The Space Gallery in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio includes five aircraft.
Boeing X-40A
According to the Museum:
The unmanned, unpowered Boeing X-40A was the first-phase flight test vehicle for the U.S. Air Force’s Space Maneuver Vehicle program that began in the late 1990s. The program aimed to develop small, reusable, highly maneuverable spacecraft for deploying satellites and conducting surveillance and logistics missions.
This test aircraft is a 90 percent scale version of what would later be designated the X-37B space plane. The Boeing Co., in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, built the X-40A at Boeing’s Phantom Works facility at Seal Beach, Calif.
On Aug. 11, 1998, the X-40A made its first successful flight at Holloman AFB, N.M. A helicopter lifted it to about 10,000 feet and released it. The X-40A then made an unpowered flight demonstrating guidance, navigation,and control capabilities.
Following that flight, the USAF loaned the X-40A to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to test X-37 aerodynamics, guidance and other systems. After captive-carry flights to practice release procedures and test equipment, the X-40A made its first NASA flight on March 28, 2001. Released at 15,000 feet by a helicopter, the X-40A flew itself, guided by onboard systems, to a gentle landing at Edwards AFB, Calif. The X-40A made a total of seven successful flights in support of the X-37 program.
Fairchild C-119J Flying Boxcar
According to the Museum:
This C-119J Flying Boxcar made the world’s first mid-air recovery of an object returning from space. In August 1960, it caught the Discoverer XIV satellite using recovery gear lowered from the open rear door. This mechanism snagged the satellite’s parachute, and a winch slowly reeled the film capsule into the aircraft. “Satellite catching” became an important and regular U.S. Air Force operation to recover secret reconnaissance satellite film.
The C-119 Flying Boxcar was developed shortly after World War II to carry heavy loads of cargo, paratroopers or medical patients. Its wide rear doors and a fuselage parallel to the ground made it easy to load and unload. It first flew in 1947.
While the J model was specially developed to catch satellite film recovery vehicles, Flying Boxcars also played an important role in the Korean War carrying troops and supplies. The most important airlift mission in Korea came in the bitter winter of 1950 when USAF C-119Bs air-dropped bridge sections to U.S. troops trapped by communist forces at the Chosin Reservoir. The sections replaced a destroyed bridge across a deep chasm, allowing thousands of Soldiers and Marines to escape. Flying Boxcars also served in the Southeast Asia War as gunships supporting ground forces.
This aircraft has a crew of five, a maximum speed of 290 mph, a range of about 1,827 miles, and a ceiling of 29,670 feet. It can carry 62 full equipped troops or 30,000 pounds of cargo.
Martin X-24A
According to the Museum:
This aircraft represents the Martin (now Lockheed Martin) X-24A, which the U.S. Air Force and NASA flew to study flight characteristics and maneuverability of “lifting bodies.” A lifting body is a fixed-wing air or spacecraft -- such as the space shuttle -- in which the body itself produces lift. The X-24A paved the way for the space shuttle by showing that a lifting body could glide through the atmosphere and land on Earth like an airplane.
X-24 flights focused on the last stage of re-entry from space, with pilots flying lifting bodies at speeds of around 1,000 mph and altitudes of around 70,000 feet. Smaller unmanned vehicles with similar shapes conducted tests at higher speeds and altitudes.
The X-24A made 12 gliding tests in 1969 and 1970, dropped from a NASA modified B-52. Twenty-eight powered flights followed in 1970 and 1971. Flights typically lasted under eight minutes, with a 2.5 minute rocket burn followed by a 5 minute glide to landing. One of the last X-24A flights simulated a space shuttle landing approach from about 71,400 feet, and another featured the aircraft reaching Mach 1.6, its fastest speed.
This aircraft has a top speed of 1,218 mph (Mach 1.6) and a ceiling of 71,407 feet.
Martin X-24B
According to the Museum:
The X-24B aircraft showed that a “lifting body” could glide through the atmosphere and make a precise landing on a runway like an airplane. A lifting body is a fixed-wing air or spacecraft in which the body itself produces lift. X-24 studies supported space shuttle development in the early 1970s. The U.S. Air Force, NASA and Martin Aircraft (now Lockheed Martin) heavily modified the X-24A to make a higher-performing vehicle, the X-24B.
The X-24B’s flat bottom and long nose added surface area to improve gliding qualities, increasing range and maneuverability. It flew 36 times between 1973 and 1975, making 12 gliding-only flights and 24 powered flights with gliding landings. In all its flights, a NASA modified B-52 “mothership” launched the X-24B at 45,000 feet.
In powered flights, a rocket engine accelerated the X-24B to more than 1,000 mph as it climbed to altitudes around 60,000-70,000 feet. The X-24B then made steep unpowered gliding landings like the future space shuttle. Highlights of the X-24B research program included two precise landings made on a concrete runway at Edwards AFB, Calif. (other flights landed on nearby dry lake beds). This ability to glide to a landing at a specific spot was an important step toward later space shuttle operations. The X-24B was the last joint USAF/NASA rocket-powered air-launched research aircraft.
This aircraft has a top speed of 1,164 mph and a ceiling of 74,100 feet.
North American X-15A-2
According to the Museum:
The X-15 is a famous and significant part of aviation history. Its purpose was to fly high and fast, testing the machine and subjecting pilots to conditions that future astronauts would face. It made the first manned flights to the edges of space and was the world’s first piloted aircraft to reach hypersonic speeds, or more than five times the speed of sound. The X-15 was an important tool for developing spaceflight in the 1960s, and pilots flying above 50 miles altitude in the X-15 earned astronaut wings.
Three X-15s were built, and they made 199 flights between 1959-1968. The program was a joint U.S. Air Force/Navy/NASA project, and four of its 12 pilots were U.S. Air Force officers. One pilot, USAF Maj. Michael J. Adams, died in an X-15 crash in 1967. Another X-15 pilot, Neil Armstrong, later became the first man to walk on the moon.
Like other rocket planes, the X-15 was launched in midair from a B-52 “mothership” at about 45,000 feet. Once its powerful rocket ignited, the X-15 streaked upward to the limits of the atmosphere, then glided unpowered to land on a dry lake bed. Typical flights lasted about 10 minutes.
This aircraft is the second of the three X-15s. North American modified it for even greater speed, adding the large orange and white propellant tanks and lengthening the fuselage about 18 inches. This was the fastest X-15, reaching Mach 6.7 in October 1967.
This aircraft has a top speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) and a ceiling of 354,200 feet.
More aircraft displays
Museum of Flight: The Space Gallery (photo diary)
Museums 101: The Evergreen Space Museum (photo overview)
Air Force Museum: Douglas C-124 Globemaster (photo diary)
Air Force Museum: The Valkyrie (photo diary)
Historic Flight: The Hamilton H-47 Metalplane (photo diary)
WAAAM: Early Airplanes (Photo Diary)
Planes of Fame: British Aircraft (Photo Diary)
Yanks Air Museum: Observation Aircraft (Photo Diary)