X-15 Rocket Plane | The World's Fastest Airplane | NASA Documentary | 1962

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The North American X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. As of 2015, the X-15 holds the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned, powered aircraft. Its maximum speed was 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h), or Mach 6.72. Twelve test pilots flew the X-15. Among these were Neil Armstrong, later a NASA astronaut and first man to set foot on the Moon.
During the X-15 program, 13 flights by eight pilots met the Air Force spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of 50 miles (80 km), thus qualifying the pilots for astronaut status. The Air Force pilots qualified for astronaut wings immediately, while the civilian pilots were awarded NASA astronaut wings in 2005, 35 years after the last X-15 flight. The sole Navy pilot in the X-15 program never took the aircraft above the requisite 50 mile altitude.
Of all the X-15 missions, two flights (by the same pilot) qualified as space flights per the international (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) definition of a spaceflight by exceeding 100 kilometers (62.1 mi) in altitude.
A 200th flight over Nevada was first scheduled to be flown for 21 November 1968. Numerous technical problems and outbreaks of bad weather delayed this proposed flight six times, and it was permanently canceled on 20 December 1968. The aircraft was later donated to the museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for display.
Development:
The X-15 was based on a concept study from Walter Dornberger for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for a hypersonic research aircraft. The requests for proposal were published on 30 December 1954 for the airframe and on 4 February 1955 for the rocket engine. The X-15 was built by two manufacturers: North American Aviation was contracted for the airframe in November 1955, and Reaction Motors was contracted for building the engines in 1956.
Like many X-series aircraft, the X-15 was designed to be carried aloft and drop launched from under the wing of a NASA B-52mother ship, the Balls 8. Release took place at an altitude of about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) and a speed of about 500 miles per hour (805 km/h).The X-15 fuselage was long and cylindrical, with rear fairings that flattened its appearance, and thick, dorsal and ventral wedge-fin stabilizers. Parts of the fuselage were heat-resistant nickel alloy (Inconel-X 750). The retractable landing gear comprised a nose-wheel carriage and two rear skids. The skids did not extend beyond the ventral fin, which required the pilot to jettison the lower fin (fitted with a parachute) just before landing.
Engines and fuel:
Early flights used two Reaction Motors XLR11 engines. Later flights were undertaken with a single Reaction Motors Inc XLR99 rocket engine generating 57,000 pounds-force (250 kN) of thrust. The XLR99 engine used anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen as propellant, and hydrogen peroxide to drive the high-speed turbopump that delivered fuel to the engine. It could burn 15,000 pounds (6,804 kg) of fuel in 80 seconds. The XLR99s could be throttled, and were the first such controllable engines that were man-rated.
The XLR11 used ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen, and the XLR99 used anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen as fuel. The X-15 reaction control system (RCS), for maneuvering in low-pressure/density environment, used hydrogen peroxide as a monopropellant. More specifically, it was high-test peroxide (HTP), which decomposes into water and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst, and could provide a specific impulse of 140 seconds. The HTP also fueled a turbopump for the main engines and auxiliary power units (APUs). Additional tanks for helium and liquid nitrogen performed other functions, for example the fuselage interior was purged with helium gas, and the liquid nitrogen was used as coolant for various systems.
Wedge tail and hypersonic stability:
The X-15 had a thick wedge tail for stability at hypersonic speeds. However, this produced a significant amount of drag at lower speeds. In fact, the blunt end at the rear of the X-15 could produce as much drag as an entire F-104 Starfighter. Stability at hypersonic speeds was aided by side panels that could extend out from the tail to increase area, and the panels doubled as air-brakes.
X-15 Rocket Plane | The World's Fastest Airplane | NASA Documentary | 1962

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[@hvrtguys]

I was born in 1960. My lunch box when I was in first grade was a stamped steel box with the X15 printed on both sides. So Cool.

[@emperorhaya5351]

everyone wanted that

[@planegaper]

it actually made sandwiches taste better, because your mom put anhidrous ammonia and lox on them..

[@TheLocoUnion]

Wow that thing would be worth a lot of money today!!!

[@paulrivers7248]

That box now if you still had it is worth quiet a bit too lol

[@ladybugpinkpiglet2241]

Best winged aircraft ever

[@kevincarter4902]

I absolutely love that these videos are on KZbin, as a kid back in the '70s you'd be lucky to catch these programs on TV.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yea, sometimes NASA would send copies to schools all over America and you'd get to see it in a science class one day, I can still hear the projector running at the back of the room. That was back in the day when the first thing everyone would do when a teacher would hand out tests is smell the ditto paper, just like at the beginning of Fast Times At Ridgemont High, I laugh every time I watch it knowing that people just a few years younger than me don't get that visual gag in the movie when Mr Hand is passing out work assignments or whatever they were, every time I watch that movie with younger people they always ask what that's about when all the kid's are sniffing the paper.

[@StardustYT]

Putting a watermark on a public domain video...

[@alienrefugee51]

The X-15 and SR-71 are my two favorite aircraft and the most beautiful too. Kinda of interesting that this was shortly after WW2, when the US brought over those German rocket scientists with Operation: Paperclip.

[@rsoul7282]

This is incredible, the men involved are just amazing, thank you so much for this. We are fortunate to inherit their legacy.

[@pressstart1490]

The first half second of the start sounded like the initial song of every Among us Match xD

[@genesclean1]

Lived in Rockaway , NJ remember Reaction Motors on Green Pond Road Building the rocket engine tests shook our house miles away

[@WorldBFree-lw6wo]

Thank you SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS! This HEROIC AIRCRAFT was the beginning of my fascination with anything that could fly! Thank you again!

[@otravez3916]

Most interesting. Thanks for posting.

[@PANTHERGAMING_]

So keen of learning and research. Best era ! Now everyone is keen about next smartphone 😂

[@shawkatalikhannidchnidchkh7625]

ঊইগপষ

[@shawkatalikhannidchnidchkh7625]

গরতল

[@shawkatalikhannidchnidchkh7625]

Cgfkhb

[@jvolstad]

Love the patch panel on the computer.

[@michaelclentworth1283]

The legacy of the X-15 lives on in SpaceShipTwo.

[@loganfoxley2209]

2:20 yes

[@eddiecongdon8017]

Back when test pilots were truly test pilots

[@planegaper]

The guy in the chase plane when the x 15 drops is like, "I don't even know why I bother anymore"

[@AbhishekKumar-de1cg]

Amazing...Are you the first to share this documentary in KZbin ?

[@leeroger1471]

this aircraft was flying 4500 miles per hour in 67 now that was top secret for sure

[@nelsonclub7722]

People moaning about the fact it has a rocket so technically cannot be an aircraft should look up the definition of an aircraft

[@synergy021]

Loved it. Now I want to see where they are today. All I hear about is the private space race but what is the military aeronautical capabilities these days?

[@methyod]

it's a secret :D

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[@LaughingLion4Ever]

Who is the narrator of this? Sounds like Rod Serling or Jack Webb.

[@LaughingLion4Ever]

Found out it was Bob Marcato,

[@pressstart1490]

3:20 Is landing in Area 51!?

[@SheikEdu33]

Califórnia ( Mojave desert)

[@pressstart1490]

@@SheikEdu33 Oh thanks. Sounded realistic for lol

[@paulrivers7248]

Just imagine what they hv now but is kept extremely secret..

[@dukecraig2402]

This was never secret, so why would something that serves the same function be secret now? If they had something like this but newer and faster they'd show it off to the public for the same reason they showed this off, so the American tax payer could see where their money is going and be ooh'd and aah'd by it.

[@jvolstad]

They had to interrupt the film for a signature?

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[@mevineven869]

Perhaps its not a plane rather than a roket design with landing gears wings ect and it cant take off only from above lanching it at high altitude test

[@Dragonblaster1]

Alas, this documentary was made before the fatal accident of Mike Adams, which effectively put paid to the X-15 programme.

[@planegaper]

Yes, just month or so after Bill Knight almost destroyed the A2 doing the speed run, they must have really been pushing the envelope by 67, with the thing.. congress was on their backs about funding, and a reason for the program to proceed as it already exceeded all it's design goals.. Bill Made it from Wendover Utah to Edwards, 475 miles, on the ground in under ten min.. claimed the G's rose steadily and topped out at over 7 as he levelled out at 100,00 or so feet, that's forward acceleration.. that's a plane that get's ahead of you pretty quick.. The sim they used to train on was revolutionary, plus the ship had numerous other innovations that nobody did before, reaction control system, throttle on rocket, (even though the throttle went from stupid, to really fucking stupid), re light on rocket, inconnel x, few other goodies we are still using today.. amazing ship..

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[@orange70383]

At 24:26 seems like they are stretching the truth a bit.

[@Crlarl]

Joe Walker took flights 90 and 91 to over 100 km.

[@suissdagout5153]

Air force 17

[@suissdagout5153]

Air force 015

[@suissdagout5153]

Air force 20

[@suissdagout5153]

Air force one

[@SargeanttheVR]

Wikipedia confirms it all🥰

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 70

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 90

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 45

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 15

[@user-gu1hl2kx2k]

16:07 joe walker is responsible for the lost of the xb-70

[@racer774]

+a -- Joe Walker was doing something he had little experience in doing (according to Chuck Yeager) but he was also doing it because his superior officers instructed him to do it. -- I read essentially the same information as posted below from Wiki, in a few different publications -- Walker was killed on 8 June 1966, when his F-104 Starfighter chase aircraft collided with a North American XB-70 Valkyrie.[3] At an altitude of about 25,000 ft (7.6 km) Walker's Starfighter was one of five aircraft in a tight group formation for a General Electric publicity photo when his F-104 drifted into contact with the XB-70's right wingtip. It flipped over, and rolling inverted, passed over the top of the XB-70, struck the vertical stabilizers and left wing and exploded, destroying the Valkyrie's rudders and damaging its left wing. The USAF summary report of the accident investigation stated that, given the position of the F-104 relative to the XB-70, the F-104 pilot would not have been able to see the XB-70's wing, except by uncomfortably looking back over his left shoulder. The report stated that Walker, piloting the F-104, likely maintained his position by looking at the fuselage of the XB-70, forward of his position. The F-104 was estimated to be 70 ft (20 m) to the side of, and 10 ft (3 m) below, the fuselage of the XB-70. The report concluded that from that position, without appropriate sight cues, Walker was unable to properly perceive his motion relative to the Valkyrie, leading to his aircraft drifting into contact with the XB-70's wing. The accident investigation also pointed to the wake vortex off the XB-70's right wingtip as the reason for the F-104's sudden roll over and into the bomber. A sixth plane in the incident was a civilian Learjet 23 that held the photographer. Because the formation flight and photo were unauthorized, the careers of several Air Force colonels ended as a result of this aviation accident.

[@danburns3097]

+a I think its a stretch to blame Joe Walker alone for the XB-70 crash. Walker was a hugely experienced pilot and astronaut. Per the Wiki entry posted by Racer, "The accident investigation also pointed to the wake vortex off the XB-70's right wingtip as the reason for the F-104's sudden roll over and into the bomber. "After that it was all over; it was an unrecoverable event. I'm inclined to think that Walker did not screw up, but it was just a bad circumstance.

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 69

[@criminalnchief5989]

Highest and fastest winged aircraft. Screw the SR 71

[@dukecraig2402]

And you could possibly get astronaut wings flying it. They remain to this day the only non astronauts to be awarded the wings.

[@criminalnchief5989]

@@dukecraig2402 Joseph Walker flying the X 15 over 50 miles up got 3 or 4 Astronaut wings

[@dukecraig2402]

@@criminalnchief5989 Yea there's a few of them that got astronaut wings, curiously Armstrong had to wait to get his. One of the X15 pilots who went on to fly the Shuttle including one of the non powered flights that took off piggybacked from the special 747 already had his wings from flying the X15 before the Shuttle even had a finalized design. Speaking of the piggyback 747, when I was in basic training in what would have been late 83/early 84 at Ft Bliss Tx one of the instructors interrupted a class we were having and had everyone go outside and fall into ranks, then had us do an about face and said "At ease!!! Gentlemen, keep looking straight ahead". At Ft Bliss Tx we had training up on what was called The Hill, it was a part of Ft Bliss property that was on the side of a mountain that overlooked El Paso and the nearby Marine Corps air base, after a couple minutes from our left here came that 747 with one of the Shuttle's on it's back that set down on one of the runways at that air base, this was back in the day before they had a landing strip for the Shuttle set up at the Cape in Florida and they were still landing them at Edward's then transporting them back to Florida on that special 747, it didn't have the range to make it all the way to Florida on one tank and that airstrip at El Paso was one of the places in that part of the country they used to refuel it on it's trip. What an impressive sight that was watching that monster 747 with that monster Space Shuttle on it's back come in for a landing, and the view we had being higher up looking down on them, that was something I'll never forget.

[@papalegba6796]

Fake. Transonic effects shown at alleged hypersonic speeds.

[@dukecraig2402]

Fake intelligence coming from another KZbin aeronautical engineer.

[@papalegba6796]

You won't get transonic effects like vapour cones at hypersonic speeds, that's just a fact. Sorry you don't understand aerodynamics 😂

[@papalegba6796]

@@dukecraig2402 your utter hatred for aerodynamics is noted 😂

[@dukecraig2402]

@@papalegba6796 Your trollness has been noted.

[@papalegba6796]

@@dukecraig2402 every aeronautical engineer knows vapour cones are a transonic effect, why don't you? 😂

[@suissdagout5153]

Aviation 19