From The Archives: 65 Years Ago In Aviation Week
Our June 29, 1959, cover showed a North American X-15 “rocket research aircraft” being dropped from a Boeing B-52 on its first free-flight flight test two weeks earlier near Edwards AFB, California.
The X-15 was released at a speed of Mach 0.80 and glided into a large S-turn by pilot Scott Crossfield to test the effectiveness of its control handling and flaps. Ultimately three X-15s would be built and make 199 flights. In 1967, one of them achieved a speed of Mach 6.72—an official record that stands to this day.
Also in that issue was a report from the Paris Air Show, which noted that a “spectacular demonstration by the Swedish Saab Draken [fighter] and some inspired flying by French and British aerobatic teams saved this 23rd International Aeronautical Salon from being just another air show.”
See the cover from Aviation Week, Including Space Technology's June 29, 1959 issue.
Read the report from the Paris Air Show on page 20.
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