Photograph
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President's Office Files.
JFKPOF-016-007-p0053
Roll-out ceremonies of the X-19 VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft. Six men representing the three branches of the military and the Curtiss-Wright Corporation stand in front of the X-19. Identified as standing left to right are: Major General Robert G. Ruegg of the Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Honorable Alexander H. Flax, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force; Brigadier General Godfrey McHugh, Air Force Aide to the President; Chairman and President of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation T. Roland Berner; Rear Admiral C.T. Booth of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Department of the Navy; and Brigadier General David B. Parker of the United States Army. A group of unidentified men stand in the background. The aircraft was constructed by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation of Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, under a tri-service agreement between the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Mr. Berner sent this photograph and one other to President John F. Kennedy with a letter dated August 13, 1963, expressing the Corporation's desire to develop the plane into a Presidential aircraft.