Word: muroc
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...little (4O-ft.) white Skyrocket had waited a long time for its day of glory. Built as a Navy experimental ship, it made its first take-off from Muroc's long, dry lake bed almost three years ago. Even then it could crack through the sonic barrier, but for a supersonic research ship, its performance was unspectacular. The stubby little rocket-powered Bell X-1 had already been dropped from the belly of a B29, and had carried its pilot close to twice the speed of sound (TIME, April 1, 1949). By comparison the newer Skyrocket dawdled...
...wing wake, met little resistance from the rarefied atmosphere. For three thundering minutes the Skyrocket boomed along. Before its rocket fuel ran dry it was probably screaming through empty upper air at 1,500 m.p.h. or more. Power gone, it glided in lazy spirals back to its base at Muroc, far down in the desert heat...
...Korea last week, the fastest operational U.S. jet fighter plane got its first trial in combat, and the pilots shot down seven enemy planes. The American jets were North American F-86 Sabres, which had been clocked at 670.981 m.p.h. at Muroc Dry Lake, the Air Force's proving ground in California, and were reputed to be even faster. Russia's vaunted MIG-15, which had "walked away" from F80 Shooting Stars in Korea, is certainly almost as fast as the Sabre (and may be equally fast), but the F-86s were touted as sturdier, more maneuverable...
People who live near Muroc, Calif. are used to seeing strange sights in the sky as test pilots from Edwards Air Force Base put new planes through their paces. For the past month they have seen a fearsome thing: roaring yellow flames streaking across the night, sometimes rocketing upward to mingle with the stars...
...flames over Muroc come from "afterburners" on Lockheed F94 all-weather fighters that are being service-tested to determine their capabilities under simulated combat conditions. Soon such flames will be common wherever jet planes need to use their full power. Developed only a few years ago, the afterburner has proved itself a dependable source of extra power for climbing or combat...