Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket

Naval Fighters number Fifty-Seven
Scott Libis
Steve Ginter Books, 2002
ISBN 0-942612-32-9

Reviewed by Jim Schubert

Let's start with the conclusion: Buy this book. You'll like it if you're at all interested in the early days of "X" planes and the dangerous derring do involved in exploring flight in the Mach .8 to 2.0 range. If you're a modeler, there's a lot of good material here for you. If you're an av history nut (pro or am) you too will find a lot to like in this book. That's the good news.

The bad news is that this book is as poorly written as its predecessor, on the D-558-1 by the same author, in this series. The Skystreak book was reviewed here in September 2001. The poor grammar, scrambled punctuation, mis-spelled words, wrong words, scrambled facts, internal contradictions, etc. are really annoying. Most of the facts about the Skyrocket can be winnowed from this work if you're, at least, somewhat savvy about airplanes and how they work.

There were three Skyrockets, US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) Nos. 37973, 37974 and 37975. The Skyrocket was designed to follow on from the Skystreak in expanding the body of aeronautical knowledge in regards transonic and low supersonic speed flight and the aerodynamic shapes, structures, systems and operational procedures required to fly safely with full control at speeds from about Mach .8 to about 2.0. Phase One of the Navy/NACA efforts in this re used the Skystreak to get up to 650.796 mph, about Mach .8. The Skyrocket was their vehicle for Phase Two, which got up to mach 2.005 in a shallow power dive from 72,000 feet on November 20, 1953. Three weeks later Chuck Yeager took an Air Force/NACA Bell X-1A to Mach 2.44 in a similar dive from 75,000 feet.

The Skyrocket came off the drawing board as a dual-power vehicle with both a 3,000 pound thrust Westinghouse J-34 axial flow turbo jet engine and a 6,000 pound thrust Reaction Motors, Inc. LR-8-RM5 four chamber rocket motor. The first flight of 37973 took place at Muroc, California on February 4, 1948 on the turbo jet only as the rocket motor was not ready for installation. The third Skyrocket, 37975, was the first to be delivered with both engines installed. The first flight using the rocket engine was made on February 25, 1949 following a first flight on jet engine alone on January 8, 1949.

The last flight of the eight year long Phase Two program was made by 37973 on December 20, 1956. Remarkably, all three planes survive: Ship #1, 37973, resides in Ed Maloney's Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California; Ship #2, 37974, is at Antelope College in Palmdale, California and Ship #3, 37975, is on display in the National Air And Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

It was intended that Phase Three of the Navy/NACA high speed study would use the Douglas D-558-3 Skyflash, which never got off the drawing board as the Navy decided to defer to the Air Force/NACA North American X-15 program.

Skyrocket kits are rare. I know of only two, both of which are given brief reviews at the end of this book: the 1954 "box-scale "Revell injection molded plastic release and the recent Collect-Aire 1:48 scale resin kit. Collect-Aire have also released a 1:48 scale kit of the proposed D-558-3 Skyflash, which is also briefly reviewed.

Buy this book.