WILLIAM J. KNIGHT, USAF

Pete Knight flew the X-15 for 35 months from 30 September 1965 until 13 September 1968, making 16 flights with the XLR99 engine. Knight reached Mach 6.70, a maximum speed of 4,520 mph, and an altitude of 280,500 feet. His accomplishments include the first flight with the dummy ramjet, the first flight with a full ablative coating, and the maximum speed flight.

William J. "Pete" Knight was born on 18 November 1929 in Noblesville, Indiana. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 and completed pilot training in 1953. Flying an F-89D for the 438th Fighter – Interceptor Squadron, Knight won the prestigious Allison Jet Trophy Race in September of 1954.

He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1958, and from the Experimental Test Pilot School later that same year. In 1960 he was one of six test pilots selected to fly the Dyna-Soar. After Robert McNamara canceled the X-20 in 1963, he completed the astronaut-training curriculum at the new ARPS in 1964 and went on to fly the X-15.

In 1969, after nearly 10 years of flying at Edwards, Knight went to Southeast Asia, where he completed 253 combat missions in the F-100. Following this, he served as test director for the F – 15 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB and became the 10th pilot to fly the F-15 Eagle. Knight returned to Edwards AFB as vice commander of the AFFTC in 1979 and remained an active test pilot in the F-16 Combined Test Force. After 32 years of service and more than 7,000 hours in more than 100 different aircraft, Colonel Knight retired from the Air Force in 1982. In 1984 the people of Palmdale elected Knight to the city council, and he became the city’s first elected mayor in 1988. Subsequently, Knight served in the California state assembly in 1992 and the California state senate in 1996.-19

Among his many honors, Knight received the Legion of Merit with an oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters, the Harmon International Trophy, the Octave Chanute Award, and the Air Force Association Citation of Honor. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1988), the Aerospace Walk of Honor (1990), and the International Space Hall of Fame (1998). Pete Knight died from cancer on 8 May 2004.[20]