Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak

The Douglas Skystreak, designated D-558-1, was an American single-engine jet research aircraft of the 1940s. Douglas Aircraft Company designed it in 1945 for the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics together with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, as the first phase of a transonic and supersonic research program. Three aircraft were built with unswept surfaces and a nose air inlet, using magnesium alloy in the fuselage and a design strength of 18 times gravity. Each carried more than 500 pounds of test equipment and was powered by one Allison J-35-A-11 turbojet. The first flew on 14 April 1947 at Muroc Army Air Field, and on 20 August 1947 Commander Turner Caldwell reached 640.744 mph, an official world air speed record that Marion Carl broke five days later.