Lifting Bodies

I spent a good portion of my impressionable years wanting to fly this vehicle. This is the M2-F2, a highly experimental aircraft that ended up being a precursor of the Space Shuttle. The interesting thing about this plane was that it was designed to land on flat ground from space. In order to reduce the wing size to something that wouldn't be pummeled to pieces by the forces of reentry, the entire body of the M2-F2 was designed to produce lift, hence the term "Lifting Body" aircraft.

 

The lifting body plane was eventually abandoned and NASA decided to make the Space Shuttle with larger wings. The reason was that the lifting body craft were very unstable and had to land at a much higher speed than a conventional aircraft, making them very dangerous. In fact, the M2-F2, launched from a B-52 in flight, crashed on landing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1967 rolling many times and seriously injuring the pilot.

 

And this is how I came to know about the M2-F2. You see, that crash footage was used in the opening sequence of the TV show "The Six-Million Dollar Man".

 

Steve Austin flew the M2-F2! No wonder I wanted to give it a go myself!