The Insane Engineering of the X-15
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- čas přidán 30. 03. 2021
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Thank you to Charlie Garcia for his invaluable advice and expertise during the scripting process of this video:
/ astro_chuck
3D Model provided by Clément Moreau:
sketchfab.com/3d-models/north...
Credits:
Writer/Narrator: Brian McManus
Editor: Dylan Hennessy
Animator: Mike Ridolfi (www.moboxgraphics.com/)
Sound: Graham Haerther (haerther.net/)
Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster / forgottentowel
Fact Checker: Charlie Garcia
The research for this video took about 4 weeks with the help of the reports, books, research papers, and nasa communications below. Charlie Garcia also kindly lent his expertise in rocket propulsion as a fact checker and advisor for the project. We normally show numbers on screen, but numbers got mixed up during the convoluted writing process and it’s now 12 pm the night before upload and I just can’t bring myself to link them all appropriately, but rest assured that all information in the video comes from one of the fantastic resources linked below.
References
[1] www.nasa.gov/centers/armstron...
[2] www.amazon.com/North-American...
[3] hackaday.com/2019/02/13/the-i...
[4] amzn.to/31AG1y0
[5] www.braeunig.us/space/comb-OH.htm
[6] www.braeunig.us/space/propel.h....
[7] www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
[8] Page 247 amzn.to/31AG1y0
[9] amzn.to/3we33sN
[10] www.researchgate.net/profile/...
[11] history.nasa.gov/SP-4230.pdf
[12] www.engineeringtoolbox.com/sp...
[13] digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...
[14] www.nasa.gov/pdf/470842main_X...
[15] Page 23 www.nasa.gov/pdf/470842main_X...
[16] Page 440 www.nasa.gov/pdf/470842main_X...
[17] Page 16 apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltex...
[18] page 74 www.nasa.gov/pdf/470842main_X...
[19] history.nasa.gov/x15lect/stru...
[20] www.researchgate.net/publicat...
[21] Haynes 117
[22] Page 440 www.nasa.gov/pdf/470842main_X...
[23] Page 444
[24] appel.nasa.gov/2014/10/16/thi....
Thank you to AP Archive for access to their archival footage.
Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
Thank you to my patreon supporters: Adam Flohr, Henning Basma, Hank Green, William Leu, Tristan Edwards, Ian Dundore, John & Becki Johnston. Nevin Spoljaric, Jason Clark, Thomas Barth, Johnny MacDonald, Stephen Foland, Alfred Holzheu, Abdulrahman Abdulaziz Binghaith, Brent Higgins, Dexter Appleberry, Alex Pavek, Marko Hirsch, Mikkel Johansen, Hibiyi Mori. Viktor Józsa, Ron Hochsprung - Věda a technologie
This man's making whole documentaries at this point. Fantastic work.
yeah 30 minutes pretty long mate
@@kizvy yaaaaaaaaaaaa
No kidding - these videos have come so far in the last few years!
I know it’s great
Heck yeah
Bro, this is not a video, is a INCREDIBLE documentary...
Thx a lot.
an*
@@soyey That wad not very poggers of you kind sir
documentary that is brainwashing you
@@mysecondaccount7887 Ik grammar corrections are annoying at but when it’s an “a or an” thing it causes me physical pain reading out the sentence in my head
Indeeeedddd!!
Just to give you an idea of how fast this thing is, it is DOUBLE the speed of the sr71, and three times the speed of a modern jet, of which is dozens of times faster than our cars, which seem really fast to us, plus this thing was made 70 FREAKING YEARS AGO!
Absolutely insane.
@@BrentLeVasseur No it's slightly over Mach 3 lol..
@@BrentLeVasseur You can call it "misinformation" all you want but there is no evidence/proof of the sr-71 being capable of going Mach 7, it's just an assumption from you. I'm sure it could go slightly faster than Mach 3.2, but to say it could go over double that speed is a little outrageous...
@@BrentLeVasseur Lol I can say a reliable source told me that Santa Claus exists... That doesn't make it true? Until actual evidence of the sr-71 traveling Mach 7 is released then it is just hearsay.
@@BrentLeVasseur We have much faster and overall better aircraft than the sr-71 today, why would they keep the top speed of a 60 year old aircraft (that isn't even used anymore) classified?
@@BrentLeVasseur an engineer who worked on the sr-71 spoke about what you're referring to saying,
"The difference was that by 1986 missile capability had significantly improved. And Libya had them. As the Blackbird crossed the “Line of Death” into Libyan territory, Shul’s co-pilot warned of ground-based missile launches, Russian SAMs they guessed, capable of Mach 5 flight. Those scary little f***ers were probably the only thing a Blackbird pilot feared. Still, flying at Mach 3.2 at 80,000 feet is a significant head-start."
In that same interview he said the pilots went slighly over Mach 3.5 after "pushing the throttles full forward against the stops."
That graphic of the turbo pump at 4:22 is one of the nicest representations of a complex design I have ever seen.
Well done. Great job on this.
10-15 years ago this is the kind of video or documentary (both in duration and quality) that you would only see in educational cable channels in the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, or History Channel. Now, we have CZcams videos like this who have absolutely great production value and can be done entirely at home. If you showed this to me randomly without saying where it came from I would honestly have thought that a major tv network produced this. You guys are awesome! Keep it up!
Agreed, I would have assumed it involved a large production company!
I don't think those cable channels would go as deep into the fuel chemistry and metallurgical engineering as this channel. I love that these videos doesn't have to dumb down the science and engineering of the topic
And Now discovery channel (aka the chopper channel) only shows motorcycle building...
stock video clips make the visual part a lot easier when compared to 15 years ago
there is also the fact that many programs used to make the drawings for example came down in price or got easier to use
the only thing that hasn't changed is the research part
@@markdavidson1900 cable channels have technicians not engineers . Good observation.
Truly deserves the "Insane Engineering" title.
Defiantly 😀😀😀
It's Sean Hodgins!
... in-sanity, we thrust=?
it doesn’t, it deserves the legendary engineering title
@Austen Lee he is presenting an insane plane
Brilliant! Seriously one of the best short documentaries on the X-15 available. I was a child raised under the thunder of the X-15 and other X Planes in So Cal back in the early 60"s, went on to spend a career in aviation partly because of the fascination with extreme flight. I am an admitted X-15 nut and I'll say again this is a terrific video. Cheers to all involved in its production!
Make me jealous! Did you ever see the A-12 or the SR-71?
They are sitting outside static display the Palmdale plant.@@d.dementedengineerc99isurf26
My Dad worked for North American Aviation from 1958 -1968 and I remember him bringing home the company newsletters which often featured photos and articles of the developements in the X-15 program . I'm proud of the part my Dad could play in a company that produced so many outstanding aircraft .
that is rad! i have always wanted to work for a company and to be apart of a team like this that will launch us to or at least get a great deal closer to the next generation in aviation and space craft.
Your dad works here
Holy heck, you might as well start making an entire Documentary show and then put it on television, nice job
Pssst…The Logistics of D-Day is on Nebula
Yeah he just a genice I love his channel
TV is long dead. He can get way more exposure on CZcams and also Nebula of course.
I agree with MicrophonicFool. You're nice for saying that, but the fact is, I'm glad he's on here and Nebula instead of TV. TV doesn't deserve him.
Holy I'm 11 how am I gonna watch whole documentarys
My great grandpa was Harrison Storms, chief engineer of the X-15 and XB-70. He later lead NA through the apollo program. Never got to meet him, but my grandma has amazing stories of her father and the projects and people he would take home. Really wish I got to know him, but I know he would have absolutely loved this video and the recognition of the x-15!
thats pretty dang neat!
What a legend he was ❤️
My dad was abraham lincoln
@@irrelevant9023 so ur over 135 years old?
@@user-pb3jj5vw6e you were stupid enough to actually believe it?.. what we can expect of a channel called "roblox developing" 🤣
This is hands down my favorite channel that I've found in a long time. Thank you. I wish my Dad were still here so we could watch these together. I used to rely a lot on him to learn about this type of stuff because before the days of the modern internet super information highway, you had to read things like Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Smithsonian mag, to get information like this.
In the early 60s I lived two houses down from John Bratt. I was 8 years old at the time when he told me about how he designed the cockpit windows for the X-15. His fascinating stories about this craft was the motivating factor in my becoming a computer scientist.
The production value of these videos has set a high standard for other CZcams creators. Love your content and the effort!
1k likes and no comments, well that has to change
@vladimir putin is andrei panin jfk is jimmy carter Bot!
Especially since he ditched all the asinine and obnoxious youtube commercials in favor of one sponsor he promotes respectably only at the end.
Brian you're a genius man, the efforts you've put into researching and explaining them so simply are commendable. Wouldn't be surprised if you've a TV show someday
he should be, maybe one of those discovery or pbs shows
I did present a TV show on Irish television. Will probably be on Amazon Prime at some stage, but I actually ended up paying them more than they paid me when I licensed their footage for the pumped hydro video. CZcams is where it's at!
@@RealEngineering wpuld be wonderful if you could do an analysis on something like the Iron Dome or S400 systems.
@@alexanderphilip1809 he is not military channel though he could cover the engineering than Covert Cabal can
He basically is already. Or what do you think youtube has become?
The animation of the X-15 fly by the SR-71 hits on the whole other level when one knows how legendary the Blackbird was.
I learnt about this in Primary school in the 70's. UK. It's totally made me in awe, and I was a huge fan of the X-15.
It's sad that today you seen very little of these daring pushes to go way beyond the limits. America's Golden age for sure.
Look at the James Webb Telescope and the F35.
America hasnt reached its golden age yet, Not even close. The United States will be the nation that puts Humans on another Planet permanatley.
Thing are being tested in a closed environment today. Out of our eyes.
Man, the production quality of this channel has grown exponentially!
Also, love the 3D renders, live charts, and text style, they really help keep retention.
X-15: See u later BlackBird!
20 seconds later
x-15: Can I get a ride back home?
LOL
Over 8tonns of fuel dump in less than a minute, interesting!🤔
This plane could cross the United States in less than an hour if it didn't run out of fuel.
@TheTallMan35 if it had taken off Independently like other aircrafts I doubted it would make Mach 3 or 4, pretty Flawed if you asked me!!🤦
The X 15 is the more reckless older brother of the blackbird xD
The X-15 was the first plane that reached space. Some even earned astonaut wings by doing so. Basically a rocket with a cockpit and tiny wings. When out of the atmosphere it used reactive motors to maneuver. Also the only breathable gas was in the helmet.
50 mile or 100 km wings?
@@HappyBeezerStudios Yes, think so. One flight got into space but not in orbit with poilot Michael Adams who died when it broke up in reentry. But it could maneuver outside the atmosphere. 3 were built. One broke up another one crashed and broke in 2. The Smithsonian has the last remaining one. It is one beautiful machine.
And the only POWERED manned aircraft to reach space. The Shuttle was technically an unpowered glider.
CDEDBD wings?
@@mikehutchinson2191 In the 80's they had a simposium and I ordered a thick book on the x-15. I made a model rocket of it and it flew great. The cockpit was all nitrogen and if you breathed that, you have minutes to live not reversiblle. So the oxygen was only in the helmet. The wings had tiny rocket motors that reacted like if there was an atmosphere outside and moved the ship that way. You could throtle the main engine which was unique. Incredible for pre computer flight days. Those pilots were Gods of sorts.
Seeing a X-15 in the Smithsonian Museum a couple of years ago was a dream come true after being fascinated by it for over 30 years. To think this came about 50 years after the first manned flight is outstanding!
Co-pilot: Are you sure these speeds are OK?
Pilot: T(h)rust me.
*_GOES EVEN FASTER_*
Good pun.
Pog
Racy!
In Thrust we trust.
No Scot said that, ever. Scottish interest in speed evaporated once they figured out how to be faster than sheep.
These engineers make me feel like I haven't accomplished shit with my life.
I'm with you on that. They wore ties and carried slide rules in their pockets and went to the moon to walk around ! I can build a good chicken coop. Not much moon landing technology developed in that process though
Wait ! We are supposed to achieve something other than rent money??
Don't be silly, you picked up the crisp packet at the bus stop and put it in the bucket, that crisp packet could have blown onto the road, stuck to a windscreen causing a major accident, you might have saved many lives picking up the crisp packet, you deserve a pizza slice.🍕
What they have and you don't, is government funding at cost, as a minimum.
American K-12 education system in late 1950s to early 1970s were considered the international "standard" Best in the world. Today, its all gone to shit.
The amount of time, attention to detail, and animations that went into this video are world class. Awesome job!!
I had no idea there was so much involved in the X15, I'm glad I found this channel, Thanks to all involved in the production of this excellent video. 👍
the pilot in the pressurized astronaut suit getting into that 50s era pickup is such a great perspective
It really demonstrates the idea of the military always being years ahead of civilian tech.
@@icantthinkofaname4265 Not really. One guy was in a space suit and another guy had a truck, so it’s basically impossible to compare the two. Also, many (or even vast majority) of the most advanced technology the military used and uses were entirely developed by private corporations paid via contracts and tax payers.
Ironically, things like civilian rifles and combat equipment are also more advanced than government developed equipment. This is especially evident by special forces mostly using commercially available equipment instead of standard issue.
there's a photo of the Indian space program wheeling a satellite with a ox back in the 80s
you idiots still believe astronauts went to space, while they are just hollywood actors.
@@fivemeomedia also a satellite/rocket head carried on the back of a cycle
*When I was a young boy living in Albuquerque New Mexico, I was outside playing in my front yard when a B-52 with the X-15 attached came in for a landing at Kirtland A.F.B. I was amazed to see this so close in real life. I was 7 or 8 and I almost remember it like yesterday.*
That so cool! That’s my favourite plane
:0 damnnnnnnnn
Lucky guy!!
@@andrewdoesyt7787 mine too-have been trying to find a scale model but no luck yet
PS it is Kirtland AFB
Why would an X-15 show up at Kirkland Air Force Base? First, the base has no infrastructure to support or attach/detach the x-15 to the B-52 mother ship. Second, North American Aviation, the manufacturer was located in Southern California. I think you made this up.
This is just brilliant! Fun fact: In the cockpit of Concorde, a gap was created when going Mach 2.0. A new pilot put his hat in this gap. Once the plane landed his hat was squashed and he could only get it out again on the return trip :)
I think one of the most amazing parts about the x-15 project were all the problems that arose that the engineers successfully overcame to make this possible. Human ingenuity truly astonishes me at times.
And all with slide rulers and drafting boards. Maybe the old ways are the best ways. True ingenuity..
@@tbone1212 Yep definitely.
I'm studying aerospace engineering in Germany and I can only remark that you are doing an amazing job in breaking down all the complex formulas and ideas that were used during the design phase so every viewer can get a good understanding of the plane.
Speak for yourself. I've barely mastered arithmetic!
@@peterpurpose Those who fall behinds serve as the stepping stones for those who excel forward. Which one are you?
@@shadowkillz9606 I don't know about him, but I'm the one that fell behind.
@@utuberme1 same
A lot of this stuff does go over my head, but I've still learnt a lot from this video. That's what's so good about it.
This is a more concise and easier to understand explanation of rocket engine design than what I was able to get in 6 years of engineering school. You have an incredible talent for science communication.
I guess I'm a qualified rocket scientifist now.
The longer I watched this video the more admired how well it was put together. Great video. Really enjoyed watching
Great video. Thank you. As a kid growing up in the SF Bay Area, I was in love with this machine. Somewhere around 1966 I was riding my motorcycle down the freeway and couldn't believe my eyes when I ran up along side a long flatbed with the fuselage of an X15 on it! I also love the story about when Neil skipped one off of the atmosphere and overshot Edwards by just a bit. :)
I must congratulate you for the very impressive animations used in this video! At last, my two favourite airplanes are together and the best of all, with an animation of them flying in their max regime 1:40!
Can we please have more??
Since around 1989 when I was 14. I’ve seen more documentaries than I can remember, many covering the X-15. None, not one ever mentioned jettisoning a part of the lower tail. I’m impressed! Thank You Sir!
Agreed. I was a kid when I first read about this rocket plane and not once was this mentioned.
@@john-paulsilke893 Well, I was an airplane-obsessed kid in the 1960's when it was flying, and I read lots of things about it, and I remember this as a significant point. And you can deduce it from looking at film of the plane in flight and landing. It's obvious that the the lower fin is too tall for the landing skids.
Amazing documentary . well done sir ! Great content, great editing and archive footage.
Great easy to understand delivery of very complex systems, thank you.
Those CG skills are getting absurd and I love it. That X-15 overtaking the Blackbird was GORGEOUS
It's awfully cute that you'd think he'd be doing that himself.
@@greenbanana311 isn't he though? Where did he get that footage otherwise ?
@@velbythorngage @Tony Perri Read the description every now and again
@@velbythorngage Aw, bless your heart.
@@greenbanana311 redditor spotted
My family really doesn't have only but one hero and that was my grandfather John Everett. He was part of this project every time I see things about the x-15 it makes me grin. Thank you for the video
I’m going
@@josevilasvigo6057 where
Mine too. Dad was on the Reaction Motors team in New Jersey that developed the XLR-99 engine and thrust boosters.
@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa1261 ik
@@Anonymous-nj6of where he goin
What an incredibly well put together video. Sources and all, just amazing to see
I saw the X-15 at the Dayton Air Force Museum thing. It is very cool and have a 13 minute video about the plane and what it accomplished. I really recommend to everyone that if they have an opportunity to check out the museum, please take it. It is so large that it took us 2 days to see everything
Pp p
“What? No, it’s *totally* an airplane. I mean, it _uses_ a rocket, but it’s NOT a rocket. It’s a plane. See the wings and stuff?”
saying this thing had wings is the same as saying the t - rex had hands lol
@@karagothshlomidabush3727 and it does have hands. Just cause their tiny doesn't eliminate the fact it has hands. Invalid analogy.
@@haryredneck no it isn"t an invalid analogy !! because while it had wings .. and i am not disputing that ...nor am i disputing that the t- rex had hands ... they were not there to serve the x15 as wings ... only stablizers as well as the hands on the t-rex where not there to serve as hands to a full extent but they were there simply a by-product of it"s path throgh evolution
@@karagothshlomidabush3727 They were wings, not fins or "stabilizers". Did you notice how the aircraft was recovered after its mission? Just like the space shuttle, it glided back to base. Sure, it was a lifting body with small wings, but the two are not mutually exclusive, thus the SR-71. Rockets, on the other hand, have the same glide ratio as a hammer and need to have a means of reducing vertical velocity before contacting the ground. Parachutes were pretty much the only technology available at that time. Finally, don't forget the four forces involved in heavier than air flight: Lift, Drag, Thrust and Weight, particularly lift and drag. The creation of lift causes drag; Drag causes friction, Friction causes the upper surface of the wings (as well as other areas) to heat up, and that was clearly demonstrated with the temperature sensitive paint that was used by the designers of the airplane. Not just the leading edges and joints between the skin panels, but the color change aft of there shows that the wing was generating lift. A fin does not. They are wings.
@@Finchman63 CAN YOU READ ENGLISH MAN ???? READ MY COMMENT AGAIN
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the INSANE amount of work he's put into this superb video
@Dick Johnson Wierd answer
@@official_skirt6440 “weird”, clown
yeah did he make those 3d models? if yes then yikes the work that went into this is insane. also @Dick Johnson I get that being a contrarian makes you feel edgy, but just stop with the cringe.
Appreciated.
@Dick Johnson duche
It is slightly unfair to compare the SR-71 to the X-15. After takeoff, and a refueling , the SR-71 could cross a continent at sustained speed. The X-15 was a valuable science experiment, but largely a guided rocket, not a plane. Apples and Oranges.
That's exactly what I was about to write. X-15 is not a plane, i.e. not one for any kind of regular use as such. It's a rocket building experiment, which somehow carried a human inside.
It's like comparing Usain Bolt to Eliud Kipchoge. Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world, but he can only sustain his top speed for a few seconds. Eliud Kipchoge might not be the fastest man, but last time I checked he was the only man who completed a whole marathon (42km) in less than 2h. That's 350m/minute. (In imperial: 26.098 miles in less than 2h, ~19ft/s.)
If Usain Bolt is the X-15 of running, Eliud Kipchoge is the SR-71.
ELIUD WHO? LIKE THAT COMPARISON vs Bolt
but they all use rockets so what's the difference
Also,it is not even the sr-71
In 1:38, the aircraft featured is the yf-12
Apart from that, this was a very interesting and informative video
Ive watched your videos for years now. One thing that keeps repeating is an effect of the start of the videos. I usually start by thinking something like "Ok, i know this thing the video will discuss, Ive seen it before, i know something about it" and that creates the very short lasting sensation of "not expecting anything actually interesting" - which lasts about up to the first words of introduction start and by the end of that usually simple and direct introduction, i get the chills, the hair starts to raise on my arms and a new sensation washes over me. The sensation of "This is going to be amazing" (even for a sarcastic, ironic bastard like me). And it never fails.
I am blown away in ways of understanding i would never know, if it wasn't for your videos.
My late grandfather, Victor Horton, was one of the engineers on the X-15 program. He was on a first name basis with the men who flew it, especially William Dana, who had the desk next to his in the Edwards pilot's office for 25 years. When Michael Adams had his fatal crash in the #3 ship (66672) in Nov. 1967, Grandpa organized and led the search and recovery efforts. He was also the one who had the idea for the ground-based 8-ball attitude indicator that was installed in the control room at Edwards to prevent future reentry accidents. Before he signed-on with NASA in 1958, he worked for Reaction Motors and was involved in testing the big XLR-99 engine; old press releases specifically list him as one of the personnel present during its first test firings and throttling demos at the old South Base rocket test site. I believe he also flew as launch panel operator aboard the B-52 mothership on some flights, as he did with the heavyweight lifting bodies, like the M2-F2 and HL-10.
pog
Are you half the man he used to be?
@@qmac9966 small pp
@Dick Johnson no skin off my nose if you don't believe me. Google "Victor Horton NASA" and you'll see a bunch of stuff about him.
@@gabrielbennett5162 It's not that I don't believe you. Problem is that people can't verify many claims on the internet. There's no doubt Victor Horton existed and contributed a lot. But to verify his kinship to you is a hard challenge without any more information.
Dude, your 3D animations are getting seriously impressive. I love it. This is Discovery channel level quality you're achieving. Amazing work once again.
This is super fascinating!!! Great video and very well put together. Learned something new today!
We used to live next to a retired NASA engineer who helped develop this aircraft. Amazing conversations with him. He passed away not too long ago and lived into his 90s. RIP Jack!
If they had this tech in the 60s and 70s it really makes you wonder what they are testing now.
the 60s and 70s saw alot of raw power output but now they're focusing on make it more sophisticated. Some of the top speed records were set in the 60s and 70s whereas now they focus on making things stealthier, quieter, and giving them better sensors instead. This is more complicated but less impressive.
Today social justice trumps everything. If you aren't LGBTQ, black or at least female whatever you say is irrelevant. "Scientific" effort goes into obscure social theory finding, to prove a point that men, especially if white, are bad.
Other than that: Crystals, horoscopes, religion, anti-vaccination "skepticism", homeopathy. Real engineers lay low and all the (positive) media attention is not on great engineering/science achievements but on petty social reforms.
What?
@@uschurch you need to get out of the internet man, I agree with what you are saying but it's a bit of an exaggeration I believe, and I am anything but someone who supports this mass-media tropes of these days.
Urs Schuerch Omg. Dude, stop. Just stop🤦♂️
Imagine being the guy presenting the idea of this for the first time
"Okay listen hear me out...we attach a big ass rocket to a big plane...but we put a seat at the front! I swear it would totally work!"
It plays into human logic. At a certain point everyone who knows what they are talking about would say "it won't work", 50 levels of stupid above that and everyone goes "fuck it, let's have a go".
hypersonics were not a good idea to create since scramjets are perfect for missles but pretty useless on planes. sooner or later there whoever pefects them first could nuke every country and shoot down all the nukes headed back at them.
"A plane and a rocket? Is it going to fly through the air or space?"
"Yes"
It was an already proven concept. The Nazis used rocket-powered airplanes in WW2. Although their max speed and altitude were ... a tad lower than the X-15's. ;-) By the end of the war, Britain already had similarly fast jets to the Nazi's rocket planes. The real revolutionary and daring part of the X-15 is simply its speed and the developments to enable flying at that speed without destroying itself and without the pilot losing control.
"OOH OHH, Lets give it a minigun, Bombs, Rockets and all that stuff as well. I'm sure nothing can go wrong."
My god man the amount of engineering involved for this is just nuts! Absolutely fascinating!
Great video my man, very excited to check out more of your vids!
Two days ago, I hear a random fact that the X-15 is still record holder for highest speed achieved in a manned flight and make a mental note to root through YT at some point for a vid about it.
Then along came Real Engineering...
Actually that's for powered, manned flight in a rocket plane. During the Space Shuttle's return as a glider it would hit Mach 28,
Back sometime in the mid 60's when I was in elementary school the Air Force brought an x-15 on a flatbed truck to our school for the kids to see. It was the coolest thing in life that I had seen up to that point.
Incredible
Best school to be a student. Where was that?
@@MrFescue United States
"coolest thing in life that I had seen up to that point"
What topped that?
i lived on an airforce base in washington state at 1-7 years old i remember hearing sonic booms from x-15
This was such a joy to watch! Thanks for all the research and effort to explain this to folks like me.
I love this video so much! This is my 6th or 7th rewatch! Please keep covering fascinating aircraft like this
"Temperatures will be very high."
"We'll use our best heat-resistant material!"
"That won't be enough."
"We'll cover the plane in a highly explosive ablative material!"
"... explosive?"
"Don't worry, we'll paint it over!"
I like how they have a simple solution for every problem.
engineering is all about making highly complex systems..... realizing it doesn't work..... slapping an extremely "primitive" solution over the problem (god bless ducktape) and just forcing it to work
@@a-drewg1716 - Sort of like the wag who said a bumblebee couldn't fly - something to do with wing area to body size, or something - but the bumblebee, being ignorant, flies anyway.
notice how every solution feels like a last resort? I'm curious what they tried *before* coming to the end of their rope
I like how they used the term "slow - Mach5 flights" unironically. It is probably the only plane about which you can say it XD
Is it a coincidence that Half As Interesting, Real Engineering, and Real Life Lore, all published videos within about an hour...
a lot of the channels I have subscribed have published videos today. I thought that was strange too
@@erblinbeqa6550 Sponsors often require you to upload within the month. That's why I uploaded today, last day of the month, otherwise I would have waited until Saturday.
@@RealEngineering is signing up for curiosity stream worth it? I don’t like putting money on online subscriptions, so I’m asking to be sure.
@@mr.sunmeadow I Love it. Although I recommend if you have more than 1 area of interest. You make the most of it if you like more than 3 "subjects" (Engineering, physics, biology, antropology, economy, etc.). It has 1 downside IMO, regional restrictions, as some content is not available in some regions... (don't tell anyone but you can get around this with a vpn.... shhh) xD
@@mr.sunmeadow I haven't bought it yet, but I'll just say, it's the cheapest subscription service I've ever heard of.
Extremely good details of technical information in this video, thank you. I just love the early X plane development and the extreme speeds and temps that they withstood in flight 🤩🤩
Good job on this video. Really like the detail.
Without a doubt the best documentary I've seen on the X-15.
Ohhh my lord that intro was like a god damn Oscar nominated movie
I have always loved the X-15 ever since the first time I read about it. I had a plastic model of it on my bookshelf.
Your best episode yet. A lot of new, interesting information I'd never heard before. Thanks.
Oh my, this is a long one. And I thought it couldn't get any better than the SR-71 video..
edit: the animations are mighty effing gorgeous
We don't deserve this channel for free, this is some netflix level shit 🙏❤️
*Nebula level shit ;)
@@RealEngineering I see what you did there 😂
😂😂
@@RealEngineering deception brainwashing level shit for gullible sheep to suck on the lies.
@@idontcare7961 what do you mean?
EXCELLENT video, I absolutely loved watching this and learned a ton. Thank you !!
Thanks for the video. I had known little about the X-15 before, but much more about the SR-71 aka "Blackbird" via the Net. It's really insane, given the fact the X-15 was being designed into the 50's, whereas there was usually a typical Tube Radio was standard for the ordinary masses....that kind of tech from the military/NASA was really well ahead of their time back then...
I've always loved the X-15 and so far to date this is the most thorough explanation in graphic detail of the aircraft's systems and mechanisms of thrust and control. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the inner workings of an aircraft I have loved as a child, but never seemed to get the same glory and exposure as the SR-71.
I understand why the sr71 got the glory it was used as a spy plane and was used more often so had more exposure i think there both amazing the sr71 was made with a slide rule and mans brain these days computer programmes are used probably the x15 was made by slide rule so its a truly amazing awe inspiring thing back in the fifties
@@tonydoherty2190 it really is bro, I didn't realize the fastest plane ever was still in the 50/60's. I didn't even know space planes actually existed until now!
@@tonydoherty2190 does this mean star wars air-space vehicles is a possibility?
@@mihailmilev9909 I have no idea
The US could have attached cannons or missiles to the x 15 and called it the world's fastest fighter jet or interceptor 💀
My father, now having passed away, worked for Gen. Robert White when dad was stationed at 4 ATAF in Ramstein in the mid seventies. He thought highly of Gen. White, not just for his X-15 flights, but as a boss. Some stories involving the dissolution of the marriage and his marriage to Christa were related by my father and mother. Hearing those tales, they remind me that he was as human as you or I.
Robert white was my great uncle once removed or something, the family never talks about him because of this. Ive always wanted to know more info about him but this video is more than Ive gotten from my family
@@TazyBaby My father held him in high regard, professionally, how could you not?. His boss before Gen. White was Gen. Gerhard Barkhorn, second leading ace of the Germans in WW2. I asked my father about writing something down about who he worked with. As for Gen. White, my father and mother were at function with him and his secretary Crista. My father was oblivious to the affair, my mother picked up on it immediately. I believe the dissolution of the marriage was rather hard on his wife at the time. My heart goes out to the families that have to pick up the pieces.
@@JM800 I was always interested and impressed by his career but no one in my family talks about him, its kind of hard to learn more when everyone stays silent you know. And wow thats crazy, thank you for the information. Id love to learn more about all of this
@@TazyBaby The story that was related to me was from my father and mother when we were stationed in West Germany from 73-78. What I remember was that his first wife found out about the affair with Crista. Something happened, and for whatever reason, she moved back to the states with the kids. Her reaction to this may have hastened this. My dad and mother, both died in Germany in 2019, she was German, and as well as I remember, so was Crista. As stated, dad worked with him at 4ATAF in Ramstein West Germany. My father was a bit in awe of General White, as I am while hearing about him. The obituaries are all true, but never remind that he was as human as you or I. He seemed to be cut from a different bolt of cloth. I hope my recollections clarify his humanity, not demote his amazing accomplishments.
That jezebel Crista, a Russian honeyplant engineered to distract the X-15 program!
Amazing video, easy to understand. Step by step
I had an aeroplane book as a kid and it featured the X15
Ever since reading that book some 50 years ago, the X15 had been my favorite plane ever since
A full salute goes to the amazing pilots and engineers of that era 🎩🎩
I never clicked so fast, the X-15 was always my childhood favorite plane
It's become my favourite plane while making this
@@RealEngineering I'm amazed by how little I really knew about the X-15. Thanks so much for making this video!
Another amazing thing about the X-15.. I'm now 70, and this flew when I was in second grade. We read about it in our "Weekly Reader," a little newspaper for school. Making and flying this
60+ years ago was quite an accomplishment.
It is always nice to hear from the Older generation, as they always give the perspective of what truly happened then and how it felt for them.
I’m 44 and read the weekly reader as a kid
It's amazing seeing old films from the 60's with B52's and realising the same planes are STILL FLYING now !!!
I read about the bell x1 the x15 over and over as a kid. They didn’t have all these details. I’m sure alot of it was still secret. Fun watching this and learning new things !
The CG work on this video is absolutely insane, never seen CG this good from an edutainment youtuber. I was sure the video would end with "this great footage was from a new documentary on curiosity stream" but nope
Hats off to you and your team!
That colour changing paint is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of
Ablative coatings shed heat by shedding themselves.
Yeah, I concur with Jim Urrata's comment, adding that technically it isn't even really a paint at all, but rather, a coating of thick, insulating, "sacrificial" ablative media designed to absorb & remove heat in a deliberate, measured, & controlled process of degradation as it's shed from the aircraft. The "colour changing" observed is simply the pink ablative coating showing through underneath the secondary white sealant coating, as both are scoured away by the fierce, superheated airflow passing over them hypersonically. The white sealant coating over the pink ablative was designed to provide a barrier between the aircraft's Liquid Oxygen fuel and the ablative coating, which had the potential to react in a violently catastrophic explosion if they were in contact and subject to even a slight impact.
I wonder if a more modern & improved type of ablative coating wouldn't have been more reliable on the Space Shuttles than the insulating tiles they had so much trouble attaching to it's skin and keeping there, eventually causing the tragedy of the loss of the vehicle Columbia and all her crew on atmospheric re-entry.
@@TomFlaTTop_BMW I think the black 'paint' was probably meant to radiate as much heat as possible.
But we see that wasn't nearly enough to keep body panels from evaporating.
The pink ablative coating added a lot of weight and had its own issues as outlined in the video.
We've come a _LONG_ way in heat rejecting coatings in the past 60 years.
Plasma sprayed ceramics would probably be their starting point today.
@@jimurrata6785 Yeah, Jim , I agree...the original black paint, similar to that used on the Blackbird Series aircraft, was designed to radiate heat as you describe, but that paint wasn't visible or applicable during the max velocity hypersonic runs as it was never designed to function & protect the aircraft at the extreme envelope of performance being targetted on this occasion, hence the need for the thick pink ablative material and the secondary white sealant applied over it.
And I'd like to agree with you about how far we've come with heat management coatings in the past 60 years, but as I hinted at previously, the best we've come up with since then, as used on the Space Shuttle vehicles, is those pathetically inadequate & unreliable ceramic tiles that have had a history of regular failures. The fact that only one Shuttle Orbiter was lost with all crew on board during re-entry is almost exclusively down to luck, and had the potential to occur on any mission.🙄😫😠😡🤬👿👎👉 Hence, my query as to whether the ablative coating solution using more modern materials addressing the issues it had on the X-15 programme might have been a viable solution for the Shuttle Orbiters, but maybe not....although who knows? The Shuttle Engineers used a caulking-like compound intended for bathrooms and purchased at a local hardware store to attach the individual ceramic tiles that collectively formed the heat shield. With all the multi-millions of taxpayer funds spent on these programmes, THAT's the best they could come up with?!??!! It's a wonder they didn't use "Blu-Tac" or sticky tape!
@@TomFlaTTop_BMW As far as b series there ceramic tiles and they wipe the planes down with some kind of coating by hand. As far as the latest technology metals that still out of my league.
Fantastic research. Some new info for most of us. Just brilliant!!
What an amazing, enlightening, educational documentary! Wow. Thank you!
One of the inspirations for me pursuing a career in engineering was this channel.
Cool. What are you doing now?
Same!! :)
Real Engineering: makes video about a spaceplane
Wendover Productions: sweats nervously
*spacerocket
@@andrewdoesyt7787 If you think it’s a space rocket, you have literally no clue what a plane and a rocket is.
@@LuchtLeiderNederland Lol, I know what a rocket is but my point is that it’s powered by a rocket engine and has short ass wings.
@@andrewdoesyt7787 That confirms you know nothing what a plane and a rocket is. It doesn’t matter how small the wings are or what engine it has. If it generates lift with fixed-wings, has any-kind of propulsion and it’s heavier than air, you can call it a plane. The X-15 fulfills all these requirements, so it’s a plane. Also, the X-15 has bigger wings than the F-104 which is a jet fighter. And the Me 263 has a rocket engine as well, and it’s still a plane. All your points are invalid and here’s proof.
@@LuchtLeiderNederland calm down my man
Subscribed. This was excellent work, I thoroughly enjoyed your video.
I love your series. This has been great, makes me think of my childhood when I would watch history channel with my dad.
Love your videos. Since we no longer have educational TV channels. This is even better than what Discovery channel used to be 25 years ago.
I work at a video editing service for creators, and I've worked with dozens of well known CZcamsrs. This channel though blows me away! You're among top quality in my eyes, thank you so much for the amazing work that you do!
Its amazing feat, yes, but I still always liked the SR-71 because to me it could take off and land on its own. It was the whole package.
The X-15 was basically a manned missle.
The x-15 was just fast. Thats all it could do. The sr-71 is and will always be the best ever.
@@corysonnier3248 um, fast, and could exit the atmosphere.
It was an X-Plane.
The SR was a practical operational aircraft. But it relied on data obtained from earlier X plane programs, and also NACAs supersonic wind tunnels and their scientists knowledge were also utilized in the program. There are photos of prototype A-12 models in the NACA wind tunnel.
The X-15 is a rocket not an airplane. When it reached the edge of space it needed thrusters to maneuver in the near absence of air. The wings were needed simply for flight control to reach its desired altitude, reentry and landing. If we consider rocket powered craft as airplanes, the fastest aircraft to be considered must be the space shuttle, many times faster than the X-15!
@@Atlantis.Reborn bullshit I've seen this argument before the X15 is a plane although it borders on rocket it is still definitively a plane it has the capability to maneuver in atmosphere and has always been referred to by the Pentagon as a plane not a rocket. Early models were also capable of taking off by itself but this was a study craft so that was deemed non essential. It also requires analog control unlike rockets which do not feature that kind of interface, do you know what does though a plane.
@@Nexsoxs if you placed large enough wings on a Saturn V rocket it would have the same characteristics of the X-15. Would you consider the Saturn V a plane?
I watch a metric crap ton of aircraft documentaries, yours Sir are the best by far. Voice, graphics, and epic details.
The X-15 is such an incredible work of engineering and determination. Respect to the test pilots, especially.
Thank you so much for this effort. The animations, charts and historical footage on this gem are on point and seem to mark a surge of creative growth and polish. Tremendous work!
I never learned this much of chemistry in my whole High school period.
Highly doubt you even passed school if you mistake chemistry with engineering
@@codytran1719 well, im sure someone who thinks chemistry has nothing to do with engineering would have done any better
@@ahil738 didn't say they have no correlation between each other. Also you're talking to a marine engineer.
@@codytran1719 you heard the subject chemical engineering?
@@codytran1719 Is basic literacy not a requirement of marine engineering?
During the X-15 program I realize the significance of the stressing and using, titanium and I also realize that if we could build the aircraft stand the speed of 15000 mph, this was the most significant development and we did at an early time Hypersonic technology
The X-15 was one of my favorite rocket planes as a kid. I remembered reading all about it at the library. It's fascinating to see this video and it brought back the childhood memories. The production value of this video is astounding!
Wow, the amount of engineering involved in this vehicle is mind boggling.
I am legitimately going to write down that I watch your videos on my personal statement when I apply for university.
Anyone could make a documentary about this aircraft but you have made one which has made me breathless! Your passion bleeds through and your videos (amongst other things) have inspired me to pursue Aeronautical Engineering after I complete my A-levels.
I hope you stick around for a couple more years so I can buy your merch and donate to your Patreon with my own money because you have helped shape my life!
Thank you for yet another wonderful documentary!!!
Amazing details I never knew before!!
Captivating! Excellent! Thank you.
Seriously, this kind of engineering gets my eyes a little teared up. 🥲
One interesting note: during that last high speed test, they attached a dummy scramjet engine underneath the X-15 to collect data (you can see it in the vid 27:57). The reason why the aircraft was damaged was because the shocks from the dummy scramjet impinged onto the strut holding it on the main body. The shock was like a super powered blowtorch and literally severed the dummy scramjet right off the bottom!
Hypersonics is so cool, but pretty scary too :D
I heard about this in a class, but this NASA report talks all about it: www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/87756main_H-524.pdf
There's an excellent summary of what happened there and the causes of it in the book "Hypersonic and high temperature gas dynamics".
you can see it better at 28:04, really interesting
OUTSTANDING vid, don't know how you capture all that data and graphics but the presentation is excellent even for us aerospace people too!
Please do a behind-the-scenes video someday. In particular, Who and using what program are some of those killer graphics being performed? Those shots look fantastic.