 Hypersonic
The Story of the North American X-15
By Dennis R. Jenkins & Tony R. Landis
Specialty Press, ©2003
ISBN 1-58007-068-1
264 pages, hardbound
Available from Specialty Press
for $39.95
When I received the preview information on this title, I figured it
would be a decent book on the X-15, probably with the usual stories
and photos. When the book showed up on my doorstep with a resounding
thud, I started to think that perhaps there was more to this than I
first thought. Pulling the large 12x12 hardbound book from the envelope
and seeing that great cover photo, I realized that this was no simple
rehash of existing information.
The first thing I looked at upon opening the book up was the table
of contents, and this looks deceptively simple. A total of twelve chapters,
and only four appendixes; it just didn't seem like much. Then I quickly
flipped through the pages and found myself drawn into the X-15 project
like no other book has ever done. The photos spread throughout the book
are outstanding, both in black and white and in color. A quick check
shows that there are over 500 photos in this book, quite an impressive
number. Looking on the back of the book, though, I noticed that the
authors had an additional 400 that were cut due to space, and those
are published in a separate book, X-15 Photo Scrapbook.
Once I got past the great photos, I started reading the
text. The X-15 program was an incredible one that explored areas of
flight never experienced before. In reading the text I was constantly
amazed at what scientists of the day achieved, all long before the advent
of computers. The development and creation of the X-15 is covered in
excellent detail. The difficulties in creating a plane that would fly
at the speeds planned were immense, but the people at North American
persevered and the X-15 was born.
Just building the plane is only part of the story, and
a section of the book is devoted to two other very important aspects
of the X-15 project. The first part involved getting the X-15 into the
air, and monitoring it once it was up there. Carrier, support and chase
aircraft get an entire chapter of coverage, with excellent detail given
of the NB-52A and NB-52B aircraft. Drawings are also included showing
the various mission marks and nose art worn by these two famous BUFFs.
The second part deals with getting the X-15 back on the
ground, namely where to land it. Dry lakes were the name of the game
here, and the chapter detailing these show all the different lake beds
laid out as potential X-15 landing sites. I was amazed at the large
number of lake beds that were turned into runways, as I had thought
there were only two or three. High-altitude photos of these lake beds
show the length of the runways as well as the surrounding countryside.
Now we've got the plane, we can get it into the air,
and we've got a place for it to land. What's left? How about the huge
amount of research generated by the many flights of the X-15s? The remainder
of the book covers just that, and it is here that the attention to detail
the authors took really shows up. The X-15 was used for a wide variety
of research projects, and every single one is covered in this book.
There is also a complete flight log included, as well as a section detailing
the tragic death of pilot Mike Adams during the flight on November 15,
1967.
This is hands down the absolute best reference on the
X-15 program, bar none. The authors did an outstanding job of researching
the program, its equipment, and its people, and put it all together
in a well-written and beautifully illustrated book. Considering the
amount of information presented here, the price of $39.95 is an unbelievable
bargain. If you are interested in the space program, or aviation of
the 1960s, or even just interested in aviation milestones, this is one
book that you should not pass up.
Our thanks to Specialty
Press for the review sample. Every order has a shipping & handling
charge of only $4.95.
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