ALVIN S. WHITE, NAA

Al White was the second contractor pilot assigned to the X-15 project. He participated in the centrifuge program, attended the training sessions, flew the fixed-base simulator, practiced the landing-approach flights, and flew the photo chase airplane for many of the early X-15 flights. White never flew the X-15.

Alvin S. White was born in December 1918 in Berkeley, California. In 1936, he enrolled in the University of California at Davis to study electrical engineering, transferring to the Berkeley campus two years later. In 1941, he enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps, graduating from flight school at Williams Field, Arizona, in May 1942.[29]

After nearly two years as an advanced flight instructor at Williams Field, White joined the 355th Fighter Group in England on 4 June 1944. He flew two tours as a combat fighter pilot from D-Day until the end of the war in Europe. White returned to the University of California at the end of 1945, earning his degree in mechanical engineering with elective courses in aeronautical engineering in 1947.

In 1948, White reenlisted in the Air Force and spent nearly three years conducting parachute research at Wright-Patterson AFB and the National Parachute Range at El Centro. In 1952, White graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards and joined the fighter test section. In May 1954, he left the Air Force to join North American Aviation.

After four years of testing the F-86 series, the F-100 series, and the F-107, he became backup pilot to Scott Crossfield on the X-15. In 1957, White became project pilot for the XB-70, and concentrated his work on that program after the completion of the North American X-15 flights. After he retired from North American, White became a well-respected aviation consultant until his death on 29 April 2006.-130