The air speed record, inching closer to the critical speed of sound, moved up a double notch. At Muroc Dry Lake, Calif., the Navy's Douglas Skystreak (0-558), piloted by Commander Turner F. Caldwell, zipped four times over a three-kilometer course at the average speed of 640.7 m.p.h. This was 16.9 m.p.h. faster than the record set (on June 19) by Lockheed's P-80R. Then last week, five days later, Marine Major Marion Carl (credited with 18 Japanese planes) took the Skystreak up again. Flying at times only 25 feet above the desert, he averaged 650.6 m.p.h.
According to the up-to-date method of measuring...
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