X 15 how fast

The remarkable thing is that the pilots managed to bring the aircraft back consistently, despite the problems they had," said Gelzer.

Out of nearly flights, only two resulted in crash landings, one of which killed pilot Michael Adams. On November 15, , Adams went into a spin during re-entry and could not straighten the aircraft, which broke up in the air.

Air Force test pilot Maj. Michael J. Adams stands beside X ship number one. The inherent risks of flying this type of aircraft, half-plane and half-spaceship, is among the reasons why the X's records have never been beaten with modern engineering. It was also a stepping stone towards the space program, which had grander ambitions than simply speed.

Nevertheless, the X is consigned to history as one of the most successful flight research programs ever conducted, and in its nine years of operation it garnered a wealth of data about high-speed flight, returning from space and human physiology. And in , pilot Pete Knight reached the record speed of 4, mph , or Mach 6. The X also spawned a generation of astronauts, including one of the greatest: Neil Armstrong. During one of his seven X flights , Armstrong displayed the legendary problem-solving abilities that would eventually land him the command of Apollo One suffered from a landing accident in that injured pilot John McKay.

As a result of this flight and the damage suffered to the airframe, the fuselage was lengthened, it was given extra drop tanks for fuel beneath the wings and was given an ablative coating to protect its pilot from the heat of hypersonic flight. A second one was lost in , just minutes after its launch. The craft had taken a video of the horizon at the edge of space and began its descent to the world below.

As the craft descended, it entered a hypersonic spin. Even though its pilot, Michael J. Adams, was able to recover the plane at 36, feet, it then went into an inverted dive at Mach 4. The plane broke up under the stress and Adams was killed.

Pilots who flew the X to its highest altitudes were eventually given astronaut wings by the US Air Force, considering the craft broke the USAF threshold for the edge of space at 50 miles above the surface of the earth.

The craft would also make faster and faster hypersonic flights until October 3, , when William J. The plane was renamed the XA-2 , and took flight for the first time on 28 June Air Force in control.

Five aircraft were used during the span of the X program: three Xs planes and two B bombers:. A th flight over Nevada was first scheduled for 21 November , 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 This X was detached from the B and then put into indefinite storage.

But in the s, the U. Air Force and NASA pilots and crew exceeding that altitude at the time could be awarded the astronaut badge. Thirteen X flights went higher than 50 miles, two of which exceeded kilometers. Template:Aircraft specifications. Space Shuttle. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account?

North American X Edit source History Talk 0. For other uses, see X disambiguation. X touching down on its skids, with the lower ventral fin jettisoned. Retrieved 24 November Retrieved 4 October None of these ideas, however, came to fruition.

The X spearheaded research in a variety of areas: hypersonic aerodynamics, winged reentry from space. A total of technical documents were produced, equivalent to the output of a typical 4,man federal research center for more than two years.

Air Force. Navy, and private industry. North American was selected as prime contractor on the project following a competition in which Douglas. By the time of its first airborne test, flight research was too complex to rely on simple air-to-ground communications near a test field.

It was planned that the X15 would be air-launched from a Boeing B near Wendover. The range lay along a series of flat dry lakes. Nothing this extensive had previously existed in flight research, and it foreshadowed the worldwide tracking network developed by American manned spacecraft ventures. The X would complete its research mission and then. Because the X featured a cruciform tail surface arrangement. The X gathered critical flight data that made human spaceflight and future hypersonic aircraft possible.

First flown in , the North American X bridged the gap between human flight in the atmosphere and spaceflight. Eight of 12 pilots received astronaut wings. Skip to main content. You are here Home nasm A North American X Previous Next.

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