E-22901
In front of the M2-F3 are (Left-Right) Air Force pilot Captain Jerauld Gentry and NASA pilots John Manke and William H. Dana. Kneeling is Air Force pilot Major Cecil Powell.
These four pilots flew the M2-F3 on 27 flights between June 2, 1970 and December 20, 1972. The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of 71,500 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 1.613.
Bill Dana joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s High-Speed Flight Station On October 1, 1958 (the birthday of NASA). As a research pilot, he was involved in some of the most significant aeronautical programs carried out at the Center. In the late 1960s and in the 1970s Dana was a project pilot on the lifting body program which flew several versions of the wingless vehicles and produced data that helped in development of the Space Shuttle. For his contributions to the lifting body program, Dana received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. In 1976 he received the Haley Space Flight Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his research work on the M2-F3 lifting body control systems.
In 1993 Dana became Chief Engineer at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. He has authored several technical papers and is a member of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on May 29, 1998.
John Manke joined the NASA Flight Research Center in 1962 as a research engineer and later became a research pilot, testing advanced craft such as the wingless lifting bodies, forerunners of the Space Shuttle. He was project pilot on the X-24B and also flew the HL-10, M2-F3, and X-24A lifting bodies. Manke made the first supersonic flight of a lifting body and the first landing of a lifting body on a hard surface runway.
Manke served as Director of the Flight Operations and Support Directorate at the Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its integration with Ames Research Center in October 1981. After this date John was named to head the joint Ames-Dryden Directorate of Flight Operations. He also served as site manager of the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility.
Manke is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on April 27, 1984.
1971
NASA Photo