Free Republic

Russell M. "Rusty" Roth entered aviation history on Dec. 9, 1952, over Edwards Air Force Base, flying Republic Aviation Corp.'s XF-91 Thunderceptor rocket-boosted jet fighter prototype, making it the first combat-type airplane to exceed the speed of sound while flying straight and level. A World War II P-38 fighter pilot, Roth flew 132 combat missions in the South Pacific before arriving at Edwards. As the assistant chief of the flight development branch, he flight-tested the XB-43 and F-86 as well as the Northrop Flying Wing N9M. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Class 1949-D at Wright...

LANCASTER - The five latest additions to Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor will bring to 70 the number of aviation pioneers honored since the walk's inception in 1990. The experience of this year's honorees - James D. Eastham, Robert C. Little, Bruce Peterson, the late Russell M. "Rusty" Roth and Rogers Smith - all flew in the skies above the Antelope Valley during their careers in a series of firsts. Eastham tested and developed the world's first three Mach 3-plus aircrafts, the A-12, YF-12A and SR-71 Blackbird and Little took the F-101A Voodoo supersonic on its very first flight at...