Recently picked up "At the Edge of Space," a book about the X-15 flight program, written by one of its pilots, Milton Thompson. I didn't think I would get into it as much as I did, but it reads like he's sitting across the booth from you at Denny's. I couldn't believe how many stories and anecdotes he was able to remember and articulate, many of them involving household names like Neil Armstrong.
From an engineering point of view, the book is fascinating. From a pilot's point of view, it's probably just as intriguing. Even car nuts should appreciate this book (FYI, there are a few stories about cars).
Me after reading the first chapter:
After finishing:
I agree, it is worth reading.
pres589
UltraDork
12/1/14 1:13 p.m.
Does it talk about flight dynamics and controls much? What would an engineer get out of reading it? I'm honestly curious and not trying to sound negative.
Amazon has 30% off one book, in case anyone wants to buy it (assuming they have it in stock)
I'm working on this one, also highly recommended. 
I have not read this book, but I imagine if you enjoyed it you would also enjoy Chuck Yeager's autobiography. Good for the story, but with a few technical bits in there.
Damnit. More books. I'm still way behind on my reading.
pres589 wrote:
Does it talk about flight dynamics and controls much? What would an engineer get out of reading it? I'm honestly curious and not trying to sound negative.
Yes, all of the above and more. All of the test pilots had engineering degrees, so the book was written from that mindset, and all of the aircraft's systems are explained in detail. It covers quite a few individual flights from start to finish, including radio transcripts, including system failures, what experiments they were running, errors, etc.
There's a whole chapter devoted to engine stand testing procedures. I'd liken it to "How it's Made" but a lot more technical. An average reader could stumble through it but probably wouldn't appreciate it as much.
On Neil Armstrong:
"Neil lived in a small house in a couple of acres in Juniper Hills on the southern edge of the Antelope Valley. Neil had several cars, none of which were in good mechanical condition. Neil worked out a pretty good procedure to compensate for the questionable condition of his automobiles. His home was up in the hills above the Pearblossom Highway. He would simply start rolling down the hill in one of his cars on the way to his job in Edwards. If the car started running and sounded good, he would continue on across Pearblossom Highway and head for Edwards. If it did not start, or if it sounded bad, he would simply make a left turn at the highway and coast on down to an automotive repair shop He would then walk back up and try another car. Later that day after work, he would stop at the shop to pick up the other car. He really had a car repair production line going. The mechanic at the repair shop knew him well. Neil tends to disclaim this story by saying that he would never walk 6 miles back up the hill to get another car. I do remember him saying on a number of occasions that God gave man a fixed number of heartbeats and that he was not going to use his up for overexerting himself."
Skunk Works
Highly recommend it. Written by the old director of Lockheed Martin's classified project wing (aka Skunk Works).
I don't understand what's so bad about being strapped to a rocket under the wing of a B-52, flown to a pretty significant altitude, dropped off of the carrier aircraft, attempting to ignite a rocket while losing around 12,000 feet per minute, suddenly being the fastest person alive for roughly 80 seconds powered by an experimental fuel, then having a stubby winged low drag "glider" to bring you back to earth where you have to jettison your ventral tail and land on a pair of skids with one nose wheel at 200ish mph on a lake bed.
Nope not a single thing scary about that at all, mostly just awesome.
One of the B-52s is displayed at Pima. It has a bunch of X-15s painted on the side of it like WWII fighter aircraft and you can get right up to it, probably my favorite thing about Pima, to look around the exterior. The X-15 program has always fascinated me because the data from the program is so far reaching, and the stones it must take to agree to fly something like that.
I'll have to check that book out. It sounds a lot like this book written by an SR-71 pilot:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2960932-flying-the-sr-71-blackbird
A very good book, great anecdotes and fantastic technical information.
In reply to The0retical:
Agreed, they have 3 B-52s on display normally but two of them are off display now for repainting and maintenance. I'm not sure if the X-15 carrier is on of them though. Its weird driving by and not seeing them out there.
Read it. Awesome. There's a little less techno-geek stuff, but its well balanced between pilots, engineers, wives, mechanics, etc..
You want hardcore X-15 data?
X-15 NASA mission reports. Includes a cd-ROM with 2,000+ photos.
Jay_W
Dork
12/2/14 9:21 a.m.
I'd like to put that one on my shelf, next to 'sled driver'...highly recommended if you can find it. I have a signed copy which is sort of a treasure...
In reply to Jay_W:
Did you mean if you can afford it? http://www.amazon.com/Sled-Driver-Flying-Worlds-Fastest/dp/0929823087
Ouch!
That thing just drops like a rock till it gets that engine lit.
Lancer007 wrote:
Agreed, they have 3 B-52s on display normally but two of them are off display now for repainting and maintenance. I'm not sure if the X-15 carrier is on of them though. Its weird driving by and not seeing them out there.
I don't know what the story is currently at Pima, but they definitely had one of the X-15 carriers on display when I visited while I was TDY at Ft. Huachuca. It didn't hold a candle to the SR-71 that was on display inside though. That was the first time I'd been able to get up and into the underside of one as they don't have it roped off like everywhere else. The highlight of the Bone Yard tour at Davis Monthan was the 747 that was modified with the anti-ICBM chemical laser was there, otherwise it was just meh. I work around that stuff all the time though so it isn't as impressive to me.
I have a copy of Sled Driver at home as part of the nonspecial edition first run that they did. I'm not sure why a second or third run wasn't pressed as there's still a great demand for the book, and not too many people will buy that expensive numbered edition or pay 475 for the non special edition that pushrod36 posted.
In reply to The0retical:
I meant I wasn't sure if it was one of the planes off display for refreshing or still out there. The definitely have one there. Its an awesome facility, next time you're out here definitely check out the Titan Missile Museum if you haven't yet.
In reply to Lancer007:
Oh gotcha. I'll make sure to go there next time I'm out that way. I loved the area despite the fact that I'm not a desert person at all.
I just read Comand and Control. A book about Titan missiles and a propelent leak disaster. Titans were kind of pieces of crap. The Air Force liked them and kept them around longer than they should have because they could lob 9 megaton warheads. The Minuteman could not.
