ALWAYS ANOTHER DAWN

Pictorial Bookplate on the half title page signed by

Scott Crossfield

Hodder & Stoughton UK edition 1961.     420 pages with lots of photographs

A Fine condition hardback book and dustjacket. Clean, bright and tight.  This is a lovely book with bright red textured boards with a black embossed drawing of the X-15 and a facsimile of Crossfield’s signature in gold. A  great copy which looks very smart in a protective wrapper.

‘Always Another Dawn’ is the autobiography of one of the most famous of all of the American Test Pilots.

Crossfield flew nearly all of the experimental aircraft under test at Edwards in the early 1950s, including the X-1, Skystreak and the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket. On November 20, 1953, he became the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound as he piloted the Skyrocket to a speed of 1,291 mph (Mach 2.005). With 99 flights in the rocket-powered X-1 and Skyrocket, Crossfield had, by a wide margin, more experience with rocket planes than any other pilot in the world when he left Edwards to join North American Aviation in 1955.

As chief engineering test pilot for North American, Crossfield played a major role in the design and development of the North American X-15 and its systems. Once it was ready to fly, it was his job to demonstrate its airworthiness at speeds ranging up to Mach 3 (2,290 mph). The X-15 and its systems were unproven, so these tests were considered extremely hazardous. Crossfield flew 14 of the 199 total X-15 flight tests and although it had been his hope to eventually pilot one of the craft into space, the USAF would not allow it, and gave strict orders which basically amounted to “stay in the sky, stay out of space.” In his remarks to a number of aviation groups, Crossfield cited the X-15 as one of few aircraft that caused grown men to cry upon its retirement.

This is a scarce book and particularly in this condition it is a superb addition to any aviation book collection.