Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-6-2025
Abstract
There is growing interest in the design of maneuvering high-speed aircraft to fly within or at the edge of the atmosphere. We identify and develop novel quasi-static vehicle screening methodologies, suitable for use during preliminary design, to better predict an incipient loss of control due to the dynamic effects of feedback. We validate these metrics by reverse-engineering Neil Armstrong’s 1962 loss of control and inadvertent atmospheric skip while piloting the X-15. In 1962, then-extant flight dynamics screening methods did not forecast likely troubles. We assemble and refine a collection of predictive metrics which operate upon basic quasi-static aerodynamic data and predict the confluence of lateral/directional stability and controllability issues which plagued the flown mission. These tools, which leverage McRuer’s “equivalent stability derivative” approach, enable future engineers to make proactive design changes which can avoid lateral/directional instabilities developing at high speeds.
Source Publication
Aerospace (eISSN 2226-4310)
Recommended Citation
Lorenzo, W. P., Grandhi, R. V., & Takahashi, T. T. (2025). Investigation of Stability and Control Shortcomings of the North American X-15. Aerospace, 12(6), 513. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12060513
Comments
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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Sourced from the published version of record cited below.
This work is a heavily revised version of an abstract originally presented by Lorenzo, W.P., and Takahashi, T.T., titled “Reconstructing and Reassessing Neil Armstrong’s “First Man” Flight in the North American X-15”. It was given as AIAA 2024-2643 at the AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, Orlando, FL, USA, 8–12 January 2024.