Albert Scott Crossfield

Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006), normally known as Scott Crossfield, was an American naval officer and test pilot. Born in Berkeley, California, Crossfield grew up in California and Washington. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. From 1946 to 1950, he worked in the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his bachelor's(1949) and master's degrees... more

Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006), normally known as Scott Crossfield, was an American naval officer and test pilot. Born in Berkeley, California, Crossfield grew up in California and Washington. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. From 1946 to 1950, he worked in the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his bachelor's(1949) and master's degrees (1950) in aeronautical engineering. In 1950, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' High-Speed Flight Station (now the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as an aeronautical research pilot. In those early days, it was called Muroc Field, reverse spelling of the wealthy California Corum family who donated the land to the Army Air Corps. Crossfield joined the Navy because he could enter flight training two weeks earlier than a date offered by the Army Air Corps. Crossfield demonstrated... less