X-15 OPERATIONS FLIGHT REPORT

FLIGHT NO: 3-46-70 DATE OF REPORT: 8-24-65

PILOT: Capt. Joe Engle DATE OF FLIGHT: 8-10-65

CARRIER AIRCRAFT: B-52 #003 LAUNCH LAKE: Delamar

ENGINE NO: S/N 107 APU #1 14 APU #2 21

PURPOSE OF FLIGHT: 1. NSL Scanner (experiment 25)

2. Boundary Layer Noise

3. Reentry Maneuver Techniques


I. Discussion of Previous Operations

None II. Aircraft Configuration Changes A. The LH strut was changed due to oversize holes at the bottom end.

B. Both APU tank bladders were found to be leaking. Upon disassembly, the Teflon was found to be pulled out from under the "O" ring at the top flange. A new method of assembly will be tried to prevent reoccurrence of this problem, meanwhile, one Teflon and one Vicon tank from spares were installed.

C. Number two blower was changed due to overheating caused by a broken "A" phase wire in the aircraft.

D. The lightweight tail cone was replaced by the tail cone with the experiment box.

III. Instrumentation Configuration Changes A. Four strain gages on the horizontal tails were hooked up.

B. The aft lower BLN microphone and panel and the blowout panel microphone were removed.

C. Experiment 25 was put in the tail cone box.

IV. Preflight Events A. APU and BCS runs were accomplished on July 26.

B. The aircraft was mated on 3 August.

C. Flight was canceled on 4 August due to failure of the pitch servo recorder just prior to taxi. The recorder was replaced.

D. Flight was delayed on 5 August due to failure of the inertial stabilizer heater prior to taxi. Flight was canceled due to failure of the radio when ready to start B-52 engines the second time.

E. While replacing the radio on 5 August, the elevator lid seal was found to have a serious leak. As a new seal was not readily available, X-15-1 was scheduled for 6 August.

V. Flight Events A. Flight was accomplished on 10 August with no servicing problems.

B. The yaw damper kept disengaging during the flight. Post flight investigation revealed a bad yaw SAS servo.
 
 

Approved By: Prepared by:

Perry V. Row Vincent N. Capasso

X-15 Senior Project Engineer X-15 Project Engineer