X-15 Record Breaker Update
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- Опубліковано 11 січ 2007
- Three X-15s made 199 flights during a research program which lasted from 1960 through 1968. It was a daring, yet highly successful program that resulted in hundreds of technical reports. It made contributions to the NASA space program of the 1960s and also on the design and flight of the Space Shuttle many years later.
An unofficial motto of flight research of the 1940s and 1950s was "higher and faster." By the late 1950s the last frontier of that goal was hypersonic flight (Mach 5+) to the edge of space. It would require a huge leap in aeronautical technology, life support systems and flight planning. The North American X-15 rocket plane was built to meet that challenge. It was designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 6, and altitudes up to 250,000 ft. The aircraft went on to reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.7 and a maximum altitude of 354,200 ft. Looking at it another way, Mach 6 is about one mile per second, and flight above 264,000 ft. qualifies an Air Force pilot for astronaut wings.
The plane was air launched by NASA's converted B-52 at 45,000 feet and a speed of 500 mph. Generally there were two types of flight profiles: high-speed, or high-altitude. High-speed flights were usually done below an altitude of 100,000 feet and flown as a conventional airplane using aerodynamic controls. High-altitude flights began with a steep, full-power climb to leave the atmosphere, followed by up to two minutes of "coasting up" to the peak altitude after the engine was shut down. "Weightless" flight would last for 2 - 5 minutes as it made a ballistic arc before reentering the atmosphere. A reaction control system was used to maintain attitude above the atmosphere. The reaction controls employed hydrogen peroxide thrusters located on the nose and wings.
Depending on the mission, the rocket engine provided thrust for the first 80 to 120 seconds of flight. The remainder of the normal 8- to 12-minute flight was without power and ended in a 200-mph glide landing. Because the nose landing wheel lacked steering and the main landing gear employed skids, the X-15 had to land on a dry lakebed. The Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to Edwards and Dryden was the intended landing location for all flights, but there were numerous emergency lakebeds selected in advance for emergency landings.
The X-15 program made many accomplishments, here is list of some of its contributions to space flight:
* First application of hypersonic theory and wind tunnel work to an actual flight vehicle.
* First use of reaction controls for attitude control in space.
* First reusable super alloy structure capable of withstanding the temperatures and thermal gradients of hypersonic reentry.
* Development of [a servo-actuated ball] nose flow direction sensor for operation over an extreme range of dynamic pressure and a stagnation air temperature of 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit [for accurate measurement of air speed and flow angle at supersonic and hypersonic speeds].
* Development of the first practical full pressure suit for pilot protection in space.
* Development of inertial flight data systems capable of functioning in a high dynamic pressure and space environment.
* Discovery that hypersonic boundary layer flow is turbulent and not laminar.
* Discovery that turbulent heating rates are significantly lower than had been predicted by theory.
* First direct measurement of hypersonic skin friction and discovery that skin friction is lower than had been predicted.
* Discovery of hot spots generated by surface irregularities. [These last 4 discoveries led to improved design tools for future hypersonic vehicles, including the Space Shuttle.]
* Discovery of methods to correlate base drag measurements with tunnel test results so as to correct wind tunnel data [and thereby improve design criteria for future air- and spacecraft].
* First application of energy-management techniques [for the positioning of the vehicle for landing; these were essential for the landing of the Space Shuttle and all future reusable launch vehicles following their reentry from space.]
* Use of the three X-15 aircraft as testbeds carrying a wide variety of experimental packages.
The X-15 had its share of emergency landings and accidents, but only two produced serious injuries or death. On Nov. 9, 1962, Jack McKay experienced an engine failure and landed at Mud Lake, Nev. The landing gear collapsed, flipping him and the aircraft on its back. Although he recovered from his injuries sufficiently to fly again, he eventually had to retire because of them. On Nov. 15, 1967, on Michael Adams seventh flight, he entered a spin from which he was able to recover but could not bring it out of an inverted dive because of a technical problem with the adaptive flight control system. He died in the resultant crash of the X-15 number three. - Навчання та стиль
I think the R.L Burnside track is perfect: lyrics enhance the sense of isolated extreme achievement and the instrumental adds to the sense of speed. Great archival clip! Thanks for posting.
in other clips one can't really comprehend how fast it took off.. but at 3:05 you can see it left other planes "in the dust"
REALLY GOOD STUFF!
I suspect that is a tad sped up. In real time it took longer than 11 seconds to go from drop to burnout at 250,000' plus.
Well done my man! Alot of people forget this corner of history, and the music rocks!
I agree with you, during my lifetime,the USA was great.. even landing on our Moon 6 X's..in todays policitally correct society, the country that was the USA 30 years ago no longer exists..I was so fortunate to have lived during the good times.the era of the X-15 and Apollo....THX
Thanks for your comments. Planes had to be partially rebuilt before eachflight. The record was 3 flights in one week!!
Enjoying your uploads as well!!
@NiqiV The book is 'At the Edge of Space', it's written by Milt Thompson, who made 14 flights in the X-15 from '63 to '69. It's an amazing read.
the best video about X15 j've ever seen on youTube, thank you Bry
Nicely put together
Much of the technology and development of the SR-71 and the space shuttle came from this airplane. The X-15 program was so ahead of its time.
This fantastic video introduced me to the sounds of RL Burnside.. thank you! I think this is the same airframe I saw at Wright Patt AFB circa 2015
Amazing!!!! upon landing, no brakes or droge chute to stop this beast,just friction from the skids,, Balls of American Steel........
brilliant video and music. thanks uploader
THANKS MATE... Ive been waiting to see things about the X15 since i was a kid.. And your Video just blew me away...The music is f**king awesome.. Cheers...
This is my fav part as well - the whole reason I made this video in the first place.
Considering the speed of the mothershi, the X-15 just lights up! Flaps that open at the end of the climb are air brakes..
The X-15 is the coolest device ever - loved it when I was a kid and I love it still. Excellent compilation and info and great music, thanks for this. When that thing drops from the mother-ship I'm GONE......:-D
Great stuff!
Thanks - appreciated
Cheers, nice one, Ive been waiting to see stuff like this since i was a kid. Ive read so many things about the X 15, But ive never seen it in action. F'KIN AWESOME soundtrack too. THANKS MATE...
Awesome video!!! The X-15 is my favorite American research craft of all time. Pete Knight was a true American hero; earning his astronaut wings by flying this thing to 208K feet. What an amazing time of research and discovery it must have been back in the mid 60's!
i think thats pretty cool when they show all the leading edges and its all charred from getting so hot when traveling that fast...nice vid thanks
Nice compilation video showing all the phases of flight from many angles. Thank you, I am getting the book, Flying to the Edge of Space after reading an old Smithsonian Article and you video brings the words and photos to light.
Many thanks
Damn! The X-15 smoked the shit out of that Super Sabre at 3:05.
Few aircraft are truly iconic, this is one of them.
Good video with great background blues!
great footage! Good song too.
Cheers - Thanks
Man, this song really got me funkin....and great footage too. Love 'em magnificent men and their flying machines...
I just saw the X-15 at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton!!!
I didn't expect to see it there - pretty awesome.
great video with good music
Awesome video - awesome aircraft.
John Lee Hooker was a great choice for music.
Looks like even their landing speed broke the records - 300 knots..?
Can't get over the heat damage, geez!
I hope this time is coming back and the world will salute America again!
I love how the X-15 is just dropped and launched like it's a missal
Conventional landing gear would have added a lot of weight, complexity and reduced the room for the rocket engine. There was also the worry about blow-outs, and the possibility of tire failure while still at high altitude.
Sound barrier? I don't need no stinkin' sound barrier!
This is wonderful. Soundless, wordless video. Great music. All the words on the side. All creating the proper incongruity that when the the plane lands among all those hangers and stuff - back to reality - it doesn't belong. Except in the mind of an artist and a scientist. Thanks.
Three X-15's were built. One was destroyed in a crash. One is in the Smithsonian in D.C.
The other one is at the Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio. The cool thing is you can walk up right next to it. It is not roped off or anything. (Do not touch!) It is in an old hanger with lots of other amazing planes like an XB-70 and an YF-12A (fighter prototype of the SR-71). They all just sort of parked there for you to walk around. It's the coolest room in the world.
thanks
This is absolutely superb. And, unlike so many other potentially worthwhile videos, the music is appropriate and excellent. It's R.L. Burnside, isn't it?
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comment!
great video! what group is playing?
that was a badass landing.
my dad was stationed at Edwards in the early 60's. When we went to the air and space museum in DC he'd point to this and that plane and say he saw that fly.
A superb video, to say the least! And I certainly agree with David that the sound track was most appropriate - The ultimate in "traveling" music...
Perhaps HVAC missed the significance of the lyrics - At that altituda (and speed) one is clearly "A LONG Way freom Home!"
Again thanks for a most excellent clip . . .
That was cool man....
The "white" one is in fact the X-15A-2. It's black underneath; the white is a coat of sealing paint over an experimental ablative heat shield material (designed to burn off) that is itself an eraser-like pink color. It was applied to the A-2 for its last few speed flights, the results of the last (fastest) of which is seen at the end of the video. Pete Knight flew it to Mach 6.7 on that flight, some of the structure burned through, and it never flew again. It's in the USAF Museum in Dayton now.
SuperShamou, about to send Reddit here. Thanks, Neil!
This Music from R.L.Burnside is absolutely perfect for this X-15 Video. It sounds like it came straight out of the early 1960's when actually it was 1996. What ever happened to when the USA made timeless aircraft like this?!
nice video i like it
tater:
You are correct. After the first X-15 broke on landing, it was returned to North American and lengthened 35 inches to become the X-15 A2.
good question
Ok, thanks ^^
The X-15 must have been a handful to fly! I have see a display of the X-15 at either Wright Patterson or the Smithsonian when I was a kid. I can't remember which location I saw it at. However, it was very impressive.
The term "space shuttle" describes the full stack of ET, SRBs, and Orbiter. The "Space Shuttle" is indeed a spacecraft/rocket. The orbiter on it's own is both a spacecraft and an aircraft. It is an aircraft because it maintains flight aerodynamically -- in other words, it's an aircraft because it generates lift. That can be done with or without wings.
Many thanks. I have a copy (somewhere) of the National Geo mag which has a story - "I Fly the X-15" which mainly focuses on the work done by Knight and Walker, i.e. the early days. Read it as a child, iow, had a huge impact. Up till the it was man on the moon, the X15 and other ilk where a unknown universe. Must get some vids on this.
@NiqiV I just read a book on this. My understanding is that they were extending it to limit their climb. They would give a shorter engine burn when their target altitude was lower. But the X-15 had so much energy they had to brake at times. Even so, it overshot it's intended altitude by 40,000 feet a couple of times.
Imagine that. A lot of planes can't reach 40,000 feet. Yet the X-15 could overshoot it's altitude by that much!
Exactly 3:00 into the video there is a clip that I keep going back and watching. It leaves the "mother ship" so fast, you see the jet along side just disappear. It almost has a 3D rendering quality where your view is rotated to see the jet streams.
By radar for the most part. A ground radar locates the X-15's position in 3D space by figuring out the azimuth, elevation and distance to the radar. The next time the radar "sweeps" the area it mesures the X-15's new position. Using trigonometry you can figure out the distance from the first position to the second. Using the "sweep time" (the time it takes radar to make a full rotation) you have the time between the two positions.
Just love Ol' RL
Long ways from home - Won't do me no harm - yeh hey well well welll!!!!!
@iguanarc It was a test bed for future craft. Once they learned as much as they could it was oof no further use. Much of how we flew the shuttle came from these test.
Wondered the same thing - thought that perhaps the incredibly high landing speeds may have been a tyre blowout risk.
Not only that - look at the belly of the plane - paint is burned away, metal is burned trough in some spots any rubber wheals will be a black smear on a fuselage if even that remained + the high speed landing.
what is an Averaero? are you referring to the Avro Arrow?
that video, I red a kids book when i was little.Man seemed fast, But it still lands like the shuttle. To bad the Averaero was not around back in 1958-1962. it holds a record not even told. Mach 2.5+ from Barrie Ontario to NY state and Buzzed there tower and was back in Canada, in 10 mins +10 there.they could not even get into there jets.haha. I wish it was around would have matched most of todays planes.* I miss it*
Good Video :)
Love the tune and Rocketry.
Jaymur:
Like it? Pay more taxes and have it!
@planesRus They actually experimented with several differet shapes. Belive this is just the one to give the best response at the high speeds and temperatures it was experienceing.
R.L Burnside, Poorboy, Longway from Home.
Wow I couldn't have said it better myself.
I remember being at pre-school, playing in the sand pit and trying as hard as I could to see the apollo spacecraft heading for the full moon!
The world was celebrating America then.
wow its hard to believe. that long ago we were able to create something that could go from california to new york in about 10 minutes. imagine what we could do with the technology today.
Thanks for posting, what is the music?
Poor Boy Long
Way From Home...R.L.Burnside from the C.D ass pocket full o whiskey
cheers
Still the fastest manned aircraft ever built, almost fifty years later.
WE NEED NASA BACK ON TRACK!
cool!
Nice music video ;)
Nice video, Ive just read "at the edge of space" by milton o. thompson which is all about the x-15 program and well worth a read.
They used tires on the nosewheel. The skids are more to save weight and space. The earlier X-2, the first aircraft to break Mach 3 (although it killed the pilot in the process) had no wheels at all-just a belly skid and little outrigger skids under the wings-again, to save weight and space.
Conventional landing gear would have added a lot of weight, complexity and reduced the room for the rocket engine. There was also the worry about blow-outs, and the possibility of tire failure while still at high altitude.
RE-entry and high speed flight develops very high temperatures, and although the A-12 Article was already in development and had addressed these problems, the X-15 was determined to be OK with the Gear the way it was.
What song is that on the video ?
Whats that thing on the tail at 3:20? It looks like brakes of some sort.
@ObiTrev i agree in terms of excitement but the concept of 'worthwhile'? im not sure it was really worth their time or money, probably a pretty fun ride for the pilots though!
I heard that X15 got 7,2 mach, Is this true?
Did the pilots practice with him the atmosferal re-entry turning on?
Yup!!
What are the black bits at 3:12
Poor boy long ways from home - R.L. Burnside
Thanks for the vid! Like the blues... Scott Crossfield said the x-15 was the one plane that caused grown men to cray upon its retirement.... bestust and badust...
initial tests are to ensure safe landing. better knowing right away then being surprised later!
:)
if that was in that year... imagine what they have right now!
Indeed. As i see footage of the community then. It's quite good and unique. Now. Well. Now it's something else.
Poor boy long ways from home - RL Burnside
I was on google earth and I found a wooden mock up of a X-15 parked on the tarmac at Edwards.
Awesome, 1 million people would take the risk just to see the sights!!!!!
Skid main gear ...tires exploded at high altitude..... great digg up on the pld classified footage thanks....*****
@Fthefrench123
It sounds like Howlin Wolf jamming out a long medley of his songs. It's mostly "Poor Boy", but this is not the original version.
I love this video. I wish I was alive in the 60's when hot rodding was everywhere... even in the sky :)
@pulsejet1 Yeap, X-15 was incredible. What was the book, i could read that too. And thanks! :)
X-15 rocks its my fav X plane Its amazing how much damage was caused by major Knight's mach 6.72 flight. I wonder what he thought when he seen the damage. To put this speed into perspective. If this plane could sustain that speed and the airframe would hold up. It could fly from Chicago to NY city(725 miles) it less time(15 min) than it takes most people to drive to work
What is the music???
i almost shit my pants when it detached from the plane and accelerated
R.L. Burnside - Poor Boy long way from home