Milton O. Thompson - At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program
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In At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, the book profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for the program. Thompson has translated a highly technical subject into readable accounts of each pilots participation, including many heroic and humorous anecdotes and highlighting the pilots careers after the program ended in 1968.
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1992 by the Smithsonian Institution All rights reserved
Editor: Martha J. King Designer: Janice Wheeler
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thompson, Milton O. At the edge of space : the X-15 flight program / Milton O. Thompson p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-56098-107-5 (alk. paper) 1. X-15 (Rocket aircraft). 2. AirplanesCaliforniaEdwards Air Force Base Flight testingHistory. I. Title. TL789.8.U6X578 1992 629.134'53'0973dc20 91-23701
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available
Manufactured in the United States of America
99 5 4
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984
The photographs appearing in this book are National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Air Force photographs from the archives of the Dryden Flight Research Facility and Air Force Flight Test Center. The Smithsonian Institution Press does not retain reproduction rights for these illustrations individually, or maintain a file of addresses for photo sources.
Publisher's note: The descriptions of otherwise undocumented personal incidents and the recollections of episodes and persons are entirely the author's. Every effort has been made to verify details and ensure correctness; inaccuracy, if it occurs, is regretted.
Page v
Dedicated to my wife Therese, who courageously supported my participation in this program. Take care of her, God.
Page vii
CONTENTS
Foreword
ix
Acknowledgments
xiii
Introduction: The Men
1
Flight 3-65-97
27
Part 1 The Ingredients
Chapter 1 The Machine
33
Chapter 2 The Operation
49
Part 2 The Program
Chapter 3 Program Phases
83
Chapter 4 Demonstration Phase (19591962)
91
Chapter 5 In the Contrails of Giants (19621964)
109
Chapter 6 Trial by Fire and Water (19641968)
173
Chapter 7 Results and Unanticipated Problems
207
Part 3 Triumph and Tragedy
Chapter 8 Toward Mach 7The X-15A-2
227
Chapter 9 Sometimes the Bull Wins
247
Chapter 10 The End
265
Page viii
Author's Note
279
Appendix 1 Flight Logs
281
Appendix 2 Pilot Statistics
359
Appendix 3 Aircraft Availability
365
Appendix 4 Typical X-15 Flight Plan
367
Index
371
Photographs appear following pages 48 and 112.
Page ix
FOREWORD
From time to time in the world of flight, a flying machine is produced that has no commercial or military purpose. The 1903 Wright Flyer was such a machine. Indeed, many of the early flying machines were crafted just to investigate an idea or prove a concept. In an airplane, the proof is in the flying. Craft built to demonstrate a concept, or to pave the way for a commercial or military derivative, were termed "experimental." In some countries, experimental airplanes were so licensed and prohibited from commercial activity.
World War II provided an enormous impetus for rapid aircraft development. Bombers needed more speed to reduce their chances of being shot down by enemy interceptors. Fighters needed more power to improve rate of climb and speed to permit them to intercept enemy bombers. Pilots of these new faster fighters soon noticed that their steeds sometimes became cantankerous in steep dives. At maximum speed, the aircraft buffeted and controls became sluggish and ineffective. These compressibility effects were believed to be the cause of a number of catastrophic accidents. When jet-powered fighters entered the scene late in the war, they could fly fast enough in level flight to encounter such difficulties and it became imperative to understand these and other phenomena associated with high-speed flight.
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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984