Margaret Wells and her grandfather
Margaret Wells O. interviewed her grandfather, who witnessed a pilot breaking the world's speed record in 1961.
By Margaret Wells O., Grade 5
By Margaret Wells O., Grade 5
Summary:
Sound travels superfast—more than 700 miles per hour to be exact! In 1961, Margaret Wells O.'s grandfather saw a plane flying at six times the speed of sound! Robert "Bob" White, the pilot, broke the world's record with his amazing flight. He traveled at 4,000 miles per hour. (The speed of sound gets slower the higher you go, so at White's top height, sound traveled at closer to 660 miles per hour.)
Hubert Duvall Osteen Jr., a.k.a. (also known as) Gandy, is my grandfather. The historic event he witnessed was watching a man break a record by flying at six times the speed of sound.
From 1960 to 1962, Gandy was a lieutenant at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. His job was to write press articles about many amazing flights that took place. He also drove press people and VIPs (very important people) to the airstrip to witness these remarkable flights. The pilot who flew a plane at six times the speed of sound—4,000 miles per hour—was Bob White.
During Gandy's time at Edwards Air Force Base, pilots were testing airplanes to see whether they could fly faster than Chuck Yeager's plane. Back in 1947, Yeager had broken the record of flying a plane faster than the speed of sound. The plane was the X-1, and Yeager called it the Glamorous Glennis, named after his wife, Glennis.
Gandy met White, and he told me firsthand how this historic event took place. Gandy drove a bus of VIPs to the edge of the airstrip on Nov. 9, 1961. White strapped himself into the plane, where he and the X-15 airplane were passengers of the gigantic B-52 airplane. You see, the X-15 could carry only a small amount of fuel. The B-52 cradled the X-15 under its wing and took it up into the sky, where the X-15 was released and White would fly faster than any man had ever flown. He also had to land his plane without any fuel.
The Air Force base set up loudspeakers so that everyone watching could hear White talking to the controller in the flight test center as he flew the plane. Gandy heard White say, "All clear, turning on engine one and two." Up in the sky, all you could see was a streak of contrails, the white trails that follow an airplane. White's flight took only 10 minutes. A black dot falling from the sky was the first sight of the plane coming down. White landed the X-15 safely on a dry lake bed next to Edwards Air Force Base. Gandy remembered, "Everyone was excited and shocked to see this incredible flight happen."
Gandy recalls White being a very humble man. White was just one of the famous pilots stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. Yeager, the pilot who broke the speed of sound, and Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, were also stationed there. When I interviewed Gandy, it was so cool to learn about my grandfather's experience on that special day. He made it very exciting to learn about. I think of Gandy as a famous person because he witnessed something so remarkable!
Essay:
Hubert Duvall Osteen Jr., a.k.a. (also known as) Gandy, is my grandfather. The historic event he witnessed was watching a man break a record by flying at six times the speed of sound.
From 1960 to 1962, Gandy was a lieutenant at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. His job was to write press articles about many amazing flights that took place. He also drove press people and VIPs (very important people) to the airstrip to witness these remarkable flights. The pilot who flew a plane at six times the speed of sound—4,000 miles per hour—was Bob White.
During Gandy's time at Edwards Air Force Base, pilots were testing airplanes to see whether they could fly faster than Chuck Yeager's plane. Back in 1947, Yeager had broken the record of flying a plane faster than the speed of sound. The plane was the X-1, and Yeager called it the Glamorous Glennis, named after his wife, Glennis.
Gandy met White, and he told me firsthand how this historic event took place. Gandy drove a bus of VIPs to the edge of the airstrip on Nov. 9, 1961. White strapped himself into the plane, where he and the X-15 airplane were passengers of the gigantic B-52 airplane. You see, the X-15 could carry only a small amount of fuel. The B-52 cradled the X-15 under its wing and took it up into the sky, where the X-15 was released and White would fly faster than any man had ever flown. He also had to land his plane without any fuel.
The Air Force base set up loudspeakers so that everyone watching could hear White talking to the controller in the flight test center as he flew the plane. Gandy heard White say, "All clear, turning on engine one and two." Up in the sky, all you could see was a streak of contrails, the white trails that follow an airplane. White's flight took only 10 minutes. A black dot falling from the sky was the first sight of the plane coming down. White landed the X-15 safely on a dry lake bed next to Edwards Air Force Base. Gandy remembered, "Everyone was excited and shocked to see this incredible flight happen."
Gandy recalls White being a very humble man. White was just one of the famous pilots stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. Yeager, the pilot who broke the speed of sound, and Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, were also stationed there. When I interviewed Gandy, it was so cool to learn about my grandfather's experience on that special day. He made it very exciting to learn about. I think of Gandy as a famous person because he witnessed something so remarkable!
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