X-15 “Trophy Fins”

[dhanners]

In the course of Yukonjohn’s X-15 repaints and my builds, we got invaluable help from Michelle Evans, whose book, “The X-15 Rocket Plane — Flying the First Wings Into Space,” is a must-read for anyone interested in the X-15. It is filled with detail, but it also places great emphasis on the dedicated people who dreamed up, designed, built, flew and maintained the three X-15s.

I was looking for a way to thank her, and one day as I was sorting through all the extra model pages I have, the thought struck me: Why not build a collection of the dorsal rudders from the builds? They could be displayed on a nice rectangular piece of wood (which I don’t have yet) and would represent something unique.

YukonJohn immediately came up with the phrase, “Trophy Fins.” It was perfect. So here are the builds of 10 Trophy Fins representing some notable X-15 flights.

Left to right in the first photo, they are:
Flight 1-1-5, 8JUNE59 — the first glide flight of X-15-1, 66670, flown by Scott Crossfield

Flight 2-1-3, 17SEP59 — the program’s first powered flight, with X-15-2, 66671, flown by Crossfield

Flight 2-3-9, 5NOV59 — Crossfield’s hard landing in 66671

Flight 1-18-31, 30NOV60 — Neil Armstrong’s first flight

Flight 2-21-37, 9NOV61 — Robert White’s Mach 6 flight

Flight 3-22-36, 22AUG63 — Joe Walker’s world altitude record flight

Flight 2-44-79, 18MAY66 — ablative test on the X-15A-2, flown by Robert Rushworth

Flight 2-53-97, 3OCT67 — Pete Knight’s world speed-record flight

Flight 3-65-97, 15NOV67 — Michael Adams’ fatal accident

Flight 1-81-141, 24OCT68 — The 199th and last flight of the X-15 program, flown by Bill Dana

[-Jim G]

Originally Posted by dhanners

YukonJohn immediately came up with the phrase, “Trophy Fins.” It was perfect. So here are the builds of 10 Trophy Fins representing some notable X-15 flights.

What a cool idea! That is a very impressive collection!

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Indeed! a very nice gesture and an absolutely original thought.



I am curious how you are going to display them on the wooden pedestal. Elevated? positioned on the pedestal itself?

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by Paper Kosmonaut

Indeed! a very nice gesture and an absolutely original thought.



I am curious how you are going to display them on the wooden pedestal. Elevated? positioned on the pedestal itself?

I’ll leave that to Michelle. I figured a long rectangular piece of wood would work. There may be a couple more tails coming, though. I’m mailing these off to her tomorrow.

[mbauer]

Excellent idea.

They look great!

What kind of wood are you thinking of?

Mike

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by mbauer

Excellent idea.

They look great!

What kind of wood are you thinking of?

Mike

If I were back in the U.S., I’d just head to a Michael’s and see what kind of bases they have. Just something long.

[skyman00]

A Shadow Box might be another option.