On this appointment in 1961 , a jet design for commercial-grade use became the first civilian craft to go supersonic . It was n’t the famous Concorde , which would n’t founder the healthy barrier until an October ' 69test escape , or the Soviet - build Tupolev Tu-144 , but rather a modest DC-8 — no . N9604Z , to be specific .
It was all part of an August 21 , 1961 examination flight from Edwards Air Force Base thought up by Douglas pilot William Magruder . accord to flight of steps test applied scientist Richard Edwards , whospoke withAir & Space Magazine , the idea was to " get it out there , show the plane can hold out this and not shine aside . " At the time , DC-8s had been used by commercial carriers for about three years and were vie with the Boeing 707 . While DC-8s were n’t designed to go supersonic , the bragging right of being the first to do so were deserving score the attempt .
so as to reach Mach 1 , the jet had to be in a dive . This meant taking it up to 52,000 feet , which was also a record for altitude . As Edwards tellsAir & Space Magazine :
The stabilizer was overcharge and the plane stall when Magruder tried to commit it back . " What he did , because he was smart , is something that no other pilot would do , " says Edwards . " He drive over into the dive more , which relieved the load on the stabilizer . He was able to incline the [ stabilizer ] motor … and he recover at about 35,000 feet . " The crew successfully ferment a mass - give rise airliner into the world ’s ultrasonic commuter train jet . ( Right by their side the intact fourth dimension ? Chuck Yeager , the first mortal to ever go supersonic in 1947 . He see the DC-8 during its mental test in an F-104 . )
" That ’s an unofficial supersonic book , freight record book , and of course an altitude record for a commercial-grade transportation , " allege Edwards .
After the test , DC-8 no . N9604Z was delivered to Canadian Pacific Air Lines and was used by the carrier for almost two decades before being withdraw . But this man of aviation history is n’t hang in a museum somewhere . After it was put out of service , Canadian Pacific sell DC-8 no . N9604Z for scrap . That ’s some pretty dissolute junk .
[ Sources : Air & Space Magazine , NYCAviation ; Image above is a Canadian Pacific DC-8 , albeit not no . N9604Z ]
