A fleet of lifting bodies
flown at the NASA Flight
Research Center, Edwards,
California, from 1963 to 1975
demonstrated the ability of
pilots to maneuver (in the
atmosphere) and safely land a
wingless vehicle. These
lifting bodies were basically
designed so they could fly
back to Earth from space and
be landed like an aircraf
more

A fleet of lifting bodies
flown at the NASA Flight
Research Center, Edwards,
California, from 1963 to 1975
demonstrated the ability of
pilots to maneuver (in the
atmosphere) and safely land a
wingless vehicle. These
lifting bodies were basically
designed so they could fly
back to Earth from space and
be landed like an aircraft at
a pre-determined site. (In
1976 NASA renamed the FRC as
the NASA Dryden Flight
Research Center in honor of
Hugh L. Dryden.)In 1962, FRC
Director Paul Bikle approved a
program to build a
lightweight, unpowered lifting
body as a prototype to flight
test the wingless concept. It
would look like a 'flying
bathtub,' and was designated
the M2-F1. It featured a
plywood shell, built by Gus
Briegleb (a sailplane builder
from El Mirage, California)
placed over a tubular steel
frame crafted at the FRC.
Construction was completed in
1963.The success of the Flight
Research Center M2-F1 program
led to NASA development and
construction of two
heavyweight lifting bodies
based on studies at the NASA
Ames and Langley research
centers--the M2-F2 and the
HL-10, both built by the
Northrop Corporation,
Hawthorne, California. The Air
Force also became interested
in lifting body research and
had a third design concept
built, the X-24A, built by the
Martin Company, Denver,
Colorado. It was later
modified into the X-24B and
both configurations were flown
in the joint NASA-Air Force
lifting body program located
at Dryden.The X-24B design
evolved from a family of
potential reentry shapes, each
with higher lift-to-drag
ratios, proposed by the Air
Force Flight Dynamics
Laboratory.To reduce the costs
of constructing a research
vehicle, the Air Force
returned the X-24A to Martin
for modifications that
converted its bulbous shape
into one resembling a 'flying
flatiron' -- rounded top, flat
bottom, and a double-delta
planform that ended in a
pointed nose.First to fly the
X-24B was John A. Manke, a
glide flight on August 1,
1973. He was also the pilot on
the first powered mission
November 15, 1973.Among the
final flights with the X-24B
were two precise landings on
the main concrete runway at
Edwards, California, which
showed that accurate unpowered
reentry vehicle landings were
operationally feasible. These
missions were flown by Manke
and Air Force Maj. Mike Love
and represented the final
milestone in a program that
helped write the flight plan
for the Space Shuttle program
of today.After launch from the
B-52 'mothership' at an
altitude of about 45,000 feet,
the XLR-11 rocket engine was
ignited and the vehicle
accelerated to speeds of more
than 1,100 miles per hour and
to altitudes of 60,000 to
70,000 feet. After the rocket
engine was shut down, the
pilots began steep glides
towards the Edwards runway. As
the pilots entered the final
leg of their approach, they
increased their rate of
descent to build up speed and
used this energy to perform a
'flare out' maneuver, which
slowed their landing speed to
about 200 miles per hour--the
same basic approach pattern
and landing speed of the Space
Shuttles today.The final
powered flight with the X-24B
aircraft was on September 23,
1975. The pilot was Bill Dana,
and it was also the last
rocket-powered flight flown at
Dryden. It was also Dana who
flew the last X-15 mission
about seven years earlier.Top
speed reached with the X-24B
was 1,164 miles per hour (Mach
1.76) by Love on October 25,
1974. The highest altitude
reached was 74,100 feet, by
Manke on May 22, 1975. The
X-24B is on public display at
the Air Force Museum,
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Category Film & Animation

Tags space, nasa, aircraft