I grew up as a total airplane geek and a huge fan of the USAF Test Pilot School, X-planes, Edwards AFB, NASA Dryden, Mojave, etc. After spending some time around there while flying in the Air Force, plus many other visits over the years, I was delighted to recently reserve a distinct N-number with a historic past.
I was able to get the exact N-number of NASA's
M2-F1 unpowered lifting body aircraft, which paved the way for follow-on
lifting-bodies such as the M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10, X-24A, and X-24B, each of which provided valuable research data in the development of the Space Shuttle. The M2-F1 was, I believe, the only one of them to be assigned an N-number, so I feel very lucky to "own" the number N86652.
Here's the Flying Bathtub, in all her glory:
I have not decided whether to use this N-number on my present RV-8 project, or my inevitable follow-on one. Maybe a sailplane would be a more suitable vehicle... Hmmm. Any ideas?