|
|
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Pete Knight's Mach 6.7 X-15 flight
|
KenDavis
Member Posts: 187
From: W.Sussex United Kingdom
Registered: May 2003
|
posted 03-26-2010 06:20 PM
   
Pete Knight's entry in Wikipedia includes this statement referring to his flight in October 1967 when he flew the X-15 to mach 6.7; 'Knight holds the world's speed record for flight in a winged, powered aircraft'.Whilst I appreciate the distinction between the powered X-15 and the unpowered Shuttle, surely the Shuttle is powered during ascent, and so exceed mach 6.7 on the way up. Is Knights record officially recognised or is this a matter of debate? |
328KF
Member Posts: 1234
From:
Registered: Apr 2008
|
posted 03-26-2010 06:30 PM
I think the distinction here is that Knight piloted his aircraft to that speed, which is still today, an amazing feat. Space shuttle pilots take control once subsonic, although there is a story of Joe Engle doing some manuevers at high Mach during entry on STS-2.Going uphill and coming back down have all been done on autopilot on every other shuttle flight, as far as we know (classified DoD flights...who knows?). In terms of just speed through the air, I believe the crew of Apollo 10 holds the record coming back from the moon. | |
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a
|
|
|
 advertisement
|
