WORLD SPEED RECORD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 59, 28 July 1947, Page 5

WORLD SPEED RECORD

MAN WHO FLEW JET PLANE WHAT 600 MILES AN HOUR FEELS LIKE A report from California states that the man who flew the Lockheed P-80R to a new world speed record last month has been a flying officer in the Army Air Force half his life. Colonel Albert Boyd, 40, Asheville, N.C., Chief of the Flight Test Division, Air Material Command, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, enlisted in 1927 at March Field, California, as a flying cadet at the age of 20. After winning his wings he was an instructor for the Training Command, secretary of the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field, Chief of the Maintenance Division of the Air Material Division, and later Deputy Chief of the Bth Air Force Service Command on Okinawa. He has flown “Shooting Stars” for three years and knows how to get every last bit of speed out of the jet-propelled plane.

In last month’s bid for the world speed record his years of flying experience enabled him to draw every last ounce of speed and power from his plane during the 18 minutes that the flight consumed. It took the P-80R only about 11 seconds to zoom over the actual measured part of the course, with water injection in the new Allison Model 400 TurboJet engine giving extra thrust for the critical seconds.

How does it feel to fly in the subsonic speed zone? “It keeps you busy,” Colonel Boyd said. “There are so many things to do and so many instruments to watch. You have water injection to turn on and off for more power. And you must not exceed the prescribed altitude and must keep on the course. But it’s a great feeling to set a new record.

Colonel Boyd broke the British record unofficially on June 17, at Muroc, when he was trying out the P-80 R’s performance. He made two flights over the'course, one at 647.1 miles an hour, which was enough for a new mark, except that it was not observed by official timers.