Exploring the Limits of Speed | the X-15

In conducting its mission to explore the limits of speed and even venture above the atmosphere to the edge of space, the X-15 program would provide valuable data for use in solving the problems to be encountered in space flight, especially atmospheric re-entry. NACA’s work on the design began in 1954...

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[danpatterson]

I read about these in National Geographic as a kid. An ambitious program, an airplane/rocket hybrid that was dangerous to begin with, highly-trained pilots with nerves of steel, and repeated flights at multiple Mach to the edge of space where no one could be entirely sure what the aircraft would do. Amazing.

[bamafan-in-OZ]

Wow i never knew they were used for such a variety of tests outside of high and fast flight data

[Kneedragon]

Excellent clip, thank you.
They only built 3 of them? I thought there were more than that.
You mention Neil Armstrong. Chuck Yeager had rather a lot to say about Armstrong. I'm thinking of one particular sequence about the speed you fly on approach, the advised touch-down speed. As told by Yeager, he advised Armstrong to come in a bit faster and not have to flare so much for touchdown, to maintain a lower angle of attack. Armstrong argued with him, and next flight, deliberately held the nose as high as he could and kept the aircraft airborne as long as he could. The X-15 had a nose-wheel, but it had skids in place of main-wheels, and they're a long way back on the airframe. Once those touch down, the front of the aircraft comes down very fast and very hard. I hear at least one X-15 was broken in half because of this, very possibly the one flown by Armstrong. If you touched down at 300 knots, the front was coming down from about 8 ~ 10 ft up. If you touched down at 220 ~ 230 KIAS, the front was coming down more like 20ft up, and it was coming down a lot faster and harder. In either case, the main skids / gear was so far back, the elevators had no leverage to keep the nose up or slow it's descent. Once the skids touch, what you do with the elevators, is irrelevant.

[xgalmichelleevans]

Thank you for posting this video about the X-15. I would like to point out a few errors, however. You mention Scott Crossfield from North American was the first pilot, which is correct, but then say that, along with NASA, USAF, and USN pilots, there was also additional NAA pilots. That is not the case. Scotty was the only NAA pilot, and also there was only one pilot from the US Navy, Forrest Petersen. With regard to the construction of the X-15, there was some titanium used in the structure, but only in the low heat areas. The primary structure was a special nickel-alloy steel called Inconel-X. You then stated that the B-58 was initially favored as the mothership for the X-15. That is not the case. The B-58 could never have carried the X-15, and was never considered in that role. The only other mothership considered was the B-36, but with its service life coming to an end, it was considered that it would quickly become a problem for continued maintenance throughout the X-15's research life, so the newer B-52 was chosen instead. Next is that you state the X-15A-2 achieved the maximum altitude of 354, 200 feet. Joe Walker never flew the X-15A-2, and the X-15A-2 did not enter service (having been rebuilt out of the original no. 2 airframe) until 25 June 1964, nearly a year after Joe Walker left the program. Walker did indeed fly the record altitude flight in August 1963, but it was in X-15 no. 3. The highest speed flight was flown by Pete Knight, but it did not occur on 10 March 1967. That flight occurred on 3 October 1967. And finally, the rocket-assisted F-104 was designated the NF-104.