The Insane Engineering of the X-15

Links to everything I do:

Thank you to Charlie Garcia for his invaluable advice and expertise during the scripting process of this video:

3D Model provided by Clément Moreau:

Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
Editor: Dylan Hennessy
Fact Checker: Charlie Garcia

The research for this video took about 4 weeks with the help of the reports, books, research papers, and nasa communications below. Charlie Garcia also kindly lent his expertise in rocket propulsion as a fact checker and advisor for the project. We normally show numbers on screen, but numbers got mixed up during the convoluted writing process and it’s now 12 pm the night before upload and I just can’t bring myself to link them all appropriately, but rest assured that all information in the video comes from one of the fantastic resources linked below.
References
[21] Haynes 117
[23] Page 444

Thank you to AP Archive for access to their archival footage.

Thank you to my patreon supporters: Adam Flohr, Henning Basma, Hank Green, William Leu, Tristan Edwards, Ian Dundore, John & Becki Johnston. Nevin Spoljaric, Jason Clark, Thomas Barth, Johnny MacDonald, Stephen Foland, Alfred Holzheu, Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Binghaith, Brent Higgins, Dexter Appleberry, Alex Pavek, Marko Hirsch, Mikkel Johansen, Hibiyi Mori. Viktor Józsa, Ron Hochsprung

[Durianpieenthusiast]

This man's making whole documentaries at this point. Fantastic work.

[stay_on_ground]

Bro, this is not a video, is a INCREDIBLE documentary...
Thx a lot.

[TakeawayBark]

Just to give you an idea of how fast this thing is, it is DOUBLE the speed of the sr71, and three times the speed of a modern jet, of which is dozens of times faster than our cars, which seem really fast to us, plus this thing was made 70 FREAKING YEARS AGO!
Absolutely insane.

[jag]

Brilliant! Seriously one of the best short documentaries on the X-15 available. I was a child raised under the thunder of the X-15 and other X Planes in So Cal back in the early 60"s, went on to spend a career in aviation partly because of the fascination with extreme flight. I am an admitted X-15 nut and I'll say again this is a terrific video. Cheers to all involved in its production!

[SeanHodgins]

Truly deserves the "Insane Engineering" title.

[flipride]

10-15 years ago this is the kind of video or documentary (both in duration and quality) that you would only see in educational cable channels in the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, or History Channel. Now, we have Youtube videos like this who have absolutely great production value and can be done entirely at home. If you showed this to me randomly without saying where it came from I would honestly have thought that a major tv network produced this. You guys are awesome! Keep it up!

[bc-guy]

That graphic of the turbo pump at 4:22 is one of the nicest representations of a complex design I have ever seen.
Well done. Great job on this.

[daveheath]

My Dad worked for North American Aviation from 1958 -1968 and I remember him bringing home the company newsletters which often featured photos and articles of the developements in the X-15 program . I'm proud of the part my Dad could play in a company that produced so many outstanding aircraft .

[sangitapol]

Brian you're a genius man, the efforts you've put into researching and explaining them so simply are commendable. Wouldn't be surprised if you've a TV show someday

[andrewschwartz_]

My great grandpa was Harrison Storms, chief engineer of the X-15 and XB-70. He later lead NA through the apollo program. Never got to meet him, but my grandma has amazing stories of her father and the projects and people he would take home. Really wish I got to know him, but I know he would have absolutely loved this video and the recognition of the x-15!

[iamatlantis]

This is hands down my favorite channel that I've found in a long time. Thank you. I wish my Dad were still here so we could watch these together. I used to rely a lot on him to learn about this type of stuff because before the days of the modern internet super information highway, you had to read things like Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Smithsonian mag, to get information like this.

[danl]

It is slightly unfair to compare the SR-71 to the X-15. After takeoff, and a refueling, the SR-71 could cross a continent at sustained speed. The X-15 was a valuable science experiment, but largely a guided rocket, not a plane. Apples and Oranges.

[cbasmadjian]

The production value of these videos has set a high standard for other Youtube creators. Love your content and the effort!

[aceapache]

Holy heck, you might as well start making an entire Documentary show and then put it on television, nice job

[WhiteDragon]

The X-15 was the first plane that reached space. Some even earned astonaut wings by doing so. Basically a rocket with a cockpit and tiny wings. When out of the atmosphere it used reactive motors to maneuver. Also the only breathable gas was in the helmet.

[AJLaRocque]

In the early 60s I lived two houses down from John Bratt. I was 8 years old at the time when he told me about how he designed the cockpit windows for the X-15. His fascinating stories about this craft was the motivating factor in my becoming a computer scientist.

[SomeTallGuy]

Man, the production quality of this channel has grown exponentially!
Also, love the 3D renders, live charts, and text style, they really help keep retention.

[jojoAW]

I'm studying aerospace engineering in Germany and I can only remark that you are doing an amazing job in breaking down all the complex formulas and ideas that were used during the design phase so every viewer can get a good understanding of the plane.

[Jin-Ro]

I learnt about this in Primary school in the 70's. UK. It's totally made me in awe, and I was a huge fan of the X-15.
It's sad that today you seen very little of these daring pushes to go way beyond the limits. America's Golden age for sure.

[Darth_Sai]

The animation of the X-15 fly by the SR-71 hits on the whole other level when one knows how legendary the Blackbird was.