Twelve pilots ยท 199 flights
The X-15 pilots
Twelve pilots flew the X-15: five from NASA, five from the Air Force, one from the Navy and one from North American Aviation. Between them they made 199 flights. Robert Rushworth flew the most.
| Pilot | Organisation | Free flights | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Rushworth | US Air Force | 34 | Most flights of any X-15 pilot; flight 87 went above 50 miles |
| Jack McKay | NASA | 29 | Survived the 9 November 1962 Mud Lake crash; flight 150 above 50 miles |
| Joe Walker | NASA | 25 | First NASA X-15 pilot; the altitude record, 354,200 ft |
| Robert White | US Air Force | 16 | First to Mach 6; first above 300,000 ft |
| Bill Dana | NASA | 16 | Flew the final X-15 flight, 24 October 1968 |
| Joe Engle | US Air Force | 16 | Three flights above 50 miles |
| Pete Knight | US Air Force | 16 | The Mach 6.7 speed record in the X-15A-2 |
| Scott Crossfield | North American Aviation | 14 | First glide, first powered and first XLR99 flights |
| Milton Thompson | NASA | 14 | NASA research pilot |
| Michael Adams | US Air Force | 7 | Killed on flight 191, 15 November 1967 |
| Neil Armstrong | NASA | 7 | Seven flights, Dec 1960 to Jul 1962; Mach 5.74 on flight 64 |
| Forrest Petersen | US Navy | 5 | First XLR99 flight in X-15-1, 10 August 1961 |
The first flights: Scott Crossfield
North American's chief test pilot made the first glide flight on 8 June 1959, the first powered flight on 17 September 1959 and the first flight with the XLR99 on 15 November 1960.
Joe Walker
Walker made the first NASA flight in an X-15 on 25 March 1960. On 19 July 1963 he flew to 347,800 ft, and on 22 August 1963 to 354,200 ft, the only two X-15 flights above the 100 km line. He was killed on 8 June 1966 in a mid-air collision during a formation flight with an XB-70. It was not an X-15 flight.
Robert White
White flew the first X-15 flight to Mach 6 on 9 November 1961, reaching Mach 6.04, and on 17 July 1962 flew flight 62 to 59.6 miles, the first flight above 300,000 ft.
Neil Armstrong
Armstrong flew seven X-15 flights between December 1960 and July 1962, including the first aircraft fitted with a ball-nose flow-direction sensor and the first with a self-adaptive flight control system. He later commanded Apollo 11. His X-15 flight experience is one of the best-known links between the program and the Moon landings.
Pete Knight
Knight flew the X-15A-2 to Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph) on 3 October 1967, a mark that still stands. Read the details in X-15 records.
Astronaut wings
Eight of the twelve pilots flew above 50 miles. The five Air Force pilots among them already held astronaut wings. In 2005 the three NASA pilots, Bill Dana, Jack McKay (posthumously) and Joe Walker, were awarded theirs. See the astronaut wings explained and the pilots who were lost.