This Day in Aviation History

August 25th, 1965
First Curtiss-Wright X-19A prototype, 62-12197, was destroyed in a crash at the FAA’s National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center, Caldwell, New Jersey, (formerly NAS Atlantic City), when gearbox fails followed by loss of propellers at 0718:44 hrs EDT. Test pilot James V. Ryan and FAA copilot Hughes ejected in North American LW-2B seats as the now-ballistic airframe rolled inverted at 390 feet, chutes fully deployed in 2 seconds at ~230 feet. Elapsed time between prop separation and ejection was 2.5 seconds. Airframe impacted in dried out tidewater area after completing 3/4 of a roll at 0719. Crew suffers minor injuries from ejection through canopy. The program was subsequently cancelled. This will be the last airframe design from two of the most famous company names in aviation. Second prototype, reported in some sources to have been scrapped, survives at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, and is later recovered by the National Museum of the United States Air Force for preservation.

Wikipedia, Curtiss-Wright X-19:   http://bit.ly/1vfwA1S

YouTube, Curtiss-Wright X-19 VTOL:   http://youtu.be/7GZeBVldeDE

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Photo Credits
Wikipedia
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

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