North American X-15A-2 Three X-15s were built, and they made 199 flights between 1959-1968. The program was a joint U.S. Air Force/Navy/NASA project, and four of its 12 pilots were U.S. Air Force officers. One pilot, USAF Maj. Michael J. Adams, died in an X-15 crash in 1967. Another X-15 pilot, Neil Armstrong, later became the first man to walk on the moon. #dronevideo #x15 | National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

The X-15 was not a jet—it was a rocket plane. Slung beneath the wing of a B-52 bomber, it was dropped at high altitude before igniting its XLR99 rocket engine, generating up to 57,000 pounds of thrust. In seconds, the aircraft accelerated violently, climbing almost vertically as the sky darkened above the pilot. #aviation #military #jet | Jets 'n' Props