Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
E444354
experimental research aircraft
jet-powered aircraft
mixed-propulsion aircraft
rocket-powered aircraft
The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a U.S. Navy and NACA experimental research aircraft that became one of the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight during the early 1950s.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket canonical | 3 |
| Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4424302 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket Context triple: [Reaction Motors XLR11, usedInVehicle, Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket]
-
A.
Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a slender, jet-powered experimental research aircraft of the early 1950s designed to investigate sustained supersonic flight and advanced aerodynamic concepts for future high-speed aircraft.
-
B.
Bell X-2
The Bell X-2 was a rocket-powered experimental research aircraft developed in the 1950s to investigate flight characteristics at extremely high speeds and altitudes, contributing crucial data to early supersonic and space-era aeronautics.
-
C.
Bell X-1D
The Bell X-1D was an experimental rocket-powered research aircraft in the X-1 series, built to extend high-speed flight testing beyond the capabilities of the original Bell X-1.
-
D.
Bell X-1E
The Bell X-1E was a late, highly modified variant of the pioneering X-1 rocket research aircraft, used by the U.S. to investigate high-speed transonic and supersonic flight aerodynamics in the 1950s.
-
E.
Bell X-1
The Bell X-1 was a pioneering rocket-powered research aircraft that became the first airplane to break the sound barrier in level flight.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket Target entity description: The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a U.S. Navy and NACA experimental research aircraft that became one of the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight during the early 1950s.
-
A.
Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a slender, jet-powered experimental research aircraft of the early 1950s designed to investigate sustained supersonic flight and advanced aerodynamic concepts for future high-speed aircraft.
-
B.
Bell X-2
The Bell X-2 was a rocket-powered experimental research aircraft developed in the 1950s to investigate flight characteristics at extremely high speeds and altitudes, contributing crucial data to early supersonic and space-era aeronautics.
-
C.
Bell X-1D
The Bell X-1D was an experimental rocket-powered research aircraft in the X-1 series, built to extend high-speed flight testing beyond the capabilities of the original Bell X-1.
-
D.
Bell X-1E
The Bell X-1E was a late, highly modified variant of the pioneering X-1 rocket research aircraft, used by the U.S. to investigate high-speed transonic and supersonic flight aerodynamics in the 1950s.
-
E.
Bell X-1
The Bell X-1 was a pioneering rocket-powered research aircraft that became the first airplane to break the sound barrier in level flight.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
experimental research aircraft
ⓘ
jet-powered aircraft ⓘ mixed-propulsion aircraft ⓘ rocket-powered aircraft ⓘ |
| carrierAircraft | Boeing P2B-1S Superfortress NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| configuration |
single-engine jet plus single rocket engine
ⓘ
single-seat ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| crew | 1 ⓘ |
| firstFlightDate | 1948-02-04 ⓘ |
| firstFlightPilot | John F. Martin NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| fuel |
alcohol and liquid oxygen for rocket engine
ⓘ
kerosene for turbojet ⓘ |
| introduced | 1948 ⓘ |
| launchMethod | air-launched from carrier aircraft ⓘ |
| length | approximately 42 ft ⓘ |
| manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft Company NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| maximumSpeed | over Mach 2 ⓘ |
| maximumTakeoffWeight | approximately 15,000 lb ⓘ |
| museumDisplay |
Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, California
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
National Air and Space Museum NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notableAchievement | first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight ⓘ |
| numberBuilt | 3 ⓘ |
| operator |
NACA
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
United States Navy ⓘ |
| powerplant |
Reaction Motors LR8-RM-6 rocket engine
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Westinghouse J34 turbojet NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| predecessor | Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| primaryTestSite |
Edwards Air Force Base
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Muroc Air Force Base NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| program | D-558 research program NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| recordAltitude | approximately 72,000 ft ⓘ |
| recordDate | 1953-11-20 ⓘ |
| recordMachNumber | 2.005 ⓘ |
| recordPilot | Scott Crossfield NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| recordSpeed | approximately 1,291 mph ⓘ |
| researchFocus |
aerodynamic heating
ⓘ
high-Mach-number stability and control ⓘ swept-wing characteristics ⓘ transonic drag rise ⓘ |
| role |
high-speed research
ⓘ
supersonic research ⓘ transonic research ⓘ |
| status | retired ⓘ |
| successorInRole |
Bell X-1A
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Douglas X-3 Stiletto NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| tailConfiguration | conventional tail ⓘ |
| usedBy | NACA High-Speed Flight Station NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| wingConfiguration | swept wing ⓘ |
| wingspan | approximately 25 ft ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket Description of subject: The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was a U.S. Navy and NACA experimental research aircraft that became one of the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight during the early 1950s.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket