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On 3 October 1967, a B-52 "Stratofortress" carried the X-15 A-2 piloted by Maj "Pete" Knight to an altitude of 43,000 feet and released it. Maj Knight piloted the aircraft to the world’s speed record of Mach 6.72 or 4,534 miles per hour.

Pete Knight enlisted in the USAF in 1951. After receiving his commission through the aviation cadet program, he completed pilot training in 1953. Flying an F-89D for the 438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, he won the prestigious Allison Jet Trophy Race in September of 1954. After completing his undergraduate education with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1958, he attended the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB where he graduated later that same year. He remained at Edwards where he served as project test pilot on the F-100, F-101, F-104 and, later, T-38 and F-5The term F-5 could refer to: The photo- reconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning fighter The export version of the Shenyang J-5 Chinese jet fighter The Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter 1960s US jet fighter produced for export. test programs. In 1960, he was one of six test pilots selected to fly the X-20 Dyna-Soar which was slated to become the first winged orbital space vehicle capable of lifting reentries and conventional landings. After the X-20 program was canceled in 1963, he completed the astronaut training curriculum at the new USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards in 1964 and was selected to fly the X-15.

He had more than his share of eventful flights in the airplane. While climbing through 107,000 feet at Mach 4.17 on June 29June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. Events 1613 The Globe Theatre burns to the ground. 1749 New Governor, Charles de la Raliere Des Herbiers, arrives at Isle Royale ( Cape Breton I, 1967, he suffered a total electrical failure and all onboard systems shutdown. After arching over at 173,000 feet, he calmly set up a visual approach and, resorting to old-fashioned "seat-of-the-pants" flying, he glided down to a safe emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nevada. For his remarkable feat of airmanship that day, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. Months later, on October 3, 1967, he accomplished a major milestone, as he piloted the modified X-15A-2 to a speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7)-a speed which remains, to this day, the highest ever attained in an airplane. During 16 flights in the rocketplane, Knight also became one of only five pilots to earn astronaut's wings by flying an airplane in space when he climbed to 280,500 feet on October 17, 1967. After nearly ten years of test flying at Edwards AFB, he went to Southeast Asia in 1968 where he completed a total of 253 combat sorties in the F-100. Following his combat tour, he served as test director for the F-15 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. In this capacity, he became the tenth pilot to fly the F-15 Eagle and completed some of the initial evaluations of the fighter. Following a subsequent assignment as Director of the Fighter Attack System Program Office, he returned to Edwards AFB as vice commander of the AFFTC in 1979. During this, his final active duty assignment, he remained an active test pilot in the F-16 Combined Test Force. After 32 years of service and more than 6,000 hours in the cockpits of more than 100 different aircraft, he retired from the USAF in 1982. In 1984, he was elected to the city council of Palmdale, California, and, four years later became the city's first elected mayor. In 1992, he was elected to serve in the California State Assembly representing the 36th District and, from 1996 through 2004, he continued to serve as a state senator representing California's 17th Senate District. William J. "Pete" Knight died on May 8, 2004.

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