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On 22 August 1963, Joe Walker flew X-15-3, 66672, to an unofficial world altitude record of 67.1 miles. It was Walker’s 25th and last flight in the X-15 program. Weather had delayed the flight six weeks, and as the weather aborts added up, the ground crew painted a pair of dice and “Little Joe the II” on the forward fuselage as a good-luck charm. It is one of the few times a zap was painted on an X-15, and as far as I can find, the only time the X-15 flew with one. (If you play craps, “Little Joe” is a term for a pair of twos on the dice. Walker had had “Little Joe” painted on the nose of the X-1E when he flew it.)

This is a YukonJohn repaint of Henry Yuen’s X-15. I’ve built it before in 1/72nd, but since I had 1/48th-scale versions of 66670 and 66671, I figured I should have one of 66672, too. On its record flight, 66672 carried the NASA band and serial numbers on both sides of the tail, but no national insignia or USAF on the wings. By September 1962, NASA/USAF determined the ventral rudder didn’t add any stability, so they stopped attaching it, leaving only the fixed portion of the stabilizer.

I added the usual scratchbuilt details — the XLR99 motor, the jettison tubes, various probes and other bits.

The last photo is a family portrait….