X-15 Flight Test Report -1960 (Restored Color)

[@ZenosWarbirds]

Like what you see? Your DVD purchases at our store make this channel possible. www.zenosflightshop.com We need your support! Zeno

[@tomdemerly]

Wow, Joe Walker, the test pilot who unfortunately died in the XB-70 crash. This is a great video. Thank you.

[@markkrauklis8294]

I remember how cool this was at age 8.🥰🥰🥰🧨🧨🧨

[@raymondyee2008]

I certainly remember some scenes being used for one “Call To Glory” episode that involved the X-15.

[@Rockinroyston57]

Heroic times and nothing quite like it today.... thanks!

[@DanRibar]

I had the X-15 from Estes rockets.... very exciting times growing up.

[@BrettBaker]

Thanks for posting this Zeno. Much appreciated!

[@mikemathews9277]

These Pilots deserve A Lot of Credit going into unknown dynamics of flight and doing it many times over for research and space flight.Without this Program the Space Shuttle would have been more difficult to develop and sell to Congress in 1972.

[@x15galmichelleevans]

It was mentioned below that someone would like to put out a DVD set on the X-15. I wanted to let you know that this has already been done. The set was put together by Mark Gray at Spacecraft Films and is called "X-15, The Edge of Space." It is a 3 DVD set and is highly recommended. The set includes a great copy of the video above, plus a lot more.

[@jimmypk1353]

Looks AMAZING after COLOR RESTORATION. That elusive TECHNICOLOR look? Would be endlessly thankful if you could explain how you achieved it?

[@ZenosWarbirds]

Thanks for the heads up -- I fixed it. Should have known better -- I watched those "space shots" when I was a kid.

[@Stealth-Operator]

8:37 song name pls

[@x15galmichelleevans]

All the music on this production was composed by North American Aviation for the documentary. There is no music that was pulled from other sources, and the compositions almost certainly don't have any recognizable names other than whatever the cue was for the production scene.

[@Keizerdraak]

And the X-15 wouldnt have gone faster, no matter who would've flown it. "Pete" Knight took it to 4520 mph (mach 6.7), and that's about as fast as it could go, without tearing it apart -actually, the X-15 sustained major damage during that flight. That did not matter, since it was the last flight of the program...

[@Habibi46611]

top!

[@Keizerdraak]

Sorry, but you're so wrong on that. It wasn't S. Crossfield, but "Slick" Goodwin (the best test pilot at the time) who wanted to be paid $150.000,- He changed the whole ballgame- after breaking the sound barrier for normal pay, every military pilot wanted to be a test pilot. Now, this was in '47- Crossfield arrived at Edwards only in '53! And he was as good a pilot as Yeager.

[@fiftystate1388]

I read Slick Goodlin lived until 2005 and never flew to mach 1.

[@x15galmichelleevans]

Just to put to rest some misconceptions, Yeager never could have made the X-15 do more than it was created to do. In fact, if Yeager had flown it, he probably would have stood a good chance of crashing this hypersonic vehicle as he came close to doing on the X=1A and definitely did do on the NF-104. As I point out in my book, The X-15 Rocket Plane, Yeager very much wanted to fly the X-15, but the Air Force and NASA told him there was no way they would ever let him near the cockpit. Chuck was not a trained research pilot, whereas Crossfield and the 11 others who did fly this program were trained for this sort of thing. The records set by the X-15 are Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph) by Pete Knight on October 3, 1967, and the highest altitude was 354,200 feet (67.1 miles) by Joe walker on August 22, 1963. There were 199 flights through the last of the program in October 1968.

[@456swagger]

That would be your little secret. ha ha

[@x15galmichelleevans]

@@456swagger And what little secret would that be?

[@456swagger]

@@x15galmichelleevans Obviously the secret of Gen. Chuck Yeager's lack of piloting skill that is known only to you. I thank you for your service to your country. Were you Air Force or Navy?

[@x15galmichelleevans]

@@456swagger Air Force actually, for 8 years on missiles. As for Yeager, yes, contrary to popular opinion, he actually did mess up in flying on several occasions, including the NF-104 crash as well as almost crashing the X-1A. When I interviewed Scott Crossfield for my X-15 book, this is what he had to say about how Yeager handled flight testing: "He and I are pretty good friends, [but] we are a whole world of different purpose. I’m a designer and a builder, and he’s a flier. Yeager’s view was quite opposite of mine. I’m a test pilot to find out what we can do to improve an airplane, and he’s a pilot who finds out how we can conquer it. He will not admit that an airplane can have a characteristic you can’t handle. I care if I handle it all right, but I’m going to fix it. We are two completely different pilots."

[@dbeelee8564]

History is filled with misconceptions. For example, yeager is credited with being first to break the sound barrier in level flight. This is highly unlikely, based on the actual occurrances of the bell x-1. Yeager was the first military pilot to set the record. Tha usaf threatened bell with canceling the contract because bell was running so many test flights (60+ if memory serves). While the original elevator design (trailing edge only actuator) was hap-hazard, it's more likely a bell test pilot was first to set the record. But, since the usaf was buying the x-plane, they set the rules.... and the records. X-15, the reuseable craft to study space flight controls and create accurate space flight simulators, despite armstrong's attempt to make it a dyna-soar. On a personal note, the announcement of setting the record was released on the monday of christmas week. I can imagine my grandmother mentioning to her only son that maybe he should apply to this bell company, since he was to graduate that spring. Instead, my father took his m.i.t degree in aeronautics to alcoa for 4 years before going to work at bell. The (quiet) things done by the crew at bell. I have a bell group picture standing in front of an x plane. Seems krafft ericke was visiting his former boss dornburger. Pic has dad standing next to them. From rocket belts to the moon and back. Ssshhhhh !

[@richardgerlach5156]

Narrator sounds like Mike Wallace.

[@craigw1379]

This bad acting reminds me of Thunderbirds!

[@Keizerdraak]

I was a little bit unclear: I meant it was Yeager who changed the ballgame, by doing it for normal pay (btw, ask all their wives how they felt about being stuck in a desert, without any facilities at all (schools, tap water, etc.) and husbands literally dropping out of the sky like flies. Sure as hell are different times nowadays!)

[@724bigal]

If Chuck Yeager had flown the X-15, It would of gone way faster! Scott Cornfield Said “100’000$” is what it took to break the sound barrier! Chuck Yeager when offered a large sum of money to do so simply said “The Air force already pay’s me I’ll fly ur little plane is tomorrow to soon”? Spoken like a true american! Although Mr Yeager did get a bonus in form of a free Steak dinner and some cold ones on the house at flying club! all the while nursing a few broken ribs, which only 2 people new of!

[@jimmypk1353]

True American? Oh you mean SAM SHEPARD? Yeager probably would have crashed it, like he did the NF-104. May be if he hadn't skip the 'Stability & Control Course', he had a chance.

[@marchicago]

Lol Yeager couldn't have done anything with the X-15. It was too much plane for him, plus he didn't have the guts to fly a machine like the X-15. He likely would have crashed it - just like he (possibly intentionally) did with the NF-104. Yeager wasn't a trained research pilot - he was a military cowboy. And he would have augered in the x-15 or anything approaching it. It was far too much plane for a caveman like Yeager.

[@DaVeHiLl200]

This video have been cut, there was many onboard cameras and they all show FLAT EARTH.