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Description
| Manufacturer: | Douglas | |
| Base model: | D-558 | |
| Designation: | D-558 | |
| Version: | -1 | |
| Nickname: | Skystreak | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Research | |
Specifications
| Length: | 35' 8" | 10.8 m | |
| Height: | 12' 1" | 3.6 m | |
| Wingspan: | 25' | 7.6 m | |
| Wingarea: | 150.7 sq ft | 14.0 sq m | |
| Gross Weight: | 9,750 lb | 4,421 kg | |
| Max Weight: | 10,105 lb | 4,582 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Allison J35-A-11 | ||
| Thrust (each): | 5,000 lb | 2,267 kg | |
Performance
| Max Speed: | 651 mph | 1,048 km/h | 566 kt |
History
| Date | Subject | Event |
| 1947/08/20 | A Douglas D-558-I was flown to a new world speed record of 644.6 mph, by pilot Cdr. Turner Caldwell (USN) at Murdoc Dry Lake, Calif. | |
| 1947/08/25 | A Douglas D-558-I was flown to a new world speed record of 650.8 mph, by pilot Maj. Marion Carl (USMC) at Murdoc Dry Lake, Calif. | |
| 1948/05/03 | National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) test pilot Howard C. Lilley died when his Douglas D-558-I crashed at Murdoc Dry Lake, Calif. He was the first NACA pilot killed on duty. |
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| National Museum of Naval Aviation | NAS Pensacola | Florida |
D-558-1 on display
National Museum of Naval Aviation |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Todd May Pickerington, OH | I was disappointed to see the Gene May.org web site is no longer available. This was a great tribute to the accomplishments of My (Verne May)Grandfather's Brother(Gene May)when I first visited the site back in 2005, I was surprised to find out that Gene had more flights than any other test pilot. I couldn't help but somehow feel he didn't really ever get his due until this site layed out his career. 09/06/2007 @ 11:33 [ref: 17853] |
| Bart Vandamme , OTH | Hello,
My name is Bart and I am searching information about LtCdr Turner F Caldwell. On August 20,1947 he was flying the D-558-1 to a speed of 640.74 mph. Can somebody help me with more details about his Navy career? Many thanks Bart Belgium 07/17/2007 @ 10:36 [ref: 17155] |
| Christine and Jennifer May Lakewood, CO | I would also like to have more information about Gene May who is also our Great Grandfather. If there is a website that you know about can you please e-mail me. We have been wanting to get more information on the records that he broke and biographical information too. Thank you so much for your time. 04/17/2007 @ 12:51 [ref: 16210] |
| Melissa May Pickerington, OH | my great uncle was gene may too... so do any of you know verne may?? 12/06/2005 @ 22:36 [ref: 11896] |
| Alycia Lackey Carrollton, TX | Hi Steve ,
Gene May was my great grandfather and im trying to get more info about him please contact me ASAP 06/13/2005 @ 11:02 [ref: 10467] |
| Steve Carroll Fort Scott, KS | According to the flight records, Skystreak #2 (the one that crashed) was used for flight familarization for both Carl and Turner in preparation for their record breaking flight. They flew that airplane with first the bubble canopy and then the high speed canopy. However, the actualy record flights were both made in Skystreak #1, the Pencacola aircraft.
Skystreak #3, the North Carolina airplane, was originally not instrumented and was intended to be used by NACA for flight familarization and exhibitions. That changed, however, after ship #2 crashed. #3 then became NACA's primary aircraft. After Douglas finished their own, and the Navy's research programs in ship #1, it was turned over to NACA and they did, indeed use it for spare parts. My great uncle, Gene May, was the Douglas test pilot on the D-558 program and made the first flight in all three aircraft. He made 121 flights in the Skystreaks, more than all other skystreak pilots added together. See http://GeneMay.org 08/05/2001 @ 20:08 [ref: 2841] |
| George Trail Charlotte, NC | The Carolina's Aviation Museaum, 4108 Airport Dr, Charlotte NC has the other Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak. The one that the Navy has on display in Pensacola was used for spair parts. The one in Charlotte actually set a speed record 2 months before Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 05/25/2001 @ 10:56 [ref: 2351] |
| Steve Carroll , KS | My great uncle, Eugene May, was a test pilot for Douglas and flew the Skystreek for the veryy first time. He also was the only pilot of push the Skystreek past Mach 1, actually reaching Mach 1.01 in a dive on September 29, 1948. Alsas, company test pilots never got into the record books in those days. That honor was given to the military who was funding the projects :-) 03/11/2001 @ 16:44 [ref: 1802] |
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