Martin X-24B
From the placard:
In 1972, the X-24A was stripped to the basic framework and rebuilt as
the X-24B with a more stable external configuration designed by the
Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. The new body was delta-shaped
and had twice the lifting surface of the X-24A. As a continuation of
PILOT (Piloted Low-Speed Tests), the goals of the testing program were
to explore handling qualities of the wingless configuration for
extended near-earth flight and for conventional runway approaches and
landings.
The flight plan for the X-24B was much the same as that of the X-24A.
After being carried to about 45,000 feet (13,680 meters) altitude by a
B-52, the X-24B was released. Following ignition and burnout of the
rocket engine, the piot guided the lifting body to a glide landing.
On August 5, 1975, the X-24B made the first landing of a lifting body
on a conventional runway. A second landing on the same runway on
August 20, 1975, confirmed that the lifting body could safely be
landed like normal aircraft.
The X-24B made its thirty-sixth and last flight on November 26, 1975.
It was delivered to the Museum in November 1976.
