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

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

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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