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Personal: Male, Married, Eight children. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. Liver failure stemming from X-15 crash injuries. Astronaut Career Astronaut Group: Man-In-Space-Soonest - 1958, Test Pilot (NASA). Deceased Entered space service: 1960. Left space service: 1962. Number of Flights: 1.00. Total Time: 0.0083 days. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia; married with eight children. US Navy pilot in World War II. Received a BS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1950. He joined NACA in 1951 as a D-558 and X-1 test pilot. Project pilot on F-100, F-102, F-104, F-107 NACA test programs before being assigned as third NASA X-15 pilot on October 25, 1961. Made 29 X-15 flights, reaching an altitude of 90 km and obtaining astronaut wings, before being seriously injured in the 1962 X-15 crash near Lancaster, California. Died of liver damage stemming from his crash injuries at the age of 52. NASA Official Biography John B. McKay was one of the first pilots assigned to the X-15 flight research program at NASA's Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. As a civilian research pilot and aeronautical engineer, he made 30 flights in X-15s from October 28, 1960, until September 8, 1966. His peak altitude was 295,600 feet, and his highest speed was 3863 mph (Mach 5.64). McKay was with the NACA and NASA from February 8,1951 until October 5, 1971 and specialized in high-speed flight research programs. He began as an NACA intern, but assumed pilot status on July 11, 1952. In addition to the X-l5, he flew such experimental aircraft as the D-558-1, D-558-2, X-lB, and the X-lE. He has also served as a research pilot on flight programs involving the F-100, F-102, F-104, and the F-107. Born on December 8, 1922, in Portsmouth, Va., McKay graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 195O with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. During World War II he served as a Navy pilot in the Pacific Theater, earning the Air Medal and Two Clusters, and a Presidential Unit Citation. McKay wrote several technical papers, and was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well as the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He died on April 27, 1975. McKay Spaceflight Log
McKay Chronology 29 August 1954 - X-1B Flight 1. NACA flight 2. Cabin-pressure regulator malfunction causes inner canopy to crack; only low-speed, low-altitude maneuvers made. 14 August 1956 - X-1B Flight 12. NACA flight 1. Pilot check; nose landing gear failed on landing, minor damage. 7 September 1956 - X-1B Flight 13. NACA flight 3. Speed run to 17080 m and mach 1.8. Limited heating data gathered. 18 September 1956 - X-1B Flight 14. NACA flight 4. Glide flight, due to erratic engine start. 28 September 1956 - X-1B Flight 15. NACA flight 5. Three-chamber engine run to 18300 m to obtain heating data. 3 January 1957 - X-1B Flight 16. NACA flight 6. Mach 1.94 aerodynamic heating investigation (end of heating program). 22 May 1957 - X-1B Flight 17. NACA flight 7. Control pulses at mach 1.45 at 18300 m. Flight for instrumentation check. 7 June 1957 - X-1B Flight 18. NACA flight 8. Supersonic maneuvers to mach 1.5 at 18300 m to determine the dynamic and static stability and control characteristics. 24 June 1957 - X-1B Flight 19. NACA flight 9. Supersonic maneuvers to mach 1.5 at 18300 m to determine the dynamic and static stability and control characteristics. 11 July 1957 - X-1B Flight 20. NACA flight 10. Aborted after launch, indication of open landing-gear door. Propellants jettisoned, completed as a glide flight. 19 July 1957 - X-1B Flight 21. NACA flight 11. Mach 1.65 at 18,300 m. Control pulses, sideslips, and 2 g wind-up turn. 29 July 1957 - X-1B Flight 22. NACA flight 12. Enlarged wing tips installed to simulate wing tips to be used with reaction controls. Mach 1.55 at 18,300 m. 8 August 1957 - X-1B Flight 23. NACA flight 13. Stability and control investigation. Mach 1.5 at 18300 m, accelerated maneuvers, control pulses, and pull-ups. 25 June 1958 - Man-In-Space-Soonest. In a US Air Force briefing a preliminary astronaut selection for the Man-In-Space Soonest project is made. The list consisted of USAF test pilots Robert Walker, Scott Crossfield, Neil Armstrong, Robert Rushworth, William Bridgeman, Alvin White, Iven Kincheloe, Robert White, and Jack McKay. This was the first preliminary astronaut selection in history. The project was cancelled when NASA was formed in and took responsibility for all manned space flight on 1 August 1958. Prospective contractors estimated it would take from 12 to 30 months to put the first American in orbit. In retrospect the orbital flight portion of NASA's Mercury program was paced by the availability of the Atlas booster. Therefore it is unlikely Man-in-Space-Soonest would have put an American in orbit any earlier than Mercury. 19 September 1958 - X-1E Flight 23. NACA flight 22. Checkout flight for John McKay. 30 September 1958 - X-1E Flight 24. NACA flight 23. Check of low-speed stability and control. 16 October 1958 - X-1E Flight 25. NACA flight 24. First flight with elevated chamber pressure; cut short because overcast obscured pilot's view of lakebed. 28 October 1958 - X-1E Flight 26. NACA flight 25. Elevated chamber pressure; good stability and control data gathered. 6 November 1958 - X-1E Flight 27. NACA flight 26. Elevated chamber pressure; low-altitude and low-mach investigation of U-Deta fuel. Last NASA flight. 15 April 1975 - Test Pilot John Barron McKay dies at age of 52 -- Cancer stemming from X-15 crash injuries.. Bibliography:
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