Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the United States Air Force and NASA. Early years Born 2 October 1921 in Berkeley, California, Scott Crossfield grew up in southern California and rural southwest Washington, a son of Albert Scott Crossfield (Sr.) (13 May 1887 Browns Valley, Traverse County, Minnesota – 21 October 1954) and his first wife nee Maria Lucia Dwyer. Crossfield graduated from Boistfort High School southwest of Chehalis, attended the University of Washington in Seattle, then worked for Boeing. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. During this time, he flew the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters, as well as SNJ trainers, and a variety of other aircraft. He married Alice Virginia Knoph (27 June 1920 – 23 September 2015) on 21 April 1943 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was of Norwegian descent and had attended Garfield High School in Seattle. From 1946 to 1950, he worked in the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering in 1949 and 1950, respectively. Their son Paul Stanley Crossfield was born in 1952 while the Crossfields resided in California. NACA career In 1950, Crossfield joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station (later called the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, and now named the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as an aeronautical research pilot. Crossfield demonstrated his flight test skills on his very first student solo. His instructor was not available on the designated early morning, so Crossfield, on his own, took off and went through maneuvers he had practiced with his instructor, including spin entry and spin recovery. During the first spin, Crossfield experienced vibrations, banging, and noise in the aircraft that he had never encountered with his instructor. He recovered, climbed to a higher altitude, and repeated his spin entry and spin recovery, getting the same vibration, banging and noise. On his third spin entry, at yet an even higher altitude, he looked over his shoulder as he was spinning