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The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft.
The North American X-15's Flight 188 on October 3, 1967, was a record-setting flight. William J. Knight took the X-15A-2 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft to 102,100 feet (31,100 meters) over Mud Lake, Nevada when Flight 188 reached a record-setting top speed of 4,520 mph (7,270 km/h), Mach 6.70.
Twelve pilots flew the X-15 over the course of its career. Scott Crossfield and William Dana flew the X-15 on its first and last free flights, respectively. Joseph Walker set the program's top two altitude records on its 90th and 91st free flights (347,800 and 354,200 feet, respectively), becoming the only pilot to fly past the Kármán line, the 100 kilometer, FAI-recognized boundary of outer ...
X-15: North American USAF, NASA 1959 Hypersonic, high-altitude flight First crewed hypersonic aircraft; capable of suborbital spaceflight. [25] X-15A-2: North American USAF, NASA 1964 Hypersonic, high-altitude flight Major Pete Knight flew the X-15A-2 to a Mach 6.70, making it the fastest piloted flight of the X-plane program. X-16: Bell USAF 1954
North American X-10 – Unmanned missile technology demonstrator; Convair X-11 – Single engine missile testbed for Atlas; Convair X-12 – Three engine missile testbed for Atlas; Ryan X-13 Vertijet – Tail sitter VTOL jet; Bell X-14 – Thrust vectoring VTOL jet; North American X-15 – Hypersonic rocket-powered research aircraft (Mach 6 ...
A number of standard production F-104 Starfighters were obtained (including F-104D two-seat versions) [3] and used by the ARPS to simulate the low lift/high drag glide approach path profiles of the X-15 and the projected X-20 Dyna-Soar program. These maneuvers were commenced at 12,000 ft (3,700 m) where the F-104 engine was throttled back to 80 ...
X-15 Flight 91 was an August 22, 1963 American crewed sub-orbital spaceflight, and the second and final flight in the program to fly above the Kármán line, which was previously achieved during Flight 90 a month earlier by the same pilot, Joseph A. Walker. It was the highest flight of the X-15 program.
Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (Capt, USAF) was an American World War II pilot, experimental physicist, NASA test pilot, and astronaut who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA.