The X-Planes? What Happened?

Well, I know the X-33 Venturestar project was cancelled, but what about the others that led up to the X-45? The X-40 worked in the test flights, but what happened after? Or is it still a secret?

One word Dryden

One list

www.dfrc.nasa.gov...

One thing the X-plane's are public coding's that seem to be applied when the project moves to the next level and the other stuff is out of date. (I do not think that any have been mass produced there just proof of concepts)

Good example the VERY excellent X-31 linkage: www.dfrc.nasa.gov...

Nice bit of kit the X31 :-)

If you look down the list above very few have the X prefix.

RAB

[edit on 15-5-2005 by RAB]

[edit on 15-5-2005 by RAB]

I noticed some little notes to the side of photos on this section, just back a step from your link at photo home:

www.dfrc.nasa.gov...

It tells you their purpose.
X-31 was for Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Demonstrator
X-36 was for Tailless Aircraft Research

So, as you said, each one was to prove theories

[edit on 15-5-2005 by MooMix3]

What I want to really know is:


Why all the gaps in the X-Plane numbers? It jumps from the Bell X-5 to the X-15 and then on to the X-24. Are these gaps hiding secret projects?

I noticed that too, but it might be that not all of those were part of Dryden research? Or they were failures? But the X-33 was included and that was cancelled too. And later on through time, they skipped fewer planes. Or, they just didnt have pics of them....

[edit on 15-5-2005 by MooMix3]

Some of the gaps may relate to secret projects but that would not be wise as knowing that a number was missing would give your aviation detective something to look for. As far as I know the gaps are merely projects that were cancelled for one reason or another before they were built, maybe the programme that they were tied to was scrapped or maybe the tech just moved on and left them behind, for instance in the gap between the X-15 and X-24 you mentioned there was to have been the X-20 Dyna Soar wich was a sort of experimental mini spaceplane mounted on top of a launch rocket, this project was extremely well known in the early 60's when the public were led to believe that it would herald a new age of space travel but of course it was never completed and is now a 'gap' in the X-plane lists.

[edit on 15-5-2005 by waynos]

Originally posted by RichardPrice
What I want to really know is:


Why all the gaps in the X-Plane numbers? It jumps from the Bell X-5 to the X-15 and then on to the X-24. Are these gaps hiding secret projects?

Gaps? The only one gap is X-49 - skipped, because Boeing wanted X-50 for CRW Dragonfly.

summary of all X-planes, program goals and results

Click on aircraft names for detailed info about each project.

[edit on 15-5-2005 by longbow]

After checking out longbow's link, the gaps were just missing pictures, thats all. They never had a chance to find or take a picture so gaps were created.

Originally posted by longbow
Gaps? The only one gap is X-49 - skipped, because Boeing wanted X-50 for CRW Dragonfly.

summary of all X-planes, program goals and results


[edit on 15-5-2005 by longbow]

Ahh fair enough, thought that was an exhaustive list for some reason. Long night, lots of drink and partying, not enough sleep - you know how it is

wow, thanks LongBow, thats a good list...it goes into detail with nearly all of them. thanks for the link.

I watched a PBS speacial on this subject the other night. Very in depth MAYBE it was NOVA??????
Anyway it was a great doc!

SKUNKWORKS wins the government bid.........great job SKUMKWORKS !!

AMAZING plane they designed! it can hover in the air, and then ~GO~ jets on and become supersonic! I did not see if it 'could' stop from SUPERSONIC and then just hover....that sounds beyond our abilitys at this stage anyway

The BOEING plane looked like a cartoon version of a happy manta ray.....so I did like that plane to......but the SKUNKWORKS plane out-preformed in a few areas.

originally posted by: waynos
Some of the gaps may relate to secret projects but that would not be wise as knowing that a number was missing would give your aviation detective something to look for. As far as I know the gaps are merely projects that were cancelled for one reason or another before they were built, maybe the programme that they were tied to was scrapped or maybe the tech just moved on and left them behind, for instance in the gap between the X-15 and X-24 you mentioned there was to have been the X-20 Dyna Soar wich was a sort of experimental mini spaceplane mounted on top of a launch rocket, this project was extremely well known in the early 60's when the public were led to believe that it would herald a new age of space travel but of course it was never completed and is now a 'gap' in the X-plane lists.

[edit on 15-5-2005 by waynos]

The X-34 was a suborbital spaceplane developed by Orbital Sciences, while the X-38 was built and flown to test technologies for a Crew Return Vehicle. The X-35 was the tech demonstrator for the Lockheed Martin competing design for the Joint Strike Fighter competition, which Lockheed Martin won, while the X-36 was a tailless aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas. The X-37 spaceplane built by Boeing was originally designed for launch aboard a Space Shuttle but was later reconfigured for launch aboard the Atlas V; the sole X-37A was used for atmospheric drop tests, and the USAF continued development of the X-37 as the X-37B, which is the first military orbital spaceplane to fly. X-39 was reserved for the Future Aircraft Technology Enhancements (FATE) program, while X-41 and X-42 were assigned to the Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) hypersonic glide vehicle and the Upper Stage Flight Experiment (USFE) pop-up upper stage respectively. The X-43 was the first air-breathing hypersonic aircraft to fly, while X-44 was a flying wing technology demonstrator built and flown by Lockheed Martin in the early 2000s.

Link:
history.nasa.gov...
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil...
www.nasa.gov...