•Bell X-2 Starbuster

•Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger on ramp
at Edwards Air Force Base

•Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray posing in front
of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto

1. The Bell X-2 Starbuster was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft designed to investigate the structural effects of aerodynamic heating as well as stability and control effectiveness at high speeds and altitudes. The program was developed jointly in 1945 by Bell Aircraft Corporation, the U.S. Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to explore aerodynamic problems of supersonic flight and to expand the speed and altitude regimes obtained with the earlier X-1 series of research aircraft..

2. Convair F-102 Delta Dagger on ramp at Edwards Air Force Base. The Delta Dagger was part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War.

3. Air Force test pilot Arthur "Kit" Murray, posing in front of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto at Edwards Air Force Base, 1956. Murray was the first test pilot to be permanently assigned to Muroc Army Air Field (later, Edwards Air Force Base). Other test pilots, such as Captain Chuck Yeager, were assigned to Wright Field and traveled to Muroc as necessary.