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Categories: North American : US Air Force : X-15 : Dragon
North American X-15 2nd Prototype 1st Flight (1:144 scale by Dragon 51032-03)
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The experimental X-15 built by North American Aviation was an astonishing craft. It was both an aircraft and a spaceplane, setting speed and altitude records at the edge of outer space in the 1960s. Such was its performance that some pilots could also hold claim to being astronauts. Even today, the hypersonic X-15 holds the record for the fastest ever manned rocket-powered aircraft at a top speed of Mach 6.32 (a staggering 7,274km/h). It was powered by either two XLR11 or one XLR99 jet engines made by Reaction Motors Inc. To begin its flights, a NASA B-52 would carry the experimental craft aloft before releasing it at an altitude of approximately 14km. Three X-15 aircraft were manufactured and test-flown 199 times. Dragon has previously produced an X-15 model (Item No.51022), but this new 1/144 scale item represents the second X-15 prototype. This was the first craft to be flown with the single XLR99-RM-2 liquid-fuel rocket engine on its maiden flight occurring on 15 November 1960.
1:144 scale (approx. 15cm / 5.9in long) - made by Dragon.
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