Jan. 31, 1948, marked the first flight of the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket experimental aircraft. The first flight took place at Muroc Dry Lake in the California desert with veteran Douglas test pilot Johnny Martin at the controls. The Skyrocket was designed by a team led by world renown airplane designer Ed Heinemann, and was the first Douglas-built plane to exceed the speed of sound and also was the first aircraft ever to exceed Mach 2.