PROJECT X-15
The Thinking behind the project
The X-15
The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. As of 2014, the X-15 holds the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned, powered aircraft. Its maximum speed was 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h).
During the X-15 program, 13 different flights by eight pilots met the USAF spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of 50 miles (80 km) thus qualifying the pilots for astronaut status. The USAF pilots qualified for USAF astronaut wings immediately, while the civilian pilots were awarded NASA astronaut wings in 2005, 35 years after the last X-15 flight. The sole USN pilot in the X-15 program never took the aircraft above the requisite 50 mile altitude.
Of all the X-15 missions, two flights (by the same pilot) qualified as space flights per the international (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) definition of a spaceflight by exceeding 100 kilometers (62.1 mi) in altitude.
For more visual images this NASA produced documentary from 1962 is quite enlightening including the "technology. "
The Planning
Before building this craft I went through a number of ideas for it's construction. Initially I was going to build it with a 3" inch diameter rocket from scratch. I've built numerous scale rockets including a Quest X-15 and the 3" version was going to be an upscale version of that. After ploughing through books and data I received resources from the legendary Colin Rowe. He was one of the Rocketmen who built the Reliant Shuttle , rocket powered Mini and the Blue Peter rocket.
And just in case you are unaware of these events!
After a chat with the rocketeering fraternity including Phil Charlesworth , Mike Brent and Chris Eilbeck I decided to build it with a 4 inch diameter! This proved to a wise move since there was a Rocksim CAD plan for a 4 " X15! The next hurdle was how faithful to the real thing was I going to be? The X15 has a strake which in the real thing contained flight controls and other forms of flight control. This can be seen in the picture below. It starts parallel to the rear of the canopy and extends right to the back of the craft. In the Rocksim file this was merely a piece of quarter inch plywood cut to the shape of the strake. However for this build I will be trying to be as faithful to the real thing as possible.
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| Cross section of North American X15 showing strake section of the fuselage. |
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Cut away of X-15A-2 with an additional pair of auxiliary fuel tanks attached beneath its fuselage and wings, and a complete heat-resistant ablative coating
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To ensure strength in flight and in recovery it will be fully glassed and the root areas will be reinforced with carbon fibre tape.
It will use a conventional ejection system for recovery deployment and a tracker for recovery on the ground.
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I will be adding to this blog as the build progresses.
3rd May 2014
Update
The parts have arrived from Rockets and Things in addition to those acquired from Mike Brent. I have now printed out the CAD formed fin guides. I cut these out using a scalpel, metal rule and a cutting mat. The pieces were 2 pieces of paper so these were joined together and then stick on a larger piece of paper. Once this was dry I then cut the piece out using the same tools and stuck these to light quarter inch plywood.
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| Bottom Rudder and Top Rudder |
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| Left to right : Wing 1 , Wing 2 and Tail 1 |
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| Nose Cone , Body Tube and Wings and Fins. Rudders below. |
The next stage is to cut the slots out for the wings, fins and rudder. I am also going to build the strake as per the plans but use this as a guide as to the shape of the real 3D strake.
After a number of months focusing on triathlon I'm now having a few weeks spending some time on this project. What initially started as build that would be purely a moderate homage has grown into something more complicated and detailed.
Since the last post I have been in contact with Paul Clarke who is an expert model builder and an expert on the X15. In addition to the vast amount of information from Colin Rowe the build is now substantial . Paul has made vacuum moulded parts including a canopy , chine ends , skid covers and other detailed parts. He has also helped me with the construction of the chines themselves. Quite simply a simple solution to a complex challenge. The chines are made of paper , then laminated , scored appropriately and then fibre -glassed. After communicating with Paul he refers to the strakes as chines. Since he is the absolute expert on the X15 I will now refer to these as chines!
The upper and lower rudders are now going to be modelled on the the real thing. So rather than just a cut piece of fibre glass reinforced ply they will now have depth! Parts have been cut and will be glued together and then sanded back to make the recognizable triangular cross section. The final layer will have a thinner piece of ply to make the sharper leading edge.
In addition the recovery system parts have been selected as well as the boat tail and appropriate motor retention. Malcolm Jennings of Rockets and Things has made motor mounts to match the specific dimensions.
It will now built with a 38mm motor mount !
All is needed is time to put it all together!
January 2015 Update
After a number of months focusing on triathlon I'm now having a few weeks spending some time on this project. What initially started as build that would be purely a moderate homage has grown into something more complicated and detailed.
Since the last post I have been in contact with Paul Clarke who is an expert model builder and an expert on the X15. In addition to the vast amount of information from Colin Rowe the build is now substantial . Paul has made vacuum moulded parts including a canopy , chine ends , skid covers and other detailed parts. He has also helped me with the construction of the chines themselves. Quite simply a simple solution to a complex challenge. The chines are made of paper , then laminated , scored appropriately and then fibre -glassed. After communicating with Paul he refers to the strakes as chines. Since he is the absolute expert on the X15 I will now refer to these as chines!
The upper and lower rudders are now going to be modelled on the the real thing. So rather than just a cut piece of fibre glass reinforced ply they will now have depth! Parts have been cut and will be glued together and then sanded back to make the recognizable triangular cross section. The final layer will have a thinner piece of ply to make the sharper leading edge.
In addition the recovery system parts have been selected as well as the boat tail and appropriate motor retention. Malcolm Jennings of Rockets and Things has made motor mounts to match the specific dimensions.
It will now built with a 38mm motor mount !
All is needed is time to put it all together!
