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“My clearest recollection of my flight in the
XP-59A was the extreme quiet and complete lack
of vibration as I took off.” It was the first
official jet flight in U.S. history.
Into the Great Wide Open, Bill Craigie took off
in his XP-59A Airacomet from Muroc Lake 70 years
ago. He climbed to 6,000 feet during the first
official jet flight in U.S. history. The
Airacomet was powered by two GE jet engines –
the first jet engines made in America.
A handful of GE engineers were on hand at the
desert military base that day. Joseph Sorota,
now 93 years old, is one of the last living
veterans of the secret project to build the jet
engines. “They called us the Hush-Hush Boys,”
Sorota says.
Much of the development work took place inside a
wooden shack in the back lot of GE’s plant in
Lynn, Massachusetts. In September 1941, Sorota’s
team received a large package from England,
under attack by Nazi Germany. Inside was one of
the world’s first jet engines developed by
British Royal Air Force officer Sir Frank
Whittle. Because of GE’s extensive experience
with turbo superchargers and steam turbines, the
U.S. Air Force picked GE to improve on Whittle’s
design.
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