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I've been fascinated with Walker's exploits since I was a kid. But it is disconcerting when I read anecdotes or stories written by those who were dyed in the w

I've been fascinated with Walker's exploits since I was a kid. But it is disconcerting when I read anecdotes or stories written by those who were dyed in the wool NASA crew or part of the astronaut corps. There always seems to be an undercurrent of resentment and dismissal over a 'civilian' being involved in what was considered elite test pilot duties. Even Gen. Yeager I believe once intimated that Walker's death during the XB-70 photo shoot was partially his fault due to 'not having the experience in formation flying that an Air Force or Navy pilot would have'. Yeager I believe went on to say that the accident probably would not have happened if all the fliers were military trained. [Note: I can't find the quote online now, but I believe I saw it in a printed Aviation magazine a couple of decades ago.] A tad unfair IMO, given all his other achievements.

high_frontier 9y ago
Yes, I've seen the comments you're referring to - can't remember if they're in the book YEAGER or elsewhere. There was certainly a tension between the Air Force test pilots and the NACA/NASA research pilots. Both Yeager and Pete Knight expressed opinions that their civilian counterparts were more interested in the technical side of research than flying and lacked the skill and experience that the Air Force pilots had. Having said that most of the civilian pilots had prior military combat experience so were clearly capable at what they did. With regards to the XB-70 incident, in retrospect it seems foolish that a close formation flight was attempted with the wings in their down position as these created huge vortices. Also the weather was poor that day (Walker had commented to a colleague that it was 'a bad day for flying' but he had to 'get this thing done')