The Outer Limit

Originally Aired: February 15, 1954 Suspense #539, "The Outer Limit," test pilot Major Bill Westfall prepares to fly the RJX1, a top-secret experimental rocket jet aircraft designed to push the boundaries of speed and altitude beyond anything previously attempted. With eight rockets capable of propelling him into unexplored regions of space, Bill faces tremendous risks as Colonel Hank and engineer Mr. Hargrove monitor the flight from ground control. The biggest uncertainty comes at takeoff—with maximum fuel capacity, Bill has just six thousand feet and seven seconds to get the heavily loaded aircraft airborne, a configuration that has never been tested before. As Bill's wife Molly and twin children wait at home, he climbs higher and faster, firing his rockets one by one and reporting back that the plane is "a doll, baby." But as Bill fires his second rocket and climbs beyond known altitudes, something goes terribly wrong. His transmission cuts off mid-sentence, leaving Hank desperately calling for his best pilot to respond. The chase planes in their F-86s can only watch as Bill and his experimental aircraft venture beyond the outer limit of human experience, into regions where no one knows what awaits.