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Author
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Topic: X-15 rocket plane: G-loads and entry attitude
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moonguyron
Member Posts: 191
From: Trinity, FL USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 11-12-2014 09:12 AM
   
Having read all books on the subject I can find, I still have a question. All of the X-15 flights, regardless the speed or altitude, were essentially 12 minutes long; even to the record 354,000 feet. Does anyone have info on the "g" load and entry attitude used on these flights? Were all entry attitudes the same angle of attack? |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 11-13-2014 10:59 PM
Which books have you read on the subject? |
moonguyron
Member Posts: 191
From: Trinity, FL USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 11-14-2014 07:29 AM
"At the Edge of Space" Milt Thompson, "X-15: The NASA Mission Reports" By Apogee Books, "North American X-15 Rocket Plane Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions" by Periscope Films, "Always Another Dawn" by Crossfield, "The X-15 Rocket Plane" by Evans, "X-15 Photo Scrapbook, Landis and Jenkins, "Hypersonic" by Jenkins and Landis, "X-15: The Worlds Fastest Rocket Plane and the Pilots who Ushered in the Space Age" by Anderson and Passman. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 11-14-2014 12:54 PM
From the 1965 book "Winging Into Space" by Walter B. Hendrickson, Jr. Joe Walker took the X-15 up for another shot at a new altitude record on April 30, 1962. The flight started as usual with the X-15 dropped from it's B-52 mother plane at 45,000 feet above Mud Lake , Nevada. Walker then turned on the engine full blast and roared into a steep 38-degree climb.As the plane rocketed along at an ever-increasing speed Walker strained to reach the throttle while being pushed back by the 4-G acceleration. He told reporters after the flight, "I had a little trouble reaching the throttle. I kept missing it by about an inch. Finally, I had to lunge forward to reach it." Walker cut off the engine after 81 seconds of powered flight with the plane bulleting skyward at 3,489 mph. At this point the X-15 coasted up to 246,700 feet, the altitude for which it was designed. Returning, the X-15 hit the atmosphere in a belly-flop type of re-entry. The air drag on the plane sent the temperature on its leading edges up to 1,000 degrees (aluminum melts at 1,220), but this time no damage was caused. The sudden slowing of the plane shoved Walker down into his seat with a 5-G force which caused him to grunt, "I sure felt that one!" |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 11-14-2014 03:46 PM
I would rate the two definitive books on the program are both by Dennis Jenkins. "Hypersonic" of course, but many people are not aware that Dennis Jenkins wrote what I consider the Bible for the X-15: "X-15: Extending the Frontiers of Flight". There is no book on the X-15, or author, that touches Dennis Jenkins pubs. Good luck! |
Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 977
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 11-14-2014 04:52 PM
Both of Dennis' books are fabulous. |
sev8n
Member Posts: 234
From: Dallas TX USA
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 11-14-2014 04:52 PM
Add to that list NASA Publication SP-2000-4518 "Hypersonics: Before the Shuttle: A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane" by Jenkins. |
moonguyron
Member Posts: 191
From: Trinity, FL USA
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 11-24-2014 05:41 PM
Thanks guys for the heads up. |
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