Fastest Pilot in History - Lt. Col William "Pete" Knight

Fastest Pilot in History – Lt. Col William “Pete” Knight

In May 2019 I travelled to Southern California to visit some museums and to locate and pay honor to a few aviation pioneers I found in the area.

This post is to honor Colonel William J. “Pete” Knight.

Lt. Col Knight served in the United States Air Force as a combat pilot – flying the North American F100 Super Sabre on 253 combat missions in Vietnam. Prior to Vietnam he graduated from the Experimental Test Pilot School in 1958 and the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1964. He was also one of four Air Force pilots assigned to the X-20 Dyna-Soar program which was a fore runner to the Space Shuttle.

X-20 Dyna-Soar

During his assignment at Edwards Air Force Base as a test pilot he was selected as one of twelve (12) pilots to fly the North American X-15 test program. On October 3, 1967 Lt. Col. Knight after being air dropped from a modified B-52 bomber accelerated the X-151A (shown below) to a world speed record of Mach 6.7 or 4,534 miles per hour, a record that stands today. He also set an altitude record of 280,500 feet or 53.1 miles above the earth which qualified him for astronaut wings.

North American X15-1A in heat resistant white coating

After his test pilot assignment at Edwards he was assigned to fly the F100 Super Sabre in Vietnam. After his tour in Vietnam Colonel Knight returned to the states to once again work in the Air Force Test program on the McDonnel Douglas F-15 at Wright Patterson AFB Dayton, OH. After his test pilot assignment at Edwards he was assigned to fly the F100 Super Sabre in Vietnam. After his tour in Vietnam Colonel Knight returned to the states to once again work in the Air Force Test program on the McDonnel Douglas F-15 at Wright Patterson AFB Dayton, OH.

F15 Prototype Skin

After retirement from the Air Force Knight had a successful political career serving four years in the California State Assembly and eight years on the Palmdale City Council as both Councilman and mayor. Knight was also elected to the California State Senate in 1996.

The North American X15-1A in original black paint
on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
Dayton, OH

Life, Death & Burial Site Information

Knight was born on November 18th, 1929 in Noblesville, IN. He died on May 7th, 2004 in Los Angeles, CA.

Knight died of an acute form of the cancer at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California. He was laid to rest at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Palmdale, CA.

My quest to honor aviation pioneers led me to Colonel Knight and his record breaking flights. I was honored to stand over his site and salute him for his achievements to powered flight and the space program.

Marker for William J “Pete” Knight – American Aviation Pioneer.
Combat Pilot, Test Pilot, Astronaut and
United States Air Force Veteran.

Summary

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God Bless