Adaptive autopilot helps X-15 set new record

During the past summer, U.S. Air Force Major Robert White became the first man to fly a winged aircraft into outer space by piloting the X-15 rocket ship to an unofficial altitude of 310,000 feet, 58.7 miles above the desert at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Maximum speed of 3,784 mph was achieved at 156,000 feet. The X-15 was able to exceed its design altitude of 250,000 feet because of a self-adaptive flight control system developed by the Aeronautical Division of Minneapolis-Honeywell to steer the ship through the dangerous regions at the fringe of the earth's atmosphere where conventional controls are inadequate.