Fastest Experimental Aircraft - There were countless planes that could fly faster than sound. Some have reached double, some even triple the speed of sound. But there is one rocket plane that rules them all. In the year Introduced in 1959, the aircraft flew so high that it gave pilots space status. It reached an altitude of more than 100 km, a speed of more than mach 6 (!) and collected extremely important data for future air and space vehicles. It was a flying rocket. It was the North American X-15.

The North American X-15 was - as you can see - legendary at the time of its introduction. There were only three prototypes and together they made 199 flights, but only 13 met the Air Force requirements for space flight (altitude of 80 kilometers and above). 8 different pilots have reached this height and reached the rank of astronaut, which earns pilots from the astronaut wings of the USAF Air Force. The purpose of building the X-15 was to collect valuable information for use in later aircraft designs. 7,274 kilometers per hour Holds a speed record.

Fastest Experimental Aircraft

Fastest Experimental Aircraft

A typical flight began when the X-15 was carried to an altitude of 9 miles under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress, known as the "mothership" (was this Virgin Galactic's idea?). It then dropped to a speed of 805 km/h. He then launched his rocket engine made by Reaction Engines and reached the edge of space at an amazing speed. To remain stable, a thick wedge tail is used, as it provides greater stability at hypersonic speeds. The downside to this design, however, is that it creates a lot of drag at low speeds. When the plane landed, he lowered his skis and released a parachute from the underside of the fin.

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In fact, the flat end on the back of the X-15 can produce as much drag as the F-104 Starfighter. Behavior without air resistance

The Aste X-15 used rocket thrusters to propel itself when there was no air at high altitude and no drag. Pilots can choose between two control configurations: one joystick or three. Although the three-stick arrangement was difficult to handle, it gave the pilot more control over the aircraft. For example, one joystick was for traditional control (using resistance) and the other for using rocket thrusters. When using only one cockpit, the onboard computer used both systems simultaneously. There were also some good features about the ship. For example, there were controls to jettison the entertainment on the tailgate by heating the windows to prevent icing on the windows. There was also a forward headrest when the plane crashed.

The engine used is Reaction Motors Inc XLR99 and produces 2502 kN. To achieve these high pressures, ammonia and liquid oxygen are burned. He also used hydrogen peroxide, which pushed the movers towards the engine. The engine had amazing fuel economy. It can burn up to 6.8 tons of propellant in 80 seconds.

Between 1959 and 1968 he set several records. Some of them are listed here.

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All these records, the high speed and the importance of the data collected made the North American X-15 a legend. One of the pilots flying at 4,000 mph was Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon. As it turns out, X-15 was a record breaker and he did what no one thought he could. Without it, spaceflight to the moon in 1962 would likely have been delayed. This is the story of the X-15 - a flying missile. The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-propelled aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-Plane series of test aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of space and providing valuable information used in aircraft and spacecraft design. X-15 top speed, 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h; 2,021 m/s);

Willem J. Knight was flying at Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 102, 100 feet (31, 120 m), or 19.34 miles. This manned and powered aircraft set the official world record for the fastest speed ever recorded, which remains unbroken.

Of these, 8 pilots qualified as astronauts, flying 13 flights higher than 50 miles (80 km) and meeting Air Force spaceflight requirements. Two of those 13 flights (flown by the same civilian pilot) met the FAI definition of space (100 kilometers (62 mi)). 5 Air Force pilots immediately qualified for military astronaut wings and 3 civilian pilots were awarded NASA astronaut wings in 2015. in 2005, 35 years after the last X-15 flight.

Fastest Experimental Aircraft

The X-15 is based on a conceptual study by Walter Dornberger for the National Advisory Committee for Hypersonic Research Aircraft (NACA).

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Requests for Proposals (RFPs) were published on December 30, 1954 for the airfield and on February 4, 1955 for missile construction. The X-15 was built by two manufacturers: North American Aviation was awarded the contract for the aircraft in November 1955, and Reaction Motors was awarded the contract to build the Genies in 1956.

Like many X-series aircraft, the X-15 was designed to take off and land under the wing of the B-52 mothership. Air Force NB-52A, "The High and Mighty" (Serial 52-0003) and NB-52B, "The Challenger" (Serial 52-0008, aka Balls 8) served as transport aircraft for all X-15 flights. The X-15 was released from NB-52A at an altitude of 8.5 miles (13.7 km) and a speed of approximately 500 miles per hour (805 km).

The fuselage of the X-15 was long and cylindrical, with a wide aft fairing and thick dorsal and ventral wedge fin stabilizers. Hull parts (outer skin

Retractable landing gear consists of a rotating nose carriage and two rear skids. The gliders failed to come off the vtral fin, forcing the pilot to land on the lower fin shortly before landing. Lower wing recovered by parachute.

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The X-15 was the result of development research and changes were made to various systems during the program and between models. The X-15 operates under several scarrios, including attachment to the launch aircraft, drop, launch, and main thrust acceleration, ballistic flight in thin air/space, reentry in thick air, glide to no-force landing, and direct landing. Main start. Although the main rocket motor only operated for a relatively short segment of flight, it propelled the X-15 to its maximum speed and altitude. With no main thrust, the X-15's instruments and control surfaces remained functional, but the aircraft was unable to maintain altitude.

The X-15 also had a reaction control system (RCS) that used rocket thrusters, as it had to be piloted in a virion that lacked air for aerodynamic control surfaces.

The X-15 model retained the traditional cter stick on the left 3-axis joystick with multiple aircraft joysticks.

Fastest Experimental Aircraft

In addition to pilot input, the X-15's "Stability Augmentation System" (SAS) provides input to the aerodynamic controls to help the pilot maintain attitude control.

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Auto mode uses a feature called "Reaction Augmentation System" (RAS) to help stabilize the vehicle at higher altitudes.

The optional control configuration utilized the MH-96 flight control system, allowing for a three-position joystick and simplified pilot input.

The MH-96 could automatically disable aerodynamic and missile controls depending on how effective each system was at controlling the aircraft.

Among the many controls are the rocket motor throttle and the vtral tail wing drop control.

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Other features of the hatch include heated windows to prevent ice build-up and a forward headrest for periods of heavy deceleration.

The X-15 had an ejection seat designed to operate at speeds up to Mach 4 (4,500 mph; 2,800 km/h) and/or an altitude of 120,000 feet (37 km), although it was not used during the program .

During ascent the seat is set to deploy wings which are used until a safe speed/altitude is reached to deploy the main parachute.

Fastest Experimental Aircraft

Above 35,000 feet (11 km) altitude, the cockpit is pressurized to 3.5 psi (24 kPa; 0.24 atm) with nitrogen gas, while oxygen for breathing is supplied separately to the pilot.

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The first 24 powered flights used two Reaction Motors XLR11 liquid propellant rockets to provide 16,000 pounds of thrust (71 kN), compared to 6,000 pounds of thrust (27 kN) in the single XLR11. In 1947, the Bell X-1 was introduced, the first aircraft to fly above the speed of sound. XLR11 used ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen.

In November 1960, Reaction Motors introduced the XLR99 rocket, which delivered 57,000 lb-ft (250 kN) of thrust. from

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