The Hyper III was designed to help in the
M2 lifting body program, it had a flat bottom and sides, and a simple straight wing with no
control surfaces that was designed to simulate a pop-out wing that had been proposed for a re-entry vehicle. The Hyper III had twin
fins and
rudders canted at 40° from the vertical, and hinged
elevons on the horizontal surface. The landing gear was a fixed
tricycle type, using spring steel legs from a Cessna aircraft. It was fitted with an emergency parachute system and controlled by 5-channel radio link; instrument data was downlinked using a 12-channel radio. On 12 December 1969 the Hyper III was launched from a helicopter at 10,000 feet. It glided 5 km, turned round, came back and landed. After the three-minute flight it was not flown again as the Center cancelled the program. ==Specifications==