First Meeting

—  Michelle Evans      

When I first started working on my book on the X-15, I set out to interview all the surviving pilots. At that time, there were nine of them still with us. Scotty was one of the first I had a chance to talk with. I contacted him and made plans to fly to Washington, DC, where he was working to make the X-30 a reality at that time. Always working, he thought it best if we could meet at the Rayburn Building. We sat in there and talked for a couple of hours. It was a wondrous experience to listen to the stories first hand of the making of the X-15. That was one of the great things about the man, he could weave tall tales of being an aviation pioneer, and yet what he said was all true!

At the end of the interview, I asked if he would sign my copy of his book, Always Another Dawn. Always the gentleman, he easily obliged me, but then pulled out his own personal copy to show off the dozens of signatures he had gathered himself from people he worked with on the X-15 program. I thought his sentiments were wonderful in that he knew and acknowledged all the people who helped make him the man in the cockpit of the world's fastest rocket plane. He felt they all were just as much a celebrity as he was.

After that time, I had the opportunity to see and talk with Scotty on several more occasions throughout the years. Due to medical difficulties with my spouse, the book project was on hold for a long period, and I deeply regret that he is not still with us to share in its completion, now finally scheduled for about 2010. It's been a long road, and I never would have reached this point along it without Scotty.

Michelle