X-15 Hypersonic Aircraft. Rare Interviews: "The Right Stuff" Pilot Scott Crossfield
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- X-15 Hypersonic Aircraft and "The Right Stuff" pilot Scott Crossfield.
A rare interview about his career, Pearl Harbor, NACA, NASA, and the Apollo program.
Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 - April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the United States Air Force and NASA.[1][2]
Early years
Born October 2, 1921, in Berkeley, California, Scott Crossfield grew up in southern California and rural southwest Washington,[1] a son of Albert Scott Crossfield, Sr. (May 13, 1887 - October 21, 1954) and his first wife Maria Lucia Dwyer (March 8, 1892 - March 23, 1960).
Crossfield graduated from Boistfort High School southwest of Chehalis, attended the University of Washington in Seattle, and then worked for Boeing. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. During this time, he flew the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters, as well as SNJ trainers, and a variety of other aircraft. He married Alice Virginia Knoph (June 27, 1920 - September 23, 2015) on 21 April 1943 in Corpus Christi, Texas.[3] She was of Norwegian descent and had attended Garfield High School in Seattle. From 1946 to 1950, he worked in the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in aeronautical engineering in 1949 and 1950, respectively. Their son Paul Stanley Crossfield was born in 1952 while the Crossfields resided in California.
The story of North American X-15 hypersonic rocket aircraft, reaching a top speed of Mach 6.70 and a staggering height of 67.1 mi (335.000 ft / 108 km). Learn about the courageous pilots that flew it and a brief history of rocket planes, including the Bell X-1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, the first to break the sound barrier, or the Bell X-2 that flew at Mach 3. The X-15 first flight was in mid 1959, more than 60 years ago. It also includes a series of vintage documentaries on the subject.
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. The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h; 2,021 m/s), was achieved on 3 October 1967, when William J. Knight flew at Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 102,100 feet (31,120 m), or 19.34 miles. This set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken.
The initial 24 powered flights used two Reaction Motors XLR11 liquid-propellant rocket engines, enhanced to provide a total of 16,000 pounds-force (71 kN) of thrust as compared to the 6,000 pounds-force (27 kN) that a single XLR11 provided in 1947 to make the Bell X-1 the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. The XLR11 used ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen.
By November 1960, Reaction Motors delivered the XLR99 rocket engine, generating 57,000 pounds-force (250 kN) of thrust. The remaining 175 flights of the X-15 used XLR99 engines, in a single engine configuration. The XLR99 used anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen as propellant, and hydrogen peroxide to drive the high-speed turbopump that delivered propellants to the engine. It could burn 15,000 pounds (6,804 kg) of propellant in 80 seconds; Jules Bergman titled his book on the program Ninety Seconds to Space to describe the total powered flight time of the aircraft.
Specifications
North American X-15 3-view.svg
Other configurations include the Reaction Motors XLR11 equipped X-15, and the long version.
General characteristics:
Crew: One
Length: 50 ft 9 in (15.47 m)
Wingspan: 22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Height: 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
Wing area: 200 sq ft (19 m2)
Empty weight: 14,600 lb (6,622 kg)
Gross weight: 34,000 lb (15,422 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-2 liquid-fuelled rocket engine, 70,400 lbf (313 kN) thrust
Performance
Maximum speed: 4,520 mph (7,270 km/h, 3,930 kn)
Range: 280 mi (450 km, 240 nmi)
Service ceiling: 354,330 ft (108,000 m)
Rate of climb: 60,000 ft/min (300 m/s)
Thrust/weight: 2.07
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There are no words to express my reverence and admiration for that man.
@ 45:43 "No, no... the Dayton kid isn't sittin' on the fence dreaming anymore." Broke my damn heart :(
His book "Always Another Dawn" is a MUST READ. Especially for nerds like me that want to hear more of the development details which he done such a good job detailing at a high level.
That sounds right up my street! Thank you for suggesting 🍻
I read it also. Great book. He was much more than just the first to fly the X-15. He was a member of the original design team.
Incredible interview!
Thank you
This is very interesting. Thank you for your service sir
This is a great interview. I'm wondering what year this was recorded. Thank you!
Around 2003
I'm trying to find video of Joe Walker's 30 April 1962 flight as it accidentally captured the then-highly classified A-12 Oxcart in the background that was dismissed as "ice coming off the engine"
One of the greatest missed opportunities in all of aviation history was the Air Force and NASA's lack of foresight in not letting Crossfield continue in the X-15 program and allowing Chuck Yeager to join it. Crossfield was dropped because he was no longer a commissioned officer, Yeager was denied because he did not have a college degree. Could you imagine the feats that would have occurred had these two, possibly the greatest test pilots who have yet lived, been allowed to carry their rivalry to its ultimate conclusion in what was the penultimate x-plane? A further travesty is that neither of them were allowed to be astronauts, for similar reasons.
Yeager had given up test piloting after the X1A. He was barred from the Mercury Astronaut program for yes, the lack of a college degree but it was very unlikely he would have
applied to be an astronaut, even if he had been eligible. For somebody of Yeager's stature, I think if he had expressed desire to become an astronaut, some rules would have been "bent" for him.
Crossfield is such a badass that star trek named the USS Discovery type ships the Crossfield class.
You are right!
In fact the ship designer is into X planes himself. If you look at the Discoveries secondary hull from the bottom pov, you'll notice that it resembles the Valkyrie bomber.
We had the honor of having something we made (a sculpture)be chosen as a prop in the Picard series.
That was really cool, since it is sitting right next to many other Star Trek symbols/relics/props.
The name is Square Wave by Ivan Black (a kinetic sculpture). The artist also loves the show, and so do we.
Geeky stories…🙂
I always enjoy running into other trekkies. LLAP
When was this interview
Dronescapes should have posted the date of interview. It’s kinda important.
The producer could not place a precise date on this, but is seems it was around 2003
I, too, was hoping for a more precise interview date. He talks about the International Space Station in the present tense, so it's almost certainly post-2000. I think 2003 is a good estimate.
I suppose the author of this piece is ignorant of the book from which the quote is extracted, otherwise he would remember Tom Wolfe's description of Scott Crossfield.
I believe that what really matters is to have (and celebrate) the very person behind the cockpit: Scott Crossfield, and you can listen to his words, rather than focusing on such a minute detail, as great as Tom Wolfe's book is, he is not Scott Crossfield.