This isn't exactly aircraft, it was faster than most aircraft. It's a rocket sled in New Mexico. My father was a photographer on this project. The photos were shot with a high speed 4x5 camera, the film was on a very large roll. They were made in the late 1950's. There was a version of this sled that was ridden by Col. John Stapp. In the second photo there is a long black object in the white flame, it is a howitzer projectile fired at the sled, I have no idea why. The sled was faster than the projectile. The sled went from 0 to just about the speed of sound and back to 0 in about two miles. It was stopped with a water brake method.
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