Columnist
A collection of images to accompany "Pelican's Perch #61: Test Pilot School."
KEDW Airspace Chart
Click the image for a much higher-resolution version, which will open in a new window.
Note: CHUM (see lower right corner of chart) stands for Chart Update Manual. The CHUM has all the changes to the charts for new towers and obstructions, and comes out every month. These here are just planning charts for general briefings, and don't need all the latest details, so they are not updated from the CHUM, and these warnings are placed on the charts as a reminder.
Entrance to USAF Test Pilot School
Click
the image for a high-resolution version
This aircraft is one of three NF-104s, a special version made for the TPS. In addition to the monster engine installed, there was an additional rocket engine (or engines) for special tests. This is the type that once held the altitude record, and one was lost when Chuck Yeager exceeded the test parameters and went into a violent spin, from which he was forced to eject.
More Photos of John and the T-6 (a.k.a. SNJ-4)
Yellow Peril 
Instructor's Position 
Student's Cockpit Left Side 
Student's Cockpit Right 
Student's Cockpit Lower 
Left Side
Instructor's View (or lack thereof?)
"Kilroy was here." 
Full-Face Kilroy, first
time ever. Only the oldest readers will
catch the meaning of this WWII saying, and it's beyond the scope of this
column to explain it.