Dryden's 60 Years of Flight Research: The X-15 Era

[jetpoweredgriffin]

"We'll be dropping you off a B-52. There's no brakes... The nosewheel can"t steer... and the lower tail falls off. You will only have one shot at the landing. We're shooting for 4,500mph and the edge of Space. We need volunteers." "Yes- I see that hand- any questions?" "Yes,Sir. When do we go?"

[jetpoweredgriffin]

"Heading for the Northeastern corner of Nevada..."

How ironic!

BONNEVILLE!

Right on the state line.

Most everybody stays in Wendover,NV during meets&events there.

I never knew that-

it is cool to know that the fastest car and aircraft both ran in the same general area...

I know that the X-15 event covered a HUGE area but it was cool that t

The Salt Flats area was the point of embarkation for the X-15....

[757Watson]

This video is BS! The X-15 flew in space.

[Dbusdriver71]

Didn't ted kennedy champion the termination of this project in favor of maned space stations like skylab?

[1MtnBoy]

@MaverickOnTheMoon ?? F-104 was already flying in 1955. before the X-15 was designed.

[MaverickOnTheMoon]

@1MtnBoy ahaan, I just realised that. they both look quite similar so we can agree the X-15 wasn't an entirely new design?

[1MtnBoy]

@MaverickOnTheMoon lol, no Im afraid not. I am very familiar with the X-15. and I think I can say quite confidently that the NACA & North American Aviation design proposal was made from scratch. alot of X-1D & E and X-2 data was used. there was a study of the F-104 wing and the X-15 wing although similar eliminated the weak points of the shape. the airframe is similar to the X-1. the nose is profiled after a .50cal bullet. wind tunnel data favored this shape over a needle point like the 104 & X2

[MaverickOnTheMoon]

@1MtnBoy Absolute privilege to be talking to someone like you. Youtube is not full of 14y/os after all. Would you say the F-104 is probably one of the most 'extreme' / 'whacky' airframe designs of it's era for an operational fighter jet? From my knowledge I'm guessing it's because of the need to intercept high altitude bombers that gave rise to planes like the F-104 and the Mig-25

[1MtnBoy]

@MaverickOnTheMoon F-104 was extreme to be sure( missle with a man in it). that J79 is still one of the most powerful jet engines ever produced ! problem was it was very unstable approaching mach 2. in the days of slide rules and primitive wind tunnels nobody had any solid design data. F-104 was deliberately long with the wing root set way back on the Cg and they were razor thin. she had a tendancy to pitch up and spin in high angles of attack. hence that HUGE vertical stabilizer on the X-15.

[1MtnBoy]

@MaverickOnTheMoon lmao, thank you for being so polite ! I am not an expert, just a very avid enthusiast and a huge fan of "North American Aviation". now Rockwell / Boeing. they designed and built some real sweethearts ! the P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchell, the F-86 Sabre, XB-70, the X-15, as well as Apollo Command and Service Module, the second stage of the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle and the B-1. would love to be a little older and have worked there !! but I guess 50 is old enough for now ! LMAO.

[SOWHATIMADEIT]

funny

[RyanWehr]

back in the 60's when money was getting waisted ledt and right

[ExecuMutant]

@RyanWehr

That "waisted money" resulted in all the technology that you take for granted today. The Apollo program spurred advances in avionics, telecommunications, and computers. So throw your computer away, ditch your cell phone, trash your HD tv, your CD's, DVD player (and pretty much anything "digital"), or stop complaining.

[Badger071]

@ExecuMutant right on the spot! Couldn´t agree with you moore. Greetings from Scandinavia.

[ExecuMutant]

@RyanWehr

That "waisted" resulted in all the technology that you take for granted today. The Apollo program spurred advances in avionics, telecommunications, and computers. So throw your computer away, ditch your cell phone, trash your HD tv, your CD's, DVD player (and pretty much anything "digital"), or stop complaining.

[Beamshipcaptain]

@RyanWehr This money was not wasted, it laid the foundations of the future we enjoy now. I was a little kid when they did this, and now I am involved in research and building that will mean interstelllar travel, and salvation of the Earth-human race.

[fsochon]

@1mntboy

I never sed it was I'm simply saying it could not preform it read my other comments and a couple of spaces below my first sum1 sed it was possible and plus this is not an aeroplane it pretty much went in space

[flugverrueckt]

FANTASTIC MUSIC!!!!!!! Great footage and narration. :D

What an amazing aircraft.

[louisagualtier]

My boyfriend's grandpa helped design this rocket: Jim McGroarty.

[3A7C]

Wonder if Disney would compete with Virgin-Galactic in space tourism, by offering a civilian/recreational version of the X-15? Disney is known for its "roller coasters", after all.

[1MtnBoy]

The X-15 actually displayed a higher lift to drag ratio during the first glide tests than predicted during design. Just like Joe Engle in Enterprise, Scotty took a nasty bounce in #66670 during the first landing. During the last part of the flare expecting to be able to relax the controls during touchdown, Enterprise & X-15 both started to float back up and had to be coaxed back down.

[hellkid94]

i am reading "AT THE EDGE OF SPACE" and came across the pics and the guy in the simulator at 1:32 is Bob Rushworth

[Dogmeat1950]

Fastest X-15 went 4,519 mph (7,273 km/h)

[othur]

X15er!

[s404n1tn0cc]

I first read about this rocket/airplane was in the mid to late 70's. I wanted to be a pilot or mechanic. But after the mid 80's all aerospace manufacturing in southern calif dissappeared to the four winds.

TOO BAD.

[fsochon]

well the x15 did not have any fuel so a touch and go was impossible as wen u preform a touch and go u turn a thrust full. as the x15 did not have any fuel this was not possible. anyway this was not a areoplane in the slightest it may have the features but it is not. as this was a rocket jet shoved on a fuesalage. still awsome though XD :P

[1MtnBoy]

@fsochon

You do not define an airplane by the ability to perform a touch n go, I think Wilbur & Orville would be offended.

this is an airplane. it is piloted during a 3 minute powered flight, then piloted during the decent and landings just as the shuttle is flown. it is rocket powered just like the shuttle is. as a matter of fact the main purpose of the X-15 programme was to design a reusable space shuttle based on flight test data gathered. yes this is a modified Viking rocket engine.

[barthoedemaker]

X-15 was used for moon landing programm research.

[rohangiga]

omg that is insane, and its piloted! :o, imagine what they could do today

[EndeavourLaunch]

Its called SpaceShipOne and Two.

[RickyJ46]

A brilliant history!

[SP33D3Rz]

MORE THAN MACH 5?!?!?! GOD DAMN.

[samopdrift]

mach 6,75 to be precise...

[1MtnBoy]

@samopdrift Oct 3, 1967 4,519 mph / 7,273 km/h USAF Maj. William "Pete" Knight ( Balls of steel ) !

[mantas1111000]

i think they did ot used x-15 for shuttle. x-15 cockpit part looks really similar to f-22 front.

[splashdown50]

thanks for posting,...very interesting stuff

[mrbinkidoo]

I want an LLRV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Flybyhacker]

u get from Dryden movie collection

i download it

quite good movie (like documentary)

[NearSpace04]

What is the thruster behind the M2F1 when it is landing 7:33?

[Rhodaf101]

The small thruster extends the time spent in the flare and flattens out the landing approach. The landing approach slope profile, by comparison to other aircraft, is extremely steep.

[weegill]

" only one chance at landing"

yeh so do all pilots.... u dont get a second turn if you get it wrong...

[manocher11]

lol

[KEPHALLE]

...how about touch and go? every plane in normal conditions can abort landing even if with all landing gears on the ground and take off.

[flynmid]

It's called a go-around, and it's pretty common

[fsochon]

yes but it didnt have any fuel to do that

[will4ward]

You think they could have intercepted those pesky 1950's-1960's UFO's with this thing!

Negotiating the 90deg turns at speed?-well,no.

[ingareinar007]

Quite a plane! Or actually it is regarded as a spaceship, bechause it flyes so high it can`t manuver by aero-dynamic up there. More than 80 km up. Funny stuff, and good video -thanx!

[xlr99]

x-15 was the grandfather of the shuttle. neil armstrong flew it and joe engle flew both

[Flybyhacker]

x-15 only the former shuttle reasearch

but the lifthing body reasearch make

space shuttle possibble

go find Lifting Body Dryden's 60 Years of Flight Research Lifting Body to know more

[xlr99]

Reentry speeds mean that the shuttle had to be a 'blunt' shape, which is what the lifting body showed could still fly although 6 million dollar man crashed one of them :-)

X-15 showed that a piloted reentry was possible

[nakazatoGTR]

wow at 1:07.

i never saw an XLR-99 engine burn.

[7Kali7]

rocket with wings

[Mark1871]

Very good video, I like the "bathtub" haha. :D

[eper12]

focizni jó lesz!