Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15

Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15 -- Nineteen years before Space Shuttle, the small, black, rocket-powered, bullet-shaped X-15 showed it was possible to fly into and out of space. At the dawn of the 21st Century there seem to be a great interest in hypersonic flight. For the most part this is related to a new generation of missiles air-to-air and air-to-surface that are being proposed as the next logical increment in weapons, although the designers of the forever-in-development replacement for the Space Shuttle also have a vested interest in hypersonic research.

This book is a tribute to the program, the airplanes, and the people who designed, maintained and flew the most successful of the X-planes. There had never been anything like the X-15; it had a million-horsepower engine and could fly twice as fast as a rifle bullet. Over the course of ten years and 199 flights, pilots from the Air Force, Navy, and NASA would spend 85 minutes at hypersonic velocities flying to the edge of space.

Hardcover • 10' x 10' • 264 pp • 50 color, 500 b/w, 100 line drawings

Quote: As Neil Armstrong once observed, 'At the time it seemed audacious. It had taken half a century for aircraft to reach Mach 2 and 80,000 feet. Now one new design would attempt to triple those achievements.'

The X-15 is the only vehicle so far that has been flown by a pilot (rather than a computer) into space and back. It routinely survived reentry temperatures over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit

The X-15 was the fastest airplane ever built over twice as fast as the SR-71 Blackbird! It was also the highest-flying aircraft ever built; five Air Force pilots became astronauts flying the X-15 into near space

This book contains an incredible number of never-before-seen images and new color profile drawings

Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15

Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15

Click Here for a picture, more details, and the current price for this Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15.

This "Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15" product is an example of this collection of auto enthusiast books, videos, and manuals, plus other topics for those interested in powerful machines used in both war and peace.

Product name: Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15
Product category: Books, Videos, Documentation, History

Click Here for my list of other items in the same category
as this "Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15."

Or, Click Here for start of the complete alphabetized category list.

To Previous Similar Item | To Next Similar Item