THE X-1 AND THE X-15

"Right Stuff", 10 October 1996, Chuck Yeager Air Force News, The X-Planes: 50 Years of

High desert "Right Stuff", all this reminds you of the historic first breaking of the sound barrier.

On October 14th 1947 Popular Mechanics, Breaking The Sound Barrier, October 1997 the

XS-1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, broke the sound barrier (Mach 1) for the first time in history.

Note: The Nazies secretly broke the sound barrier during the latter part of WWII with a rocket

powered Me-163 Comet. Wolfgang Spate, Top Secret Bird The Luftwaffe's Me-163 Comet,

1983 This

flight proved

that the

Sound

Barrier was

not fatal and

also

demonstrated

how to shape

an aircraft to be able to cross the barrier and go supersonic. Soon aircraft were designed that could

break the barrier easily, thus having instant superiority over sub-sonic only aircraft. American air

superiority had been preserved and the U.S. protected better.

The X-15 Popular Science, Seven Days at

Dryden, Feburary/March 1998, the black

arrow Popular Mechanics, The Outer Limits,

September 1996, the fastest aircraft in

the world, all this refers to the X-15, the aircraft

that went hypersonic (above Mach 5). The X-15 is the fastest aircraft ever built at a maximum

speed of Mach 6.72 (4,534 MPH) North American X-15. It was accidentally one of the first

manned space craft, it eventually reached an altitude of 354,200 feet (67.08 miles), space begins at

an altitude of between 90,000 feet and 120,000 feet. The only faster craft made are designed as

spacecraft. Every space craft ever made has gone faster than this, but only one of these is also made

for

atmospheric

flight. This is

the STS

which doesn't

count

because it is unpowered during the entire trip though the atmosphere and gets most of its speed

from the rocket lauch at the beginning. However it enters the atmoshere at above Mach 25 and

lands at above Mach 1.5. The shuttle is also a direct result of the research performed by the X-15,

the "black arrow".

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