Remembering A. Scott Crossfield
— Maurice Cook
Using autobiography as a device and the research airplane era as the arena, Scott prepared a talk and slide show entitled ONWARD AND UPWARD Research Airplanes - Act II that he presented all over the country. He named the test pilots and recorded their flights in the X-1 through X-24 series research aircraft. He reminded us that, "there is no history, only biography." And, that it takes people to breathe life into ideas and programs. The research aircraft did not build or fly themselves. They were the product of the personal ingenuity, courage and dedication of those who conceived, build and flew them.
In 1986 he authorized the ONWARD AND UPWARD talk and slides to be assembled in book form. He directed that the proceeds from the sale of the book be donated to a scholarship fund for teachers who teach aerospace education to grade school children under the auspices of the National Congress of Aerospace Education, which at the time was co-sponsored by Civil Air Patrol, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He made a significant contribution of his time talent and resources to the education of young people. He once told me that we needed to plant the seeds of such knowledge in their young minds while they could still sit in wide eyed wonder at what they saw and heard without embarrassment or the distractions that come later when they become young adults.
I do not believe that his primary motivation in preparing and presenting ONWARD AND UPWARD was just to catalog the names of the test pilots, the X planes and numbers of flights they flew, which of course in and of themselves deserved to be recorded for posterity. It was, I believe, his primary intent to deliver a message that would encourage teachers of aerospace science and the aviation community to make sure that the young people of our nation realize that, "what is still left to do is boundless, unlimited, infinite and there for them to do and within the grasp of most." Also that, "there is no divine assignment to those who do things." "We must unburden our young folks of the idea of special people."
He spoke his truth quietly and clearly. When listening to ONWARD AND UPWARD we were privileged to share in the adventure that was his life, remember and have a glimpse of what is to come. We thank him for being an inspiration to us all. It was a privilege to have known him and to have been able to help in a small way by the publication of ONWARD AND UPWARD for the benefit of those who by reading it will know something of his vision and dedication.
Maurice E. Cook