For the Plane-lopnik Crowd

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo) 11/12/2014 at 15:45 • Filed to: X-15, Rockets!, Planelopnik, America Fuck Yeah!

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From PopSci.com

Meet Joe Engle, A Pilot Who Flew A Rocket Plane Into Space

Conceived in the early 1950s when airplanes were barely breaking Mach 2 or twice the speed of sound, the X-15 was a research aircraft designed to gather data on instability at speed up to Mach 7 and altitudes up to 50 miles. The first production aircraft rolled out of North American Aviation's hangar in Los Angeles on October 15, 1958, and it looked every bit at space-aged as its high speed and high altitude flight profile suggested.

The X-15 really looks more like a missile than an aircraft. And really, it is sort of a missile with room for a pilot. It was even air launched from under the wing of a B-52 bomber like a missile. Fifty feet long, 13 feet high, and a wingspan measuring just 22 feet across, the bulk of the X-15's fuselage was dedicated to anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen tanks and the plumbing needed to force both liquids into the powerful rear mounted XLR-99 rocket engine (though earlier flights used smaller, ethyl alcohol fueled XLR-11 engines).

Only the slight bump behind the nose with a narrow window indicated that a pilot was meant to sit inside.

But there's one other piece of the X-15 that makes it a fascinating vehicle. Because it was designed to fly where the atmosphere is too thin for traditional flight controls — ailerons, elevators, and rudders — to bite into, the X-15 also had reaction controls. After burning his rocket engine on a steep climb to reach peak altitudes, small hydrogen peroxide jets gave the pilot a way to control his orientation in the nearly atmosphere-less environment.

Rock Bottom > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 15:49

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I love that they carried these things all the way up to Dugway before aiming them South-West and lighting the fuse. A few minutes later they were on the ground at Edwards, smoking a cigarette, being awesome.

ttyymmnn > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 15:55

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ttyymmnn > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 15:56

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What it looks like after flying Mach 6+

Chris Clarke > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 16:00

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ACESandEIGHTS > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 16:03

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When I was a kid I loved seeing this joint at the A&S museum, knowing it was the fastest plane ever made. Even had a model of this thing.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Chris Clarke 11/12/2014 at 16:03

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Expand

right-click; save image as: Awesome!.jpg

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > ACESandEIGHTS 11/12/2014 at 16:06

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Once a month I get to breathe on one of these at the NMUSAF R&D Gallery.

It's so freaking cool.

DoYouEvenShift > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 16:06

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Love me some X15s.

Joe Engle also flew Space Shuttle Columbia manually through reentry to test out the control surfaces on STS-2. The only time that was done.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 11/12/2014 at 16:10

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thats the worst title frame ever, it look like an albino deer taking a really tarry dump.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 11/12/2014 at 16:17

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It really is. When I saw the thumbnail, I clicked it just to figure out what the hell it was. It looks like some sort of claw protruding from somebody's stomach. Interesting video, though.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 16:30

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Much Speed, Very Accelleration.

The Transporter > DoYouEvenShift 11/12/2014 at 16:44

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Like a test pilot!

user314 > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 16:48

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North American (who manufactured both airplanes) had (on paper at least) plans for launching a modified X-15 off the back of a XB-70.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > user314 11/12/2014 at 16:56

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LOL

Wut?

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > ttyymmnn 11/12/2014 at 17:10

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I always admire the optimism of people who think someday we'll just hope on a Mach 10 jet and see Sydney by early afternoon

user314 > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 17:11

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If launching from a B-52 is good, doing it from a B-70 at Mach 3 must be better, right?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > user314 11/12/2014 at 17:12

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Well, Duh!

Obviously.

ttyymmnn > Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius 11/12/2014 at 17:14

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I've always thought it was sad that some of the greatest technical innovations were developed in the effort to find more efficient ways to kill people. Had we spent the billions on such a project instead of another fighter, we'd probably be there by now.

user314 > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/12/2014 at 20:23

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Because it's still awesome, An American Adventure: The Rocket Pilots

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 11/13/2014 at 13:22

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Great article, thanks for sharing. My favorite bit:

He only went Mach 4 and reached a peak altitude of just 77,800 feet.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 11/13/2014 at 13:41

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"Minor repairable damage." That made me snicker since that quote came right after you watch it break in half on landing. Is this the one that they lengthened when they rebuilt it?

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 11/13/2014 at 14:08

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No idea, but it looked like a write-off to me. Of course, when you're making a propaganda film, you don't really want to admit that the pilot broke the plane.