D-558-1 Skystreak

A subsonic research airplane designed to evaluate high-speed flight, the D-558-1 was aptly nicknamed the “Crimson Test Tube” by the press that covered its test program.  Two Naval Aviators, Commander Turner F. Caldwell and Marine Major Marion Carl, established world speed records in the Skystreak in August 1947 over what is now Edwards Air Force Base, California.  Their marks held until the breaking of the sound barrier by Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947.