Revell 1/72 X-15-A2

[Ryan K]

Your really cranking them out and this looks lik another good one.

Not just the AF, in the engineering world whole numbering stationing is called balls also.

10+00 (usually where something starts) is called 10 balls.

[Herk]

Bill,
Wonderful build of a little known subject.  Will be very interested in seeing the final product - Mother Ship & X-15-A2.

Trivia - The NB-52A mothership, serial number 52-0003, was known as the "High & Mighty One" while the NB-52B, serial number 52-0008, was known as "Balls 8".  [It is common practice among USAF personnel to refer to aircraft whose tail number is a single number preceded by multiple zeros as "Balls" and the last number of its tail number]. Both flew the X-15 program.

Regards,
Steve

[Bill L.]

The real deal.....

[Bill L.]

This is a kit I've had on the back burner for a while and decided to finish it as the 'A2' model of the X-15. 

American manned spaceplane. Study 1965. The crash-damaged X-15 number 2 was rebuilt to attain even higher speeds. The body frame was stretched, and two drop tanks were added, increasing propellant load by 75%.
An ablative heat shield was applied to protect the spaceplane during re-entry. The X-15A-2 reached the highest speeds and altitudes of any manned spaceplane until the space shuttle entered service.

The X-15A-2, modified from the number two aircraft and delivered to NASA in February 1964, included among other new features, a 28-in. fuselage extension to carry liquid hydrogen for a supersonic combustion ramjet that was flown (as a dummy) but never tested. It also had external tanks for liquid ammonia and liquid oxygen. These tanks provided roughly 60 seconds of additional engine burn and were used on the aircraft's Mach 6.7 flight. While adding to the speed the X-15 did achieve, the tanks also increased the aircraft's weight to almost 57,000 lb and added significantly to the drag experienced by the aircraft in flight.

700 hours was needed to refurbish the heat shield. The ablative covering had to be completely stripped off, then reapplied. After the record Mach 6.93 flight, the aircraft received thermal structural damage and the covering was severely pitted and charred. Repair was uneconomical and the aircraft was grounded.

It is not often that you see the A2 built.  Since I have the Monogram B-52B/X-15 model in 1/72, and eventually I will build it, building the A2 gave me the option as to which vehicle I want to hang fro  the B-52 Mothership.

Bill L.