I photographed the record-breaking Douglas D-558-I Skystreak at the Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola.
This is the first D-558 and was the aircraft in which Cdr. Turner Caldwell established the world speed record on 20 August 1947, making passes at 640.663 mph and 650.796 mph over a 30-km course. Until Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis two months later, the fastest pilots in the world were on the wings of the D-558 aircraft.
The difference between the D-588-1 Skystreak and D-588-2 Skyrocket series the original batch was jet-powered with straight wings and the three Skyrocket series planes were jet and rocket-powered with swept wings.