Review of the X-15 Program

Review of the X-15 Program
Author: Joseph Weil
Publisher:
Total Pages: 60
Release: 1962
Genre: Aerodynamics
ISBN:

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North American X-15

North American X-15
Author: Peter E. Davies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2017-05-18
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1472819926

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The revolutionary X-15 remains the fastest manned aircraft ever to fly. Built in the two decades following World War II, it was the most successful of the high-speed X-planes. The only recently broken 'sound barrier' was smashed completely by the X-15, which could hit Mach 6.7 and soar to altitudes above 350,000ft, beyond the edge of space. Several pilots qualified as astronauts by flying above 50 miles altitude in the X-15, including Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon. The three X-15s made 199 flights, testing new technologies and techniques which greatly eased America's entry into manned space travel, and made the Apollo missions and Space Shuttle viable propositions. With historical photographs and stunning digital artwork, this is the story of arguably the greatest of the X-Planes.

Progress of the X-15 Research Airplane Program

Progress of the X-15 Research Airplane Program
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 138
Release: 1965
Genre:
ISBN:

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The overall status of the X-15 program is reviewed and program plans for future flights are considered. Since the initiation of the flight program, approximately 150 flights have been performed over a broad altitude and Mach number range. This paper presents background information on the basic research studies and test-bed experiments to be presented at this Conference and reviews the operational problems encountered since the 1961 Conference on the X-15. A comprehensive bibliography of reports resulting from the X-15 program, arranged according to subject matter, is included.

The X-15 Rocket Plane

The X-15 Rocket Plane
Author: Michelle Evans
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2022-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1496229843

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The story of the X-15, the pioneering research flight program in the fifties and sixties, and its pilots.

Wingless Flight

Wingless Flight
Author: R. Dale Reed
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2014-07-15
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0813161606

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Most lifting bodies, or "flying bathtubs" as they were called, were so ugly only an engineer could love them, and yet, what an elegant way to keep wings from burning off in supersonic flight between earth and orbit. Working in their spare time (because they couldn't initially get official permission), Dale Reed and his team of engineers demonstrated the potential of the design that led to the Space Shuttle. Wingless Flight takes us behind the scenes with just the right blend of technical information and fascinating detail (the crash of M2-F2 found new life as the opening credit for TV's "The Six Million Dollar Man"). The flying bathtub, itself, is finding new life as the proposed escape-pod for the Space Station.

Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War

Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War
Author: Jeff Shesol
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1324003251

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A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War—a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival—and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."

Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters

Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters
Author: Robert Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 91
Release: 2017-06-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472819969

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In late 1944, the German Air Ministry organised what it called an 'Emergency Fighter Competition' intended to produce designs for quick-to-build yet technically and tactically effective jet fighter aircraft capable of tackling the anticipated arrival of the B-29 Superfortress over Europe, as well as the British Mosquito and US P-38 Lightning which were appearing in ever greater numbers. Thus was born a cutting-edge, highly sophisticated series of aircraft including the futuristic and elegant Focke-Wulf Ta 183; the extraordinary Blohm und Voss P.212, and the state-of-the-art Messerschmitt P.1101 series. Armed with heavy cannon and the latest air-to-air rockets and missiles, these were designed to inflict carnage on American bomber formations at high speed. Using stunning three-view illustrations of each prototype along with full colour artwork, aviation expert Robert Forsyth traces the history of the extraordinary aircraft of the 'Emergency Fighter Competition', Hitler's last throw of the dice in the air war against the Allies.

Flying beyond the stall

Flying beyond the stall
Author: Douglas A. Joyce
Publisher:
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2014
Genre: Research aircraft
ISBN: 9781626830196

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The X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Demonstrator was unique among experimental aircraft. A joint effort of the United States and Germany, the X-31 was the only X-plane to be designed, manufactured, and flight tested as an international collaboration. It was also the only X-plane to support two separate test programs conducted years apart, one administered largely by NASA and the other by the U.S. Navy, as well as the first X-plane ever to perform at the Paris Air Show. Flying Beyond the Stall begins by describing the government agencies and private-sector industries involved in the X-31 program, the genesis of the supermaneuverability concept and its initial design breakthroughs, design and fabrication of two test airframes, preparation for the X-31's first flight, and the first flights of Ship #1 and Ship #2. Subsequent chapters discuss envelope expansion, handling qualities (especially at high angles of attack), and flight with vectored thrust. The book then turns to the program's move to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and actual flight test data. Additional tasking, such as helmet-mounted display evaluations, handling quality studies, aerodynamic parameter estimation, and a "tailless" study are also discussed.The book describes how, in the aftermath of a disastrous accident with Ship #1 in 1995, Ship #2 was prepared for its outstanding participation in the Paris Air Show. The aircraft was then shipped back to Edwards AFB and put into storage until the late 1990s, when it was refurbished for participation in the U. S. Navy's VECTOR program. The book ends with a comprehensive discussion of lessons learned and includes an Appendix containing detailed information.