Flying Beyond the Stall:the X-31 and the advent of supermaneuverability

On Wednesday, October 11, 1990, a small blue-and-white jet took to the air from Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, CA. For the next 38 minutes, it cruised at 10,000 feet over California’s Antelope Valley, reaching a top speed of 340 miles per hour (mph) before Rockwell International test pilot Norman K. “Ken” Dyson returned it gently to Earth.