X-15 Variants

[PR19_Kit]

Having got rather hooked on the idea of building an X-15 grafted on the top of an XB-70 I've gone as far as buying an MPM X-15A-2 kit to meld with the Monogram X-15 kit I already have. To my amazement the Monogram kit IS of the X-15A-2 already! That'll teach me to open the box now and then, but I'll still need both of them to make the 'C' model long enough.

After spending some time trawling the Net there seems to be two designations for the longer, delta winged X-15, one being the X-15C and one being the X-15-A3. So are these actually the same aircraft or were there two different projects for the delta-winged variant?

I've also found some rather basic drawings of the delta-winged version but no details of how it was to be supported on top of the XB-70. There's a pic of a model of the setup but it has the X-15 mounted on some fairly crude  looking struts, and I can't believe NA would design something like that when the aircraft was going to be launched nearing M 3.0!

[scooter]

Why not rig up an aerodynamic system like on the 777 from Superman Returns-

[Jesse220]

I remember watching that movie 

[kitnut617]

Having got rather hooked on the idea of building an X-15 grafted on the top of an XB-70 I've gone as far as buying an MPM X-15A-2 kit to meld with the Monogram X-15 kit I already have. To my amazement the Monogram kit IS of the X-15A-2 already! That'll teach me to open the box now and then, but I'll still need both of them to make the 'C' model long enough.

After spending some time trawling the Net there seems to be two designations for the longer, delta winged X-15, one being the X-15C and one being the X-15-A3. So are these actually the same aircraft or were there two different projects for the delta-winged variant?

I've also found some rather basic drawings of the delta-winged version but no details of how it was to be supported on top of the XB-70. There's a pic of a model of the setup but it has the X-15 mounted on some fairly crude  looking struts, and I can't believe NA would design something like that when the aircraft was going to be launched nearing M 3.0!

There's a 1/72 model of the delta X-15 Kit, just trying to remember who did it now --- Fantastic Plastic maybe ---  

EDIT:   It's our own Renaud and found at Fantastic Plastic -- 

http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/X-15Delta.jpg

[PR19_Kit]

Ahah, that's a lot nicer looking than the drawing I have. It has winglets and the drawing has tri-angular fins that are above and below the wing tip.

[jcf]

The upturned wingtips were an early configuration, final config
was the diamond-shaped endplates.

The NAA artist's representation of the XB-70 with piggyback X-15 delta shows a
conformal cradle, Jenkins/Landis Valkyrie shows this illustration, along with a 3-view
based on the illo, both show the upturned wingtip config. The book also has art by Erik
Simonsen that appears to show the later diamond-endplate config mounted on a pylon,
it is also mounted further forward than in the conformal cradle artwork.

According to Jenkins/Landis Hypersonic the intent was to convert the X-15-3 to the
delta configuration, but following the loss of that aircraft the whole project became moot.
The book does not mention X-15-A3 nor X-15C as designations.

If #3 (X-15-3)had been redesignated after rebuild it could likely have been called X-15A-3,
just as #2 (X-15-2) was redesignated X-15A-2 after its rebuild. Or perhaps due to extensive
nature of the rebuild X-15C-3, as X-15B was evidently attached to two-seat proposals?

[zenrat]

Makes sense.  After all the NCC1701 became the NCC1701A after refit...

[McColm]

Interesting idea.