North American Aviation logo X-15 and other X-Planes
Books
and other nonperiodical literature:  Technical reports, brochures, etc.
  • Best X-15 books currently in print
  • Books whose main focus is the X-15 program
  • Books on X-planes in general or other specific X-planes
  • Other books containing X-15 or X-plane content
  • Listings for types of planes include books about their test pilots and others involved with their engineering and scientific achievements.

    Best X-15 books currently in print

    Hypersonic!Cover of Hypersonic! The Story of the North American X-15
        The Story of the
    North American X-15
    Dennis R. Jenkins
    2003
    Specialtypress    Can be ordered now from this web page
                              (or search from the  Specialtypress home page)

    X-15 Photo ScrapbookX-15 Photo Scrapbook
    Tony R. Landis and Dennis R. Jenkins
    2003
    Specialtypress

    This annotated photo collection is a companion to Hypersonic


    At the Edge of Space    The X-15 Flight Program
    Milton O. Thompson
    1992 Smithsonian Institution Press

    X-15   The NASA Mission Reports
    Robert Godwin, editor
    2000  Apogee Books
    (includes computer-readable material on cdrom)

    Hypersonics Before the Shuttle   A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane
    Monographs in Aerospace History Number 18, NASA Publication SP-2000-4518
    Dennis R. Jenkins
    2000  NASA History Office


    Books whose main focus is the X-15 program

    Aerofax Datagraph 2:   North American Aviation X-15/X-15A-2
    Ben Guenther, Jay Miller, Terry Panopalis
    1985, Aerofax, Inc.

    Always Another Dawn
    A. Scott Crossfield with Clay Blair, Jr.
    1960 World Publishing, 1961 Hodder & Stoughton (British edition)
    Lowe & Brydone (Printers) Ltd., for Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd.

    At the Edge of Space    The X-15 Flight Program
    Milton O. Thompson
    1992 Smithsonian Institution Press

    Hypersonics Before the Shuttle   A Concise History of the X-15 Research Airplane
    Monographs in Aerospace History Number 18, NASA Publication SP-2000-4518
    Dennis R. Jenkins
    2000  NASA History Office

    Mike Mars Flies the X-15
    Donald A. Wollheim
    1961  Doubleday, Paperback Library
    Fiction, plot based on X-15 flight program

    Mike Mars South Pole Spaceman
    Donald A. Wollheim
    1962 Doubleday
    Fiction, plot based on use of X-15's

    Ninety Seconds to Space      The Story of the X-15
    Jules Bergman
    1960  Hanover House

    Proceedings of the X-15 First Flight 30th Anniversary Celebration
    NASA document # CP-3105
    1991  NASA Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Facility

    Rocketship X-15
    Myron Gubitz
    1960 Julian Messner

    Space Ship    The Story of the X-15
    Irwin Stambler
    1961  G. P. Putnam's Sons

    X-15
    A. Scott Crossfield and Clay Blair, Jr.
    1961  Arthaud
    French translation of Always Another Dawn

    X-15 Diary
    Richard Tregaskis
    1961, E.P. Dutton & Co

    X-15 Flight Manual
    North American Aviation
    Reissued at new revision levels during the X-15 program (~ 1958-1968)
    (2 versions reproduced in X-15  The NASA Mission Reports)

    X-15   The NASA Mission Reports
    Robert Godwin, editor
    2000  Apogee Books
    (includes computer-readable material on cdrom)

    X-15     Research at the Edge of Space
    NASA  publication # EP-9
    1964  NASA

    X-15 Research Results
    Wendell Stillwell
    NASA publication # SP-60
    1965  NASA


    Books on X-planes in general or other specific X-planes

    5 Great Postwar American X-Planes  (X-Planes Pictoral-1)
    Henry Matthews
    1998  HPM Publications

    Across the High Frontier
    William R. Lundgren
    1955 William Morrow, 1987 Bantam Books paperback

    Aerofax Datagraph 3:   Bell X-1 Variants
    Ben Guenther and Jay Miller
    1988 Aerofax, Inc.

    Air Force Supersonic Research Airplane XS-1
    Report No. 1,  U-55038-74
    1948  USAF

    The Fastest Man Alive
    Lt. Colonel Frank K. Everest, Jr. as told to John Guenther
    1958   E.P. Dutton, 1986 Berkley Books (paperback)

    Flying Without Wings
    Milton O. Thompson and Curtis Peebles
    1999  Smithsonian Institution Press

    The Hypersonic Revolution
        Case Studies in the History of Hypersonic Technology
    Volumes I and II edited by Dr. Richard P. Hallion
    Volume III by Dr. Larry Schweikert
    1987  Air Force History Support Office

    Into the Unknown   The X-1 Story
    Louis Rotundo
    1994  Smithsonian Institution Press

    Jet and Rocket Planes that made history
    David C. Cooke
    1961  G.P. Putnam's Sons

    The Lonely Sky
    William Bridgeman with Jacqueline Hazard
    1955  Henry Holt and Company

    Meeting the Challenge of Supersonic Flight
    James O. Young
    1997  Air Force Flight Test Center History Office, Edwards AFB

    Mike Mars Flies the Dyna-Soar
    Donald A. Wollheim
    1962  Doubleday
    Fiction, plot based on X-20 and other X-planes

    On the Frontier    Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981
    Richard P. Hallion
    NASA publication # SP-4303
    1984  NASA

    The Quest for Mach One
    Chuck Yeager, Bob Cardenas, Bob Hoover, Jack Russell, James Young
    1997  The Penguin Group

    Rocket Aircraft, USA
    Erik Bergaust
    1961  G.P. Putnam's Sons

    Supersonic Flight    The Story of the Bell X-1 and Douglas D-558
    Richard P. Hallion
    1972  Smithsonian & Macmillan  first edition first printing

    Winging into Space
    Walter B. Hendrickson, Jr.
    1965  The Bobbs-Merrill Company

    The X-Planes    X-1 to X-31
    Jay Miller
    1988  Aerofax/Orion Books
    Several different editions of this book exist, each augmenting
    its predecessor's scope of coverage as new X-planes appear.

    X-Planes at Edwards
    Steve Pace
    1995  MBI Publishing Company

    X-Planes Photo Scrapbook
    Dennis R. Jenkins
    2004  Specialty Press

    X-15 Rocket Plane   Those Daring Machines
    Wilma S. Ross
    1994  Crestwood House/MacMillan [Maxwell MacMillan]


    Other books containing X-15 or X-plane content

    Aerospace Pilot
    Charles Coombs
    1964  William Morrow and Company

    American Heritage History of Flight
    Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. editor
    1962  American Heritage Publishing Co.

    American Space Digest
    Foreword by Scott Crossfield
    1963   Schick Safety Razor Company

    Angle of Attack     Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon
    Mike Gray
    1992  W. W. Norton & Co.

    Aviation and Space Medicine
    Martin and Grace Caidin
    1962  E. P. Dutton & Co.

    Coupling Dynamics in Aircraft:  A Historical Perspective
    Richard E. Day
    NASA publication # SP-532
    1997  NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

    Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket
    Naval Fighters Number Fifty-seven
    Scott Libis
    2002 Steve Ginter

    Edwards    Flight Test Center of the U.S.A.F.
    John Ball, Jr.
    1962  Meredith Press

    Edwards Air Force Base    Experimental Flight Test Center
    Steve Pace
    1994  Motorbooks International

    Expanding the Envelope
    Michael H. Gorn
    2001  The University Press of Kentucky

    Famous Aircraft of All Time
    Kenneth Munson
    1977 Arco Publishing Co.

    Fifty Years of Aerospace Research
    NASA publication # EP-45
    1967  NASA

    Fifty Years of Flight Research: An Annotated Bibliography of Technical Publications of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, 1946-1996
    NASA/TP-1999-206568
    David F. Fisher
    1999  NASA

    First of the Spacemen -- Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr.
    James J. Haggerty, Jr.
    1960  Duell, Sloan and Pierce

    Flights of Discovery  50 Years At the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
    Lane E. Wallace
    NASA publication # SP-4309
    1996  NASA History Office

    Forever Flying
    R.A. "Bob" Hoover with Mark Shaw
    1996  Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster)

    The High-Speed Frontier
    John V. Becker
    NASA publication #  SP-445
    Case histories of four NACA programs, including high speed airfoils & transonic wind tunnels

    Hugh L. Dryden's Career in Aviation and Space
    Monographs in Aerospace History Number 5
    Michael H. Gorn
    1996  NASA History Office

    Jane's Pocketbook 12:  Research and Experimental Aircraft
    Compiled by Michael J.H. Taylor, edited by John W.R. Taylor
    1976, Macdonald and Jane's

    Lockheed NF-104A   Air Force Legends Number 204
    Scott Libis
    US Air Force

    Model Research  Volume 1 and Volume 2
    Alex Roland
    NASA publication # SP-4103
    History of NACA, emphasis on organizational & political history

    Model Spacecraft Construction
    Report submitted to NASA by California State College at Long Beach
    1964, addendum submitted 1966  US Government Printing Office

    Modern Airmanship
    Neil D. Van Sickle, editor
    1957, 1961, 1966  Van Nostrand

    NASA Facts   NASA Flight Research Center
    1967 public affairs short brochure, 4 pages

    Open House '87 Edwards AFB    Forty Years of Supersonic Flight
    Color glossy brochure from 1987 open house
    1987  USAF

    Press On
    Chuck Yeager and Charles Leerhsen
    1988  Bantam Books

    Selected Examples of NACA/NASA Supersonic Flight Research
    Edwin J. Saltzman and Theodore G. Ayers
    NASA publication # SP-513
    1995  NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

    Skyrocketing into the Unknown
    Charles Coombs
    1954 William Morrow and Company

    Space Shuttle
        The History of Developing the National Space Transportation System
        The Beginning through STS-75
    Dennis R. Jenkins
    1992  Published by Dennis R. Jenkins, printed by Walsworth Publishing Company

    Space Shuttle
        An Illustrated History of Space Shuttle US winged spacecraft:
        X-15 to Orbiter
    Melvyn Smith FBIS
    1985  Haynes Publishing Group

    Test Pilots
    Gene Gurney (Lt. Col., USAF) editor
    1965  E.M. Hale, 1st Cadmus edition, regular edition by Franklin Watts, Inc.

    Test Pilots:  The Frontiersmen of Flight
    Richard P. Hallion
    1981  Doubleday

    Tex Johnston  Jet-Age Test Pilot
    A.M. "Tex" Johnston with Charles Barton
    1991 Smithsonian Institution Press

    Women in Flight Research at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center from 1946 to 1995
    Sheryll Goecke Powers
    Monographs in Aerospace History Number 6
    2000  NASA

    The World's Strangest Aircraft
    Michael Taylor
    1996  Regency House/Barnes & Noble

    Yeager
    Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos
    1985  Bantam Books


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