Another Bad Ass

Bad Asses don't always come in the garb Hollywood has conditioned us to expect, but they are in the club none the less.

This guy lived the Bad Ass life in spades.

Bill Dana (1930-2014)

• Bill Dana flew the X-15 rocket plane 16 times from 1965 to 1968.
• In 48 years as a test pilot, he flew more than 8,000 hours in 60-plus aircraft.
• He reached a speed of 3,897 mph and an altitude of 306,900 feet in the X-15.
• This great height — nearly 59 miles high — technically qualified him for the Astronaut Badge, although he was not formally recognized as an astronaut until 2005.
• He once said, “The horizon appeared as a ring of bright blue around the shell of the earth, with darkness above. I knew I’d gotten all the altitude I needed to qualify as a space adventurer.”
• Dana is survived by his wife, Judi, whom he married in 1962, and four children: Sidney, Matt, Janet and Leslie.

Via Military Mom