The X-15
 

The X-15 has always been my favourite aircraft!

The development budget was huge but considering were we are today, money well spent IMO.

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Cool video- thanks for posting it. I liked that plane when I was a kid. There's a full size mockup of one at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR. I thought it was a real one when I was there.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-KMvL29x-O.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-WHPqWhV-O.jpg

What I found most interesting is the fuelling and power systems.

According to the video two survived the program.
- Are there any reals ones left or have they been scrapped?

One is at the Smithsonian, the other at the US Air Force Museum.

The ablative coatings for the speed runs always tripped me out.

I can remember the flights taking place way back when and following the results as a kid. I never considered it an airplane so much as a rocket engine with wings that you could land when you ran out of fuel. A real airplane can take off on its own, as well as land too.

And you would be correct. The X-15 could fly without its wings. Same with the F16, I am told. Thrust is greater than its weight.

One of the X15 pilots said it was the only plane that he was glad when the engine quit.

Oh yeah, I've still got a little book from when I was in the 1st grade called "Airplanes and Helicopters". It starts out with the first flying machines and progresses through to the current aircraft. The last flying machine in the book is the X-15 and I always thought that it was a super cool machine!!!

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Milt Thompson

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/Speeches/x-15_speech/x15-3spch.html

Go to Tucson and see the B-52 that carried the X-15 aloft...
https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/boeing-b-52a/

It’s not unusual for a fighter plane to have more thrust than weight. Saying that they can fly without their wings sort of misses the point. They can’t.

There are lots of very good books out there on the experimental planes that were developed in the 50s and 60s.

The X15 was the only aircraft I flew where I was glad the engine quit. - Milt Thompson.

I love that quote. I stole it from Flipper35.

There were a few aircraft built without wings that had less than a 1:1 ratio as well.

In theory those fighters could accelerate vertically, but in practice they really can't. They still have impressive time to climb though.

The F-15 can fly without one wing for sure though according to the IAF.

My favorite is airframe #3.
I have N.A.A. (North American Aviation) pictures from an early in my career that were recovered @ Rockwell Downey about airframe 66673.

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/north-american-x-15/nasm_A19690360000

WOW... Great photos. Thanks!

Mach 6+ does some serious heating when the shock waves converge in the wrong place.

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Good German designed, Merican rocket plane....

All but 15 inches of one wing at least.

The F15 has accelerated through the sound barrier vertically I believe. And I have seen f 16s rotate and climb straight up accelerating the whole way according to their radar track, so I would say at least a few can accelerate vertically.

Fitted for an airshow, yes. Normal fitment would be an issue. They have more thrust than weight, but a lot of drag.

just like a Porsche doesn't do the factory advertised 0-60 with your family, luggage and a full tank of gas. But it sure as hell can do it.

The F15, the F16 and the F22 have the best climb rates. Whether or not they can accelerate vertically is another matter. Maybe yes, briefly, but it’s not like you think. Your thrust is not only fighting the weight, it’s fighting the drag. And the drag goes up with speed and the thrust goes down with altitude and it gets pretty complicated, pretty quickly. Time to climb records aren’t set by climbing at 90° anyway.

This is the F15 they used to set the World records:

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/f15-streak-eagle-flight-records/