I have spent the better part of three hours looking for good colour pics of the interior and wheel well of the X-15. Does anybody know what colour they’re supposed to be?? All I can tell from the pics I found were that they were a light colour. Is this white, light grey or aluminum?
I have the Monogram 1/72 X-15 that I’m building for a group build. Is the iris on the canopy correct for the black version (X-15A)? If it isn’t, is it correct for the white version (X-15B or A-2)? I found some data on the NASA website that said they were interchangeable and then I found another site that said it wasn’t correct for the X-15A. I want to build the black one if possible, but I want it to be right.
I can’t help you with the interior colors as the three books have on the X-15 have just black and white photos.
Regarding the iris window. One of the books has a photo of X-15 with tail number 66672. It has the iris window. A photo of X-15 with tail number 66672 shows it with the regular window.
Another photo of the X-15 with the white ablative coat (white) has the regular window. Tail number cannot be seen but the caption says it’s X-15A-2. Hope this helps you.
The Monogram kit is an X-15A-2, I measured my kit and it scales out to 52.5 feet long as it should and the span is spot on too. It has all the lumps and bumps specific to the X-15A-2 according to all the books and articles I have. Without major surgery it wouldn’t make one of the “plain” X-15’s. If you really want one of those (and I don’t raed that you do) you could scare up one of the older 1/64 Revell X-15 kits.
I have some x-15 photos on my web site that might help. Most are in color. Here’s the link:
http://yolo.net/%7Ejeaton/ModernJets/x15/x15.htm
As I understand it, there was only one X-15A-2 which was 66671, which started life as a standard X-15. It was 66671, and it was modified for the external tanks and lengthened after it was severely damaged in a landing with a lot of fuel on board and malfunctioning flaps. One good book is “X-15 The NASA Mission Reports” by Apogee Books. From reading it you would almost assume that the program just went by tail numbers. There is nothing in the book that confirms or denies that the eyelid window was or was not installed on any of the three airplanes, but the only photos which do show the elliptical window are of 66671. When the ablative coating was on the airplane, it had a cover over the left window that is shaped like the early window but the right window is elliptical.
Jay Miller did an article on the X-15 program in the May 1978 issue of Airpower, in it he wrote that the oval window was part of the modifications to 66671, the X-15A-2.
Aerofax Datagraph No.2 is on the X-15, (if you only had one book this should be it on the X-15)Jay Miller was one of three authors of that book. It has two closeups of the X-15A-2 canopy, one with the eyelid open. It says the eyelid was installed because the ablative coating on the X-15A-2 outgassed and coated the window making vision poor, so the eyelid was added to prevent that from happening to the left window. In the photo the eyelid looks like it was scabbed on the outside of the canopy. It certainly was not flush, and is visible in two of the photos on the link above of the airplane with the coating applied. With the coating applied you could easily confuse the shape of the eyelid with the early window, but when the eyelid opens there is an oval window under it. The Monogram kit’s eyelid is the right shape but it may be a liitle “cleaner” than the real thing. Good enough for me, though. It is not accurate for the eyelid to be on the airplane except for the flights it made with the ablative coating applied, but if the eyelid is on it now in the Air Force Museum, then it’s good by me for you to leave it there. Otherwise, if you want a black airplane you could file off the eyelid and put an oval window on the left side. External tanks on a black airplane are OK, the Datagraph book has a photo of 66671 on the wing of the B-52 in that configuration, but there is clearly no eyelid on the left side in that photo.
Here’s a photo I took of 66671 a couple of months ago at the USAF Museum. Not sure if there’s anything in the pic that will help, but thought I’d share it anyway.
That’s exactly the photo that is needed! It shows that the eyelid is on the bird now. It is a little hard to see because of the angle it is open to, but it is there. Notice also the different sheen to the cockpit hatch compared to the rest of the airplane. I’ve seen several other photos that look like that too.
Glad it helps. Usually I am the one asking for a reference photo, it’s nice to be able to return the favors. Wish I had more of this aircraft.
Frank
Thanks guys for the help. I’ll leave the iris in place for this build. I’m planning on SOBbing this one so I wasn’t looking at doing major surgery.