In 1953, Boistfort High School graduate Scott Crossfield was the first pilot to fly Mach 2 — twice the speed of sound — during the Air Force’s “Man in Space Soonest” project at Edwards Air Force Base.
At 5 p.m. Monday, the Chehalis-Centralia Airport will have a dedication ceremony near the airport’s entrance for two sign shelters recently erected in honor of Lewis County’s most famous flyboy.
The sign shelters are located off a circular driveway near two other sign shelters depicting the histories of flight and Chehalis-Centralia Airport.
The shelters, fabricated and paid for by the airport, include graphic signs depicting Crossfield’s accomplishments — particularly the one in which he rocketed over the Mojave Desert at 1,291 mph on Nov. 20, 1953.
Airport Manager Allyn Roe estimated the Shelters dedicated to Crossfield to cost about $7,000.
In a life lived between 1921 and 2006, Crossfield died when his Cessna plane encountered severe thunderstorms over Georgia and crashed.
His last place of residence was Herndon, Va.
