By By DAN SMITH / Principal, Kincheloe Elementary School
Fifty years ago, on Sept. 7, 1956, USAF Capt. Iven C. Kinchelo- Jr. climbed aboard a rocket powered craft intent upon blasting right out of this world.
This was done without a televised countdown, without the support of a mission control center in Houston and without so much as a launch pad.
How could that be?
The flight was top secret at the time, so TV news coverage was not possible.
NASA would not come into existence for another two years, so Houston wouldn't be able to help with any problems.
And no launch pad was needed because Kincheloe was not manning the controls of a rocket like those that became so familiar in the '60s.
He flew to the edge of space in an airplane!
The experimental plane, the Bell X-2, didn't take off from a runway like conventional aircraft.
It was strapped to the belly of a B-50, taken to thirty thousand feet and literally dropped like a bomb.
In the one-man cockpit, Kincheloe threw the switches to ignite the powerful rocket engines, and he controlled the experimental craft as it rose higher and higher.
Supersonic jets chased the rocket plane, but they were left far behind in just seconds by the much faster X-2.
As he rose, the sky darkened, the sun became intensely bright and Kincheloe noted he could clearly see curvature at the earth's horizon.
He attained an altitude of 126,200 feet – almost 24 miles up, higher than anyone ever before.
Roll difficulties threatened to send the plane out of control, but Kincheloe skillfully guided his craft as it dropped back to earth at extreme speed.
He made a safe, unpowered landing on a dry lakebed in California's Mojave Desert.
Kincheloe was a Michigan man, born in Detroit and raised on a Penn Township farm near Cassopolis.
His interest in flying developed when he was young, and he earned his pilot's license at Niles Airport on his 16th birthday.
At about the same time he hatched a plan to become an aeronautical engineer.
He enrolled at Dowagiac High School to gain the math skills he would need to be accepted at Purdue University.
In 1949 he earned his degree there, just as planned, and began dreaming of becoming a test pilot.
In the early fifties Kincheloe served in Korea with the United States Air Force, flew 101 combat missions, and became an "ace" by downing 10 enemy aircraft. After the war he wanted to attend test pilot school, but so did many others. He was not selected at first, but didn't give up, and was eventually accepted into Empire Test Pilot School in England. After completing those studies, he was assigned to test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base.
Imagine being the pilot of an unproven aircraft, pushing it to new heights and speeds. It was Kincheloe's job as an aeronautical engineer and test pilot to fly a very specific mission and research the handling characteristics and reactions of the test aircraft. Kincheloe was such a skilled and thorough pilot the he eventually became assigned to the top projects. While he really was too tall to fit well into the small cockpit of the X-2, Kincheloe impressed others by gaining extensive knowledge about rocket-powered aircraft. So it was not by luck that he was chosen to fly the X-2. Through effort, skill, foresight, courage and persistence he won the assignment. On September 7, 1956, he piloted the X-2 exactly according to mission plan and established the new record.
The Air Force soon announced the historic accomplishment to the public, and the press called Kincheloe the "First of the Spacemen." That honorary title didn't last. The boundary of space had long been considered to be 100,000 feet, but as more was learned about the atmosphere the imaginary limit was pushed much higher. Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin rode a capsule atop a missile into orbit in 1961 to break Kincheloe's altitude record and officially become the first man in space.
Sadly, Kincheloe did not survive to witness the space age. In 1958 he was named by the Air Force as the pilot selected to fly the X-15 into space. He worked to develop spacesuits, helped engineer the new craft, and represented the Air Force at public functions. Despite his unprecedented status, Kincheloe also completed routine duties while the X-15 was being developed. In July of that year, just after his thirtieth birthday, he was piloting an F-104, flying "chase" for another pilot making a flight test of an aircraft. It was the type of standard mission he had completed many, many times. However, on this flight his engines quit working shortly after takeoff, a "flame-out." The supersonic plane had tiny wings and was unable to glide to a landing so Kincheloe was forced to eject from the plane. At such a low altitude his parachute was unable to deploy properly, and he was killed in the crash. America lost its top pilot just as the new era dawned.
To mark the fiftieth year since Kincheloe made his historic flight and to preserve the memory of one of Cass County's most distinguished citizens, several interested people joined efforts to create the Kincheloe Memorial Restoration Committee. Funds were raised to restore and improve the Kincheloe Monument east of Cassopolis on M-60. Plantings were made, irrigation and lighting added, new plaques erected, and the flagpole from Kincheloe's High School in Dowagiac was relocated to the site.
An outdoor public ceremony is planned for September 23, 2006 to be held at the Kincheloe Monument, beginning at 3:00 p.m. The ceremony will include a performance by the Dowagiac High School Jazz Band, aircraft flyovers, and a wreath lying. Honored guests will include Kincheloe's son, Iven C. Kincheloe III, and grandson, Chris Kincheloe, of Petaluma, California. Speakers will include Rex Sebastian, a former Purdue classmate of Kincheloe who now lives in Dallas, Texas, Dolph Overton, a fellow pilot during the Korean War who now resides in North Carolina, and General Curtis Bedke, the current commander of the Experimental Test Flight Division of Edwards Air Force Base, California. Parking will be available east of the monument along Decatur Road south of M-60 and along Airline Drive which is also just east of the monument. Limited seating will be available, or audience members may bring their own lawn chairs. In the event of severe weather, the ceremony may be relocated at the Performing Arts Center in the Dowagiac Middle School.
Photos
Joining the X-2 to the B-50 Mothership
Release of the X-2 from the B-50 Mothership
The Kincheloe Monument on M-60 east of Cassopolis
X-2 Model on Display at Kincheloe Elementary School, Dowagiac
Double Ace Kincheloe in front of jet fighter in Korea
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