| People are the heart and soul of a successful
research effort such as the X-15 program and similar pioneering
aviation
research. Those who are best known are the test pilots, whose skill and
insight are vital. They are those who directly execute the research,
often
at the risk of their own lives. It is their flights that
produce
spectacular records; it is also their countless less remarkable flights
that gather volumes of data to build our scientific and engineering
knowledge
of new realms of flight. |
 |
 Bell X-2 with supporting people and equipment The X-15 program involved a much larger support effort. |
It's important to realize that program success
depends on countless others. In the words of X-15 test pilot
Robert
White:"... I would add that accomplishments like those in the X-15 are not the result of only one man's effort. Many people were involved with all kinds of talent and knowledge to insure that what I did would be a success. Just as in any endeavor, people must act together in a societal arrangement to satisfy our goals."Over time this web page will add content to recognize some of these other people who contributed to the X-15 program. Others who will be acknowledged include some of those involved in earlier U.S. rocket aircraft programs, which were important contributors to the knowledge needed for the X-15. Finally, a few additional acknowledgements will honor those in successor programs, which in turn applied lessons learned through X-15 flight research. |
X-15 Research Pilots...
All X-15 research pilots were engineers
as well as pilots. Some left a record of engineering achievement that
is little known but that may in fact have been at least as important as
their flight experience. Scott Crossfield is foremost on this list for
his work with North American Aviation in development of the X-15. Milt
Thompson took on research engineering tasks and projects throughout his
service at NASA Dryden, not only on the X-15 but also on lifting bodies
and other projects. He left a collection of engineering notes which
remains as the Thompson Collection in the NASA Dryden History Office.
Neil Armstrong, then as now, was a research engineer first and a
research pilot second. His contributions in both areas continued when
he moved in 1962 from the X-15 program to Gemini, then to Apollo.
Engineering and science were integral parts of the X-15's flight research program, it required tall of its pilots to have special skills in this area. For that reason they are referred to here as research pilots rather than as test pilots.
Engineering and science were integral parts of the X-15's flight research program, it required tall of its pilots to have special skills in this area. For that reason they are referred to here as research pilots rather than as test pilots.
