How many times did the X-15 fly?
Instead, the three X-15 planes flew 199 times, reached 354,000 feet (67 miles), flew at Mach 6.7, provided invaluable research data for the Space Shuttle, and remained relatively unknown. The last X-15 flew in 1968, when the much-heralded Apollo program was taking America to the Moon.
Who was the first X-15 pilot?
In addition to the first flight, an unpowered glide on June 8, 1959, Crossfield flew the X-15 on its first powered flight that September, and the first flight with the XLR-99 rocket engine in November 1960. Joe Walker and Bob White were two other early X-15 pilots. Walker made the first research flight of the X-15 in March, 1960.
What happened to the X-15 program?
The X-15 program reached those goals, and more. By the time the nearly 10-year program ended at 199 flights in October 1968, an X-15 had been flown to a blistering speed of Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph), a record that still stands for winged aircraft. An X-15 also topped the altitude goal of 250,000 feet by nearly 19 miles.
Where did the X-15 land?
The Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to Edwards and Dryden was the intended landing location for all flights, but numerous lakebeds were selected in advance for emergency landings. The X-15 used conventional aerodynamic controls for flight in the dense air of the usable atmosphere.
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How many times did Neil Armstrong fly X-15?
Eight X-15 pilots actually flew into space in an X-15; ironically, Neil Armstrong was not one of them. Instead, he flew seven of the X-15's 199 flights, including the first flight of X-15 #3.
When was the X-15 used?
The X-15 gathered critical flight data that made human spaceflight and future hypersonic aircraft possible. First flown in 1959, the North American X-15 bridged the gap between human flight in the atmosphere and spaceflight.
Why was the X-15 Cancelled?
A 200th flight over Nevada was first scheduled for 21 November 1968, to be flown by William "Pete" Knight. Numerous technical problems and outbreaks of bad weather delayed this proposed flight six times, and it was permanently canceled on 20 December 1968.
Did Chuck Yeager fly the X-15?
The two NB-52 mother ships were most frequently piloted by Fitz Fulton. On one occasion Chuck Yeager, former pilot of the X-15's predecessor X-plane the X-1, the first crewed craft to break the sound barrier, assisted as NB-52 co-pilot for an aborted flight.
What was the fastest plane ever?
Lockheed SR-71 BlackbirdAirplane / FastestThe Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force and NASA. Wikipedia
What is the fastest rocket in the world?
0:0311:39Inside the Fastest Spaceship Ever Made | The Space Show - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd is the fastest object made by humans in history it's nasa's parker solar probe launched in 2018.MoreAnd is the fastest object made by humans in history it's nasa's parker solar probe launched in 2018. Parker's top speed is a jaw-dropping 430 000 miles per hour.
Can a plane go Mach 10?
Sure, there are hypersonic weapons, most of them in testing stages, but to date not a single human was capable of reaching Mach 10 in an aircraft while inside the atmosphere.
What is the fastest unmanned aircraft?
X-43NASA X-43X-43RoleExperimental hypersonic UAVNational originUnited StatesDesign groupNASABuilt byMicro Craft (airframe) GASL (engine)4 more rows
Who was the best pilot in ww2?
Known as the “Ace of Aces” for his rank as the top American flying ace during World War II, Major Richard Ira Bong is credited with the downing of an impressive confirmed total of 40 enemy aircraft over the course of his career as a fighter pilot.
Who was the best test pilot ever?
Brigadier General Charles Elwood YeagerBrigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager (/ˈjeɪɡər/ YAY-gər, February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Myra, West Virginia, U.S.
Who is the greatest fighter pilot ever?
Erich „Bubi“ HartmannErich „Bubi“ Hartmann Erich Hartmann is the most successful fighter pilot of all times – with 352 kills. A number that will never be surpassed.
How fast did the X-15 fly?
Because the rocket engine consumed large amounts of fuel, the X-15 was air launched from a B-52 research aircraft at about 45,000 feet, flying over 500 mph. Depending on the mission, the rocket engine provided thrust for the first 80 to 120 seconds of flight.
Where was the first X-15?
The first X-15 arrived at the NASA High-Speed Flight Station (now NASA Dryden Flight Research Center) in early 1959. All flights took place within the "high range" east of Edwards Air Force Base, California, and the NASA Flight Research Center.
What was the X-15?
The basic X-15 was a single-seat, mid-wing monoplane. The X-15 initially flew with two XLR-11 engines, producing a thrust of 16,380 lb. Later, the Thiokol Chemical Corp. throttleable XLR-99 engine was installed. The XLR-99 provided a maximum thrust of 57,000 lb. and a minimum thrust of 28,000 lb. It was fueled by anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen.
What controls did the X-15 use?
The X-15 used conventional aerodynamic control s for flight in the dense air of the usable atmosphere. Rudder surfaces on the vertical stabilizers controlled yaw (i.e., movement of the nose left or right) and canted horizontal surfaces on the tail controlled pitch (i.e., nose up and down) when moving in synchronization or roll when moved differentially.
How many X-15s were there?
The X-15 paved the way for America's piloted space program, setting unofficial world records for flight speed and altitude along the way. There were 12 X-15 pilots; five from NASA, five from the Air Force, one from the Navy, and one from North American.
Where did the X-15 land?
Because the nose wheel lacked steering and the main landing gear employed skids, the X-15 landed on a dry lakebed. The Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to Edwards and Dryden was the intended landing location for all flights, but numerous lakebeds were selected in advance for emergency landings.
What is the X-15 made of?
The cabin was made of aluminum and was isolated from the outer structure to keep it cool.
How many flights did the X-15 take?
During the X-15 program, 12 pilots flew a combined 199 flights. Of these, 8 pilots flew a combined 13 flights which met the Air Force spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of 50 miles (80 km), thus qualifying these pilots as being astronauts.
Who was the first pilot to fly the X-15?
The first X-15 flight was an unpowered glide flight by Scott Crossfield, on 8 June 1959. Crossfield also piloted the first powered flight on 17 September 1959, and his first flight with the XLR-99 rocket engine on 15 November 1960. Twelve test pilots flew the X-15. Among these were Neil Armstrong, later a NASA astronaut and the first man to set foot on the Moon, and Joe Engle, later a commander of NASA Space Shuttle missions.
Why is the X-15 wedge shape used?
A wedge shape was used because it is more effective than the conventional tail as a stabilizing surface at hypersonic speeds. A vertical-tail area equal to 60 percent of the wing area was required to give the X-15 adequate directional stability.
Why did the X-15 have a wedge tail?
The X-15 had a thick wedge tail to enable it to fly in a steady manner at hypersonic speeds. This produced a significant amount of base drag at lower speeds; the blunt end at the rear of the X-15 could produce as much drag as an entire F-104 Starfighter.
What is the X-15?
NASA. Number built. 3. The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space ...
How did the X-15 work?
The X-15 was operated under several different scenarios, including attachment to a launch aircraft, drop, main engine start and acceleration, ballistic flight into thin air/space, re-entry into thicker air, unpowered glide to landing, and direct landing without a main-engine start. The main rocket engine operated only for a relatively short part of the flight but boosted the X-15 to its high speeds and altitudes. Without main engine thrust, the X-15's instruments and control surfaces remained functional, but the aircraft could not maintain altitude.
What is the fuselage of an X-15?
The X-15 fuselage was long and cylindrical, with rear fairings that flattened its appearance, and thick, dorsal and ventral wedge-fin stabilizers. Parts of the fuselage (the outer skin) were heat-resistant nickel alloy ( Inconel -X 750). The retractable landing gear comprised a nose-wheel carriage and two rear skids.
Who flew the X-15?
Robert Rushworth flew 34 free flights, the most in the program. Forrest Petersen flew five, the fewest. Robert White was the first person to fly the X-15 above 100,000 feet. Milton Thompson piloted a series of typical flights during the middle of the program.
How many flights did the X-15 take?
The pilots and craft also performed twelve scheduled captive carry test flights and 125 aborted flights (frequently due either to technical problems or poor weather) in which the X-15 did not uncouple from its B-52 mother ship, for a grand total of 336 flights.
What are the numbers on the X-15?
In one, the numbers 1 through 199 were used to chronologically denote the free flights made by any of the three planes. For example, flight 1 (8 June 1959) was made by the X-15-1, flight 34 (7 March 1961) was made by the X-15-2, and flight 49 (5 April 1962) was made by the X-15-3. This convention ignores captive and aborted flights.
What is the flight number on an X-15?
The first part, a number—1, 2 or 3 —would denote the involved X-15 plane. The second part—a number, or "A", or "C"—would denote that individual X-15's chronological free flights; aborted flights were coded as "A", and scheduled captive carry test flights were coded as "C". The third part, a number, would denote the total number of times to-date that the individual X-15 had been taken aloft by a carrier, whether resulting in a free flight or not. For example, the X-15-1 was first taken aloft on scheduled captive test flight 1-C-1, next performed three aborted missions (1-A-2, 1-A-3, and 1-A-4), and then performed its first successful free flight on its fifth time taken aloft (1-1-5).
How many people flew the X-15?
Twelve pilots flew the X-15 over the course of its career. Scott Crossfield and William Dana flew the X-15 on its first and last free flights, respectively. Joseph Walker set the program's top two altitude records on its 90th and 91st free flights (347,800 and 354,200 feet, respectively), becoming the only pilot to fly past the Kármán line, the 100 kilometer, FAI -recognized boundary of outer space, during the program. William Knight set the program's Mach (6.70) and speed (4,520 mph) records on its 188th free flight. Neil Armstrong was the first pilot to fly the program's third plane, the X-15-3. Following his participation in the program, Joe Engle commanded a future spaceplane, the Space Shuttle, on two missions. Robert Rushworth flew 34 free flights, the most in the program. Forrest Petersen flew five, the fewest. Robert White was the first person to fly the X-15 above 100,000 feet. Milton Thompson piloted a series of typical flights during the middle of the program. John McKay was injured in (and recovered from, returning to active flight status) a landing accident which damaged the X-15-2, leading to its refurbishment as the modified X-15A-2. Michael Adams was killed in the program's 191st free flight. Five pilots were Air Force personnel, five were NASA personnel, one (Crossfield) was employed by manufacturer North American, and one (Petersen) was a Navy pilot.
How many flights were made in the X-15-3?
Following this in 2005, NASA retroactively awarded its civilian astronaut wings to Dana (then living), and to McKay and Walker (posthumously). Eleven flights above 50 miles were made in the X-15-3, and two were made in the X-15-1.
How many times did the NB-52 carry an X-15?
On free flights, the NB-52A carried the X-15 aloft 93 times, while the NB-52B carried it aloft 106 times.
What was the X-15?
The X-15 was a joint research program sponsored by the NACA, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and private industry. It was designed to explore the upper limits of supersonic flight above Mach 2 and hypersonic flight beyond Mach 5. Over the course of its extensive test program, the three X-15s built set numerous records, ...
How fast is the X-15?
Over the course of its extensive test program, the three X-15s built set numerous records, becoming the fastest and highest flying aircraft in the world, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 6.72 (4,534 miles per hour) on one flight and an altitude of 354,000 feet (67 miles) on another flight. These records still stand.
What did Neil Armstrong do before he walked on the moon?
Before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon and before he flew on Gemini 8, he was a NASA test pilot. Armstrong enrolled in Purdue University in 1947 under the innovative Holloway Plan, which paid for the student’s education in exchange for service as an officer in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. After two years at Purdue, Armstrong was called up by the Navy and, after completing flight school, flew 78 combat missions in Grumman F9F Panthers during the Korean War.
How many X-15s did Neil Armstrong fly?
Eight X-15 pilots actually flew into space in an X-15; ironically, Neil Armstrong was not one of them. Instead, he flew seven of the X-15’s 199 flights, including the first flight of X-15 #3. His fastest flight occurred in X-15 #1 – the one hanging in the Museum – when, on July 26, 1962, he reached Mach 5.74 (3,989 miles per hour).
When did Neil Armstrong leave the X-15?
Armstrong left the X-15 program in 1962 after he was accepted into the second class of NASA astronauts, bringing his extensive knowledge of engineering and hypersonic flight to further advance America’s space objectives and realize President John F. Kennedy’s call to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the decade.
What was Neil Armstrong's spacesuit?
In honor of the historic flight of Apollo 11, the museum is exhibiting the recently conserved spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong that he wore during his time on the lunar surface. While the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia that took Armstrong, Aldrin, and Michael Collins safely to and from the Moon tours the United States, ...
Who flew the X-15?
The plane was flown by an elite team of just 12 pilots, including Neil Armstrong, who would go on to lead the moon landing in 1969. The X-15 pictured in the skies above California. Credit: NASA.
How many flights did the X-15 take?
Shaped more like a bullet than a conventional airplane, the rocket-powered X-15 completed 199 test flights over nine years, starting in 1959. It could reach the edge of space and then glide back down to Earth, capturing data that informed the design and engineering of later American spacecraft, including NASA's space shuttles.
What is the X-15 made of?
Flying at thousands of miles per hour, the outer skin of the X-15 became very hot due to aerodynamic friction and was therefore made of a special nickel-chromium alloy called Inconel X. "The aircraft heated up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit," Gelzer said. "And the pilots could hear it expand behind them.".
How fast was the X-15?
In 1952, when development of the X-15 started, the official air speed record for an aircraft was just under 700 mph. The plane's mission was to reach Mach 5 -- five times the speed of sound, or nearly 4,000 mph. An X-15 rests on Rogers Dry Lake, California, in September 1961 following a mission.
Why was the X-15 designed?
Much of the X-15's design was geared towards being able to fly at high altitudes, where the air is so thin that conventional aerodynamic appendages no longer work. For that reason, the X-15 was equipped with a reaction control system, similar to that later used by space shuttles and the International Space Station.
What is the difference between the X-15 and the X-29?
The X-15 was essentially a rocket with a cockpit, so unlike other planes it wasn't designed to take off from a runway. Instead, it had to be taken to high altitude and released from a mothership, in this case a specially modified B-52 bomber. Grumman X-29: The impossible fighter jet with inverted wings. With the 50-foot-long X-15 tucked ...
How many X-15s were made?
The "X" series consists of more than 60 experimental aircraft produced by US government agencies, including the Air Force and NASA, since the end of World War II. They were often extreme machines, designed to push the envelope, and the X-15 had a particularly ambitious goal.
How many times did the X-15 fly?
Instead, the three X-15 planes flew 199 times, reached 354,000 feet (67 miles), flew at Mach 6.7, provided invaluable research data for the Space Shuttle, and remained relatively unknown. The last X-15 flew in 1968, when the much-heralded Apollo program was taking America to the Moon.
Who flew the X-15?
Scott Crossfield flew the X-15 for its first eight flights. This reflected his status among the flight test community as Chuck Yeager's successor. The first flight of an experimental aircraft was the most dangerous, the most challenging, and the most prestigious. As Tom Wolfe put it in The Right Stuff, the "righteous brethren judged each other by who got the first flight. Those who didn't were left behind." Crossfield flew the X-15 for the first time in 1959; while the speed and altitude numbers that her achieved on that flight were modest, compared to later X-15 performances, his reputation was clear. In addition to the first flight, an unpowered glide on June 8, 1959, Crossfield flew the X-15 on its first powered flight that September, and the first flight with the XLR-99 rocket engine in November 1960.
What happened before the X-15 went up?
But before the X-15 ever went up, the Russian Sputnik did in 1957, and with it rose the level of America's Cold War paranoia. The Russians were in space, preparing to dominate the high ground of World War Three. The United States had to respond; we couldn't be second to the Communists. (Just 12 years after the end of World War Two, when coming in second to the Axis would have been a tragedy to terrible to contemplate, the fears of the Fifties only seem exaggerated in hindsight.) Thus the U.S. embarked on the the MISS (Man In Space Soonest) project, which became Project Mercury. Just pack a guy into a protective "capsule" and blast into space, in a sub-orbital trajectory at first - all that could be achieved with the available Redstone rocket. In the rush to literally get "Man In Space Soonest," the carefully progressing X-15 program took second place. The nation focused on the Mercury Seven, while the pilots and engineers at Edwards continued with what they thought was the logical development of the country's aerospace capabilities.
How long is the X-15?
Fifty feet long (about as long as a P-47 Thunderbolt), with small wedge-shaped wings only 22 feet in span, the X-15 was a flying rocket engine. Like Lindbergh 's Spirit of St. Louis was just a flying gas tank, so it was with the X-15 - designed and completely dedicated to a single purpose. While Lindbergh's plane was focused on flying from New York to Paris, the X-15 existed solely to test how man and machine would react to flying higher and faster than ever before.
Who was the first pilot to fly an X-15?
In line to be the prime pilot was Iven Kincheloe, a Korean War ace, and highly regarded test pilot. Tall, blonde, and handsome, NACA and the Air Force had already nicknamed Kincheloe "Mr. Space." Tragically, Kincheloe was killed in test flight accident before the X-15 ever flew.
Who was the first X-15 pilot?
Joe Walker and Bob White were two other early X-15 pilots. Walker made the first research flight of the X-15 in March, 1960. By early 1961, Walker had taken the X-15 up to 169,600 feet (32 miles) and White had reached a speed of Mach 4.62 (3,074 MPH). Meanwhile the Mercury program struggled: rockets failed and launches were delayed. The X-15 emerged, in the public eye, as a real alternative. Bob White was pictured on the cover of LIFE magazine. An Edwards PR officer wrote a piece for Saturday Evening Post with the lead, "While the Mercury astronauts get all the headlines, the X-15 pilots do all the work," and got into deep kimchee with NASA about it.
What was the X-15 program?
W hen it began in the early Fifties, the X-15 program was going to lead America into outer space. The pilots at Edwards Air Force would fly ever more powerful rocket planes faster and higher until, inevitably, they went into orbit. The X-15, an audacious airplane designed to fly at Mach 7, at a time when engineers were still struggling to make the X-planes behave at Mach 2, was going to be a big step toward space.
Overview
Design and development
The X-15 was based on a concept study from Walter Dornberger for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for a hypersonic research aircraft. The requests for proposal (RFPs) were published on 30 December 1954 for the airframe and on 4 February 1955 for the rocket engine. The X-15 was built by two manufacturers: North American Aviation was contracted for the airframe i…
Operational history
Altitudes attained by X-15 aircraft fell short of those of Alan Shepard's and Gus Grissom's Project Mercury space capsules in 1961, or of any other human spacecraft except the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane. However, the X-15 ranks supreme among crewed rocket-powered aircraft, becoming the world's first operational spaceplane in the early 1960s.
Current static displays
• X-15-1 (AF Ser. No. 56-6670) was on display in the National Air and Space Museum "Milestones of Flight" gallery, Washington, D.C., (the aircraft is no longer on display)
• X-15A-2 (AF Ser. No. 56-6671) is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. It was retired to the museum in October 1969. The aircraft is displayed in the mu…
Record flights
During 13 of the 199 total X-15 flights, eight pilots flew above 264,000 feet or 50 miles, thereby qualifying as astronauts according to the United States definition of the space border. All five Air Force pilots flew above 50 miles and were awarded military astronaut wings contemporaneously with their achievements, including Adams, who received the distinction posthumously following the flig…
Specifications
Other configurations include the Reaction Motors XLR11 equipped X-15, and the long version.
Data from
General characteristics
• Crew: One
See also
• SpaceShipOne
• SpaceShipTwo
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
• Bell X-2
• Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
Bibliography
• Davies, Mark, ed. (2003). The Standard Handbook for Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 8–28. ISBN 978-0-07-136229-0.
• Evans, Michelle (2013a). The X-15 Rocket Plane, Flying the First Wings into Space. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-2840-5.