by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Ok, let’s get this out of the way to start with: There never was an X-16 aircraft. There was a program to develop it and a mockup was constructed, but the program was cancelled before a real aircraft was built. So, the astute reader will have figured out what I’m...
by Nigel Blackwell | Cars
Even by modern day standards, the X-15 was a remarkably safe aircraft given the goals it was designed to achieve. Be it skill, experience, or just plain luck, the engineer’s design stood up to everything thrown at it right up until Michael Adams launched on flight...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
The facts, fiction, and body of knowledge the X-15 generated is enormous. School kids should be taught about it as one of the great things the US should be proud of. In fact, I do bring it up with them, but (contrary to what you may have heard) I do have some sympathy...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Colonel John Stapp died in 1999 at the age of 89. An amazingly old age given what he put his body through in those 89 years. John Stapp joined the USAF and studied the biophysical effects of flight. Not just the cruising back and forth stuff, the violent...
by Nigel Blackwell | Planes
Piloting the X-1 beyond the speed of sound was an accomplishment of skill, bravery and dedication. And when Chuck Yeager pushed passed Mach 1 the newly formed Air Force pushed just as hard to pick up every opportunity for publicity it could. Thing is, the Air Force...