Spaceplane

X-15 Development: "Research Project X-15" 1966 NASA Hypersonic Spaceplane

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• published: 26 Jan 2016
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X-15 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE17571B5928455F5 more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html "Development of the X-15 research plane as the latest in a series of experimental aircraft, and the results obtained from X-15 flights. Photography of the X-15 flights at the edge of space and landings on dry lake beds are included." Reupload of a previously uploaded film with improved video & sound. Public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). NASA film HQ-79 also see "X-15 1960 ANNUAL REPORT" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N646XdTl3w also see "The X-15 1960-1980" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DotPks_hnlg from "Hypersonics Before the Shuttle: A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane" http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20000068530_2000075022.pdf The first powered flight was made by X-15-2 on 17 September 1959. The aircraft was released from the NB-52A at 08:08 in the morning while flying at Mach 0.80 and 37,600 feet. Crossfield piloted the X-15-2 to Mach 2.11 and 52,341 feet during 224.3 seconds of powered flight using the two XLR11 engines. He landed on the dry lakebed at Edwards 9 minutes and 11 seconds after launch... The third flight of X-15-2 took place on 5 November 1959 when the X-15 was dropped from the NB-52A at Mach 0.82 and 44,000 feet. During the engine start sequence, one chamber in the lower engine exploded. There was external damage around the engine and base plate, plus quite a bit of damage internal to the engine compartment. The resulting fire convinced Crossfield to make an emergency landing at Rosamond Dry Lake; he quickly shut off the engines, dumped the remaining fuel, and jettisoned the ventral6 rudder. Even so, within the 13.9 seconds of powered flight, the X-15 managed to accelerate to Mach 1. The aircraft touched down near the center of the lake at approximately 150 knots and an 11 degrees angle of attack. When the nose gear bottomed out, the fuselage literally broke in half at station7 226.8, with about 70 percent of the bolts at the manufacturing joint being sheared out. The fuselage contacted the ground and was dragged for approximately 1,500 feet. Crossfield later stated that the damage was the result of a defect that should have broken on the first flight.8 The aircraft was sent to the North American plant for repairs, and was subsequently returned to Edwards in time for its fourth flight on 11 February 1960... The X-15-3 would... make the most tragic flight of the program. At 10:30 in the morning on 15 November 1967, the X-15-3 dropped away from the NB-52B at 45,000 feet over Delamar Dry Lake. At the controls was Major Michael J. Adams, making his seventh X-15 flight... As the X-15 climbed, Adams started a planned wing-rock-ing maneuver so an on-board camera could scan the horizon. The wing rocking quickly became excessive, by a factor of two or three. At the conclusion of the wing-rocking portion of the climb, the X-15 began a slow drift in heading; 40 seconds later, when the aircraft reached its maximum altitude, it was off heading by 15 degrees. As Adams came over the top, the drift briefly halted, with the airplane yawed 15 degrees to the right. Then the drift began again; within 30 seconds, Adams was descending at right angles to the flight path. At 230,000 feet, encountering rapidly increasing dynamic pressures, the X-15 entered a Mach 5 spin... Through some combination of pilot technique and basic aerodynamic stability, the airplane recovered from the spin at 118,000 feet and went into an inverted Mach 4.7 dive at an angle between 40 and 45 degrees... The X-15 began a rapid pitching motion of increasing severity, still in a dive at 160,000 feet per minute, dynamic pressure increasing intolerably. As the X-15 neared 65,000 feet, it was diving at Mach 3.93 and experiencing over 15-g vertically, both positive and negative, and 8-g laterally. The aircraft broke up northeast of the town of Johannesburg 10 minutes and 35 seconds after launch... Mike Adams was dead; the X-15-3 destroyed... The X-15 program would only fly another eight missions. The X-15A-2, grounded for repairs, soon remained grounded forever. The X-15-1 continued flying, with sharp differences of opinion about whether the research results returned were worth the risk and expense. A proposed delta wing modification to the X-15-3 had offered supporters the hope that the program might continue to 1972 or 1973... On 24 October 1968, Dana completed the X-15's 199th, and as it turned out the last, flight reaching Mach 5.38 at 255,000 feet.