posted 10-01-2023 10:39 AM               

Space Cover 721: My Favorite X-15 covers

Above is a cover for Mike Adams' seventh and fatal X-15 flight, along with a card with his autograph

As we well-know, there were twelve Apollo moonwalkers and also twelve X-15 pilots. Assembling a set of signed items by all 12 moonwalkers is very possible and not overly expensive. But putting together a set of signed items (flight covers or portrait photos) by the 12 X-15 pilots is a different story.

After many years I was able to acquire signed X-15 flight covers by 11 of the 12, and was happy to acquire an excellent Mike Adams autograph on a card to complete the set.

So my three favorite X-15 covers include a cover for Adams's fatal flight; a cover signed by Neil Armstrong for his 2nd flight; and a cover signed by Jack McKay for his 4th flight.

Why are these three covers my favorites? The scarce Adams fatal flight cover is one of the best X-15 covers I've seen; Armstrong signed covers for his X-15 flights are quite desirable and very scarce; as are Jack McKay signed flight covers.

At the top is a Neil Armstrong signed X-15 flight cover and below is one by Jack McKay.

Those interested in putting together a set of signed items by the 12 X-15 pilots shouldn't have too much trouble finding signed material by about 8 of the 12 X-15 pilots, but will have great difficulty finding autograph material especially by Adams, Armstrong, McKay and Joe Walker. And forgeries of these autographs are a problem (For example, years ago I bought a Walker signed X-15 cover that was later determined to be a forgery).

While my X-15 collection is very modest, I have always had a great interest and fascination with the X-15 rocket plane program. One of the best books on the X-15 is by Milt Thompson entitled: "At the Edge of Space/The X-15 Flight Program". And for those interested in all the X-planes, Jay Miller's "The X-Planes" is a must.

There are a number of X-15 collectors who have assembled superb X-15 collections who certainly would have some of their favorite X-15 covers to show here.

posted 10-01-2023 01:09 PM               

Back in 1988-89, I had several conversations with Milt Thompson about the M2-F1 lifting body. During one call, he said that if I was interested in X-15, there was going to be an X-15 reunion at Dryden on June 8, 1989, the 30th anniversary of the X-15's first free flight! Needless to say I was interested! And Milt got me into the reunion.

My wife, being a graphic artist, scavenged an image of the old Boy Scout X-15 cachet and put it on a couple of oversized high-rag-content envelopes along with some wording about the reunion. I dressed them up with appropriate stamps and took them to the reunion with me. The clerk at the Edwards PO looked at my envelopes, said "you should probably cancel them yourself," then handed me the hand cancel and a pad of paper for me to practice on. Lucky she did that – she still had the June 7 date in the hub!

She fixed the date, I practiced more, and finally cancelled my two covers to take to the reunion. So below, please see my no. 1 cover that I took around the reunion for autographs (the no. 2 cover without autographs got traded away decades ago):

Autographs are:

• Left side – Forrest S. Peterson (X-15 pilot).

• Under the cachet – Scott Crossfield (X-15 pilot).

• Center column (top to bottom) – Joe Engle (X-15 pilot), H.A. Storms Jr. (X-15 project manager at North American), Vicky Stephens (X-15 Project Office secretary), William J. Knight (X-15 pilot), Robert Rushworth (X-15 pilot), Robert White (X-15 pilot), and Milt Thompson (X-15 pilot).

• Under the stamps (top to bottom) – Fitz Fulton (B-52 mother plane pilot), Walter Williams (NACA/NASA Edwards center director during X-15 development), Bill Dana (X-15 pilot), Don Borchers (X-15 crew chief), and Paul Bikle (NASA Edwards center director during the X-15 flight phase).

posted 10-01-2023 01:53 PM               

My earlier X-15 signed collection with all pilot signed covers and photos (except Adams which I only had on an official photo) was acquired by Leon Ford after I was downsizing some collections at the time. Leon, God rest his sole, was a big X-15 enthusiast and dear friend, and expressed a great interest in some earlier acquisitions of mine. I still have a few for myself, including Armstrong's first X-15 flight, of which, Leon got my other signed Armstrong rocket plane cover.

posted 10-05-2023 06:40 PM               

So that's three different signed X-15 covers piloted by Armstrong of his seven research flights from 1960-62 altogether seen here (including Bob's second flight by the later Gemini and Apollo astronaut commander). As with Bob's signed cover above, both of mine came from the collection of early space autograph cover collector Dr. E. V. Smith. Does anyone know if all seven of Neil's X-15 different flight covers were signed by him? I think Tom Steiner has one more that I recall seeing earlier.

Mostly as an aerospace manuscript, autograph, and space cover collector, note the above hand-written pages by "The First Man" that had been acquired from the Neil Armstrong Family Collection by Heritage Auctions in Texas. If I recall while monitoring the auctions, these pages along with a few other paper memorabilia, were the only Armstrong-related X-15 lot offers. I was thrilled to acquire all/most of them when Armstrong had penned these sentences in green ink while training in an X-15 flight simulator. The notes contain some interesting remarks and observations during those simulations in which he had kept in his home for so many decades.

posted 10-07-2023 08:13 AM               

Forrest Peterson's first flight, September 23, 1960, Ellington-Zwisler #91, 1 of 3 known.

Pete Knight's Mach 6.33 (then) record speed run, November 18, 1966, Ellington-Zwisler #97, 1 of 2 known. SteveDD841 has the other one.

posted 10-07-2023 10:31 AM               

I'm posting three Neil Armstrong signed X-15 flight covers as an answer to Ken's question about other signed Armstrong X-15 signed covers. Sorry to say but these fine covers are not from my collection. Over the years I have kept track of classic signed and unsigned covers that have sold on eBay or one of the many auctions in my archives for reference purpose only.

Ken's signed covers are great and all I can say about Dennis's flown covers is Wow! Fantastic!

posted 10-07-2023 12:14 PM               

I notice that none of the above covers (in any of the posts), splendid as they are, are for the two flown space flights nor are any signed Walker covers illustrated.

If anybody can show me an image of a Walker autographed flight 90/91 cover, then I will automatically vote that my favourite...

posted 10-07-2023 04:39 PM               

Concerning the autographs of the "Difficult Four" on X-15 covers, in my opinion, of course the rarest and most desirable is Mike Adams, next in order of scarcity is Jack McKay, followed by Armstrong and least scarce are Joe Walkers.

posted 10-07-2023 05:08 PM               

• Flight #29 --- Nov. 30, 1960 --- (One by Ken H.)
  
• Flight #31 --- Dec. 9, 1960 --- (one by Bob McLeod & one by Tim Preston)
  
• Flight #46 --- Dec. 10, 1961 --- (None signed)?
  
• Flight #48 --- Jan. 17, 1962 --- (one by Ken H. & one addressed to Peter Morris)
  
• Flight #49 --- April 5, 1962 --- (only one, but not identified)
  
• Flight #51 --- April 20, 1962 --- (None signed)?
  
• Flight #64 --- July 26, 1962 --- (two signed, one by Dennis D. and another later signed, but not vintage; perhaps late 1960's)

posted 10-07-2023 06:30 PM               

He then became a consultant to Dyna-Soar. As such he spent a lot of 1961 in Dyna-Soar centrifuge tests in Johnsville, PA, and flying an F5D Skylancer fighter plane in simulated Dyna-Soar off-the-pad abort profiles at Edwards.