While the SR-71 Blackbird gets all the press, the rocket-powered X-15 has its own richly deserved place in the aviation ...

U.S. Air Force test pilot Maj. Michael J. Adams was killed during X-15 Flight 191 on Nov. 15, 1967. The North American X-15 was a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft 50 ft long with a wingspan of ...

Still the fastest airplane ever flown, the North American X-15 earned its title 40 years ago, when on October 3, 1967 Air Force Major William “Pete” Knight flew the rocket-powered aircraft to ...

The X-15 pilots clown around in front of the #2 aircraft. From left to right: USAF Capt. Joseph Engle, USAF Maj. Robert Rushworth, NASA test pilot John "Jack" McKay, USAF Maj. William "Pete ...

The Air Force proposed using the North American X-15, an aircraft capable of flying to space, as opposed to NASA’s preference for a capsule. -The X-15, powered by the Reaction Motors XLR99 ...

The X-15 is the only conventional aircraft that ... But NASA and the U.S. Air Force, working in conjunction, manned a program that did exactly that—flew an aircraft in the traditional sense ...

The record-breaking NASA/USAF X-15, the fastest plane ever built, could blaze through the skies at a staggering 4,520mph, which would slash the London to New York journey to a mere 45 minutes.

It was called the NASA/USAF X-15 and it was an experimental aircraft designed by Nasa and the United States Air Force for a hypersonic research program. The X-15 broke records when reaching the ...

While this may pale in comparison to the X-15, the SR-71 retains its distinction as the fastest warplane ever manufactured and deployed in service. (This is the US Air Force’s oldest aircraft.) ...