this is cool.....the X15 was an awesome looking aircraft.
I was 11 at the time and my Dad worked in aerospace, so he kept me busy with aircraft models and flipping through his Aviation Week magazines. Those were great times in aviation, that’s for sure.
Today all we get is further and further contraction. Cancellation of spacecraft, of the F22, retirement of the shuttle fleet, abandonment of the moon again, etc. What a downer compared to those magical years when America was at the top of its game.
But I have never heard it described as "sleek".
9/10ths ballistic missile with just enough blunt stubby wing to classify it as an airplane.
Flying stovepipe, maybe, but not "sleek".