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The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h; 2,021 m/s), [1] was achieved on 3 October 1967, [2] when William J. Knight flew at Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 102,100 feet (31,120 m), or 19.34 miles.
During its research program, the aircraft set unofficial world speed and altitude records of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7 on Oct. 3, 1967, with Air Force pilot Pete Knight at the controls) and 354,200 feet (on Aug. 22, 1963, with NASA pilot Joseph Walker in the cockpit).
The X-15, however, could start its approach at 20,000 feet and at supersonic speeds in excess of 1,500 mph – radically different conditions than most pilots experienced.
X-15 number 56-6670 flew 81 missions, including the last eight of the program. It reached a speed of 4,104 mph (Mach 6.06), and an altitude of 266,500 feet. Eric Long/NASM
The X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at 45,000 feet and at a speed of about 500 mph. After dropping from the B-52, the rocket engine provided thrust for the first 80 to 120 seconds of flight.
The X-15 worked as anticipated that day, reaching a modest altitude of 52,341 feet, but easily breaking the sound barrier and recording a top speed of Mach 2.11 during the nine-minute flight. “It was a big step, you bet,” Engle said.
Then, just 20 years later, William “Pete” Knight flew the X-15 hypersonic airplane to a Mach number of 6.7, the fastest speed attained in the X-15. By virtue of this flight, Knight still holds today the world’s speed record in a winged, powered aircraft.
On October 3, 1967, U.S. Air Force pilot William “Pete” Knight set a world speed record in an X-15 rocket plane. Minutes later, the aircraft landed charred and broken. Knight was one of 12 men who piloted the experimental X-15 planes.
on high-speed missions, the X-15 reached an the heart rate of an X-15 pilot ranged from altitude of 100,000 feet, which heated the skin 145 to 185 beats per minute as the adrenaline of the airplane until it glowed nearly red-hot. it
The X-15 is one of the fastest and highest flying aircraft in the world, reaching a top speed of over mach 6.7 and an altitude of more than 350,000 ft.