3 ROCKET PLANE PILOTS BELATEDLY GET THEIR WINGS ARMSTRONG ADDS HIS PRAISE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - First man-on-the-moon, Neil Armstrong, was among the test pilots who honored three X-15 rocket plane pilots as they belatedly received astronaut wings for flying past the edge of space.

Rectifying a 40-year-old old omission, NASA awarded astronaut wings to retired NASA test pilot William Dana and posthumously to John ``Jack'' McKay and Joseph Walker during a low-key ceremony at Dryden Flight Research Center.

``Joe Walker was my boss and my friend, Jack McKay taught me everything I knew about flight test, and I taught Bill Dana everything I knew about flight test,'' said Armstrong, who was an X-15 pilot at Dryden before he landed on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969.

The three men were among eight pilots who flew the X-15 rocket planes above 264,000 feet, the 50-mile altitude recognized by the federal government as being the start of space. The other five pilots, all U.S. Air Force pilots, received their astronaut wings during the program's run in the 1960s, but the NASA pilots did not.

Also at the ceremony - attended by some 200 NASA employees, family and friends - were the other two surviving X-15 pilots, shuttle astronaut Joe Engle and Robert White, plus astronaut Vance Brand and Capt. Kent Rominger, chief of NASA's Astronaut Office.

Dana, a Tehachapi resident, flew the X-15 aircraft 16 times, including making the last flight on Oct. 24, 1968. During those flights, he hit a top altitude of 307,000 feet, nearly 59 miles up, and reached a top speed of 3,897 mph.

Dana was involved in some of the most significant aeronautical programs carried out at Dryden. In addition to his X-15 work, 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 shuttles.

For his service as a flight research pilot, he received NASA's Distinguished Service Medal in 1997.

Walker made 25 flights in the X-15s between, including a flight that reached an altitude of 354,200 feet - more than 67 miles up - on Aug. 22, 1963. On one flight, Walker reached a top speed of 4,104 mph.

Walker, who had been a World War II P-38 fighter pilot, flew many of the early rocket planes, including the D-558-1, D-558-2 and the X-1. He was also the first man to pilot the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, an aircraft used to develop piloting and operational techniques for lunar landings.

Walker was killed in a mid-air collision in 1966 between his F-104 fighter and an XB-70 Valkryie during a photo shoot over Edwards. A middle school in Quartz Hill is named after him.

Joe Walker's son Jim said of the honor: ``My dad's an astronaut, my dad's an astronaut, my dad's an astronaut. It takes awhile to get used to. I think he would be shy and humble. ...however to our family it means a lot. It was a long time coming but we are grateful.''

McKay made 29 flights in X-15s, reaching a peak altitude of 295,600 feet and a top speed of 3,863 mph. McKay was seriously injured during an emergency landing in an X-15 in 1962 on a dry lake bed, suffering a crushed vertebra, but was able to return to flying. He ultimately died from complications from his crash injuries in 1975.

McKay, a World War II Navy fighter pilot, was with the NACA and NASA from 1951 until 1971 and specialized in high-speed flight research, including the D-558-1, D-558-2, X-lB and X-1E.

``After the accident, he came back. He healed himself. Doesn't that say enough for the man?'' fellow X-15 pilot White said of McKay.

Armstrong said of the three: ``They were not involved in such exploits for the adventure or the view, although the flights were adventurous and the views were spectacular. They rocketed to these extreme altitudes to advance research.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in AV eidtion only) DANA

(2 -- color -- ran in AV eidtion only) McKAY

(3 -- color -- ran in AV eidtion only) WALKER