Well, I guess now it can be told. The picture is in the public domain, the cat is out of the bag. That photo is not a trick. How do I know? Well, I was the pilot. It was a super secret project I worked on back about 12 years ago. The idea was to see how far general aviation technology could be pushed. They wanted a pilot with a good cover story. They chose the Luscombe because of its good rugged construction and adaptability to some of the mods the project required. During the mods phase of the project I engaged in a program of super physical conditioning to acclimate to high altitude work. You can see from the photo that I wasn't using any oxygen equipment. I would do weight training in the morning at NASA's facility in Denver then run a marathon in the afternoon. Two or three times a week I would sprint up Pike's Peak as fast as I could. You all thought I was in California for some job related training.
Well soon enough it was time to go flying! As the mods were wrapped up we started a series of test hops to experiment with the aircraft (some of these experiments are still highly classified.) After all the mods were completed it was decided to go for the worlds absolute speed record for high wing prop driven aircraft. We had a custom high speed prop, as I'm sure you can imagine, a highly tuned engine and custom cowling installation. The engineers were confident we could exceed Mach one! I will admit I had some apprehension, but I was 100% confident in the aircraft and my support team.
At last the day arrived for the record attempt. The weatherwas perfect. The sky was clear and blue and the wind was calm. As I strapped in the excitement was so thick you could cut it with a knife. In order to carry a light fuel load for the record run it was decided to employ a JATO assist on take-off. I kissed Lisa, waved to the team and the hatch was closed. The little Luscombe tracked beautifully as I taxied to the main runway at Edwards.
I eased in the power and started down the runway. As the tail came up I fired the rockets. HOLY SHIT I thought. This was some REAL acceleration! I rotated into a vertical climb and streaked heavenward at an IAS of 490kts. I snapped off a couple vertical rolls to the delight of the team. As the rockets burned off we were passing through FL270.
Still climbing I lowered the nose in preparation for the record run. Fifteen miles from the "starting gate" I eased in full power and really started to book. As we got to the high sub-sonic numbers all hell started breaking loose! The vibration was extreme. My head was crashing into the headliner, I could hear the control cables thrashing about like pit vipers in the fuselage and I could barely hang on to the wheel. The instruments were a blur. I was just starting to think she was going to blow and I would have to "hit the silk" when Boom! sudden calm!
Now all I could hear was that sweet little Continental C-85 up there screaming like a demented she-demon! I looked down at the Mach meter and saw 1.1! We were still climbing as I turned her around for the second run. I now became aware of the distinct smell of burning rubber from the exposed main gear being cooked by friction from the slipstream. As we neared the finish line the engine really started to miss and vibrate. I guess even with the custom engineered cowl she was shock cooling from the 800+ kt airflow. We passed the finish line at mach 1.39 still climbing!
With the record firmly in hand I eased the nose over. I couldn't help but notice the sky above was pitch black and I could clearly see the curvature of the earth. Breathing was getting laborious now without oxygen, and since, in the desert heat, I had forgotten how cold it can get at 69,000 feet, my old tee shirt wasn't doing the job. Now the engine was toast so I just shut it down, but man you really have to respect those folks at Contnental plant for a job well done.
The landing was uneventful, and I rolled off the runway to the ramp with the dead engine a la Bob Hoover, unstrapped and climbed out. Well since it was a secret project the only people there were my project team and some pigeon control specialists the Air Force were using to address THAT nasty little problem. They slapped me some high fives and handed me a cold brew.
After a thorough debriefing they drove me to LAX to catch my flight home. The next day I was back to work at my regular job. Man. World record one day, selling software the next. Wierd. Thought you would be interested in this true story now that the truth can at last be told.
Your flyin' buddy, Jeff