently in 1994 as part of Revell’s SSP Limited Run model
kits.
The kit
represents Douglas Skyrocket D-558-2 #2, BuNo 37974, NACA 144.
The kit is an
odd, “fit-the-box”, 1/65 scale. The kit contains 22 parts molded in white
and clear plastic, and contains a ladder and a pilot figure. Notably, this kit
has recessed panel lines, what panel lines it has.
As with all
early scale model kits from that era, the plastic is thick, the parts don’t
line up quite right, and some filling and sanding is required. There were some
sink holes just below the canopy on both sides of the fuselage, but nothing that
filling and sanding couldn’t take care of. Care had to be taken with the wing
alignment. It took me several
attempts to get it right. The
landing gear had to be sanded a little bit to correct the stance of the
model.
The
wheels provided in the kit, left a lot to be desired, I decided to go to the
spares box and find some better looking wheels for the kit.
Painting and
Markings
All of the
Skyrockets were painted and overall Gloss White with Flat Black anti-glare in
front of the windscreen. I painted
the entire model with several coats of flat white. After the paint had
thoroughly dried, I sanded the entire model with 2000 grit wet/dry. This
smoothed out the paint and gave a semi-gloss appearance.
I decided to
use the kit decals provided, even though I knew the national insignia was
incorrect. I wanted to go with a
nostalgic feel on the kit. The kit decals went on well, I then went to the
spares box and looked for “appropriate” stencils to place in various
locations on the aircraft.
Final
Thoughts
I got this
model as a freebie. I originally wasn’t going to build it, but after I did
some research on the subject, I had a change of heart. This was a fun model to
build, sure I could have gone crazy with it, but I didn’t.
I was so
inspired by this kit, that I found Revell’s X-3, X-5, and X-15 kit to complete
the collection. I know all the kits
are odd scales, but they will look good sitting on the shelf together.
Steve
Click on
images below to see larger images
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