North American X-15 X15

North American X-15 airplane model. Immerse yourself in aviation history with this exciting museum quality desktop display model aircraft. The North American X-15 is an iconic piece that will bring endless joy and conversation to your space. Perfect for any aviation enthusiast or collector! An unofficial motto of flight research in the 1940s and 1950s was "higher and faster." By the late 1950s the last frontier of that goal was hypersonic flight (Mach 5+) to the edge of space. It would require a huge leap in aeronautical technology, life support systems and flight planning. The North American X-15 rocket plane was built to meet that challenge. It was designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 6, and altitudes up to 250,000 ft. The aircraft went on to reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.7 and a maximum altitude of 354,200 ft. Looking at it another way, Mach 6 is about one mile per second, and flight above 265,000 ft. qualifies an Air Force pilot for astronaut wings. Scale: 1/32. Wingspan 8 1/4 inches, Length18 3/4 inches.