Bell X-1
The first of a long and continuing series of experimental “X-planes,” the X-1 was the result of the USAAF’s interest in supersonic flight. At the end of World War II, when Bell was asked to build three research aircraft, speeds of aircraft had begun to reach the transonic barrier, Mach 1, and several test pilots had died or nearly died attempting to break it.
The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was patterned after a .50 caliber bullet, as that would be stable at supersonic speeds. An all-moving tailplane was added, giving the pilot additional control at high speeds, and the X-1 was powered by a liquid rocket engine, one of the world’s first and designed by the “father of modern rocketry,” Robert Goddard. Though the X-1 had landing gear and could take off under its own power, it would be given an extra boost by being carried beneath a B-29 mothership to altitude. The pilot had essentially no means of bailing out—ejection seats of the time were still primitive and the shape of the X-1 would prevent it in any case.
Flying from Muroc Dry Lake (now Edwards AFB), Bell’s program was gradual, beginning from glide tests to powered flight throughout 1946. Progress was too slow for the USAAF, which took over control of the test flights in June 1947. At that point, Bell’s chief test pilot, Chalmers “Slick” Goodlin, demanded $150,000 for the supersonic test. The USAAF—now the independent US Air Force--balked at that price, and instead Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager would fly the test flights on his regular salary. Yeager soared into the record books on 14 October 1947, reaching the speed of Mach 1.06 in the first X-1, 46-042, named Glamorous Glennis for his wife. The fact was initially classified by the USAF, but news was leaked in December.
The X-1’s career did not end there, as the type was further modified and refined as the top speeds of aircraft began going higher and higher in the 1950s. The X-1A through X-1E pushed the record to Mach 2.44 by December 1953; the program also tested thermal dynamics, set altitude records (90,000 feet in May 1954), and incorporated design elements that would be used in space travel, such as reaction jets in the nose. It was an extremely dangerous job: three men were killed during the program, and Yeager himself nearly died when the X-1A went out of control after he reached Mach 2.44. Four of the X-1 prototypes were lost in accidental explosions.
By November 1958, the design could be improved no further, and technology had surpassed it—production fighters were regularly reaching Mach 2, and Mach 3 aircraft were already being built. The X-1 program was ended for good, but left behind an incredible legacy.
This is the real "Glamorous Glennis," as she hangs today in the Milestones of Flight exhibit at the entrance to the Smithsonian. (The wing in the foreground is the "Spirit of St. Louis.") Once X-1 testing was finished in August 1950, the aircraft was immediately handed over to the Smithsonian for preservation. After having read so much about Yeager and the X-1 in Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff," along with the movie of the same name, it was quite something to see the X-1 in person.
Bell X-1
The first of a long and continuing series of experimental “X-planes,” the X-1 was the result of the USAAF’s interest in supersonic flight. At the end of World War II, when Bell was asked to build three research aircraft, speeds of aircraft had begun to reach the transonic barrier, Mach 1, and several test pilots had died or nearly died attempting to break it.
The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was patterned after a .50 caliber bullet, as that would be stable at supersonic speeds. An all-moving tailplane was added, giving the pilot additional control at high speeds, and the X-1 was powered by a liquid rocket engine, one of the world’s first and designed by the “father of modern rocketry,” Robert Goddard. Though the X-1 had landing gear and could take off under its own power, it would be given an extra boost by being carried beneath a B-29 mothership to altitude. The pilot had essentially no means of bailing out—ejection seats of the time were still primitive and the shape of the X-1 would prevent it in any case.
Flying from Muroc Dry Lake (now Edwards AFB), Bell’s program was gradual, beginning from glide tests to powered flight throughout 1946. Progress was too slow for the USAAF, which took over control of the test flights in June 1947. At that point, Bell’s chief test pilot, Chalmers “Slick” Goodlin, demanded $150,000 for the supersonic test. The USAAF—now the independent US Air Force--balked at that price, and instead Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager would fly the test flights on his regular salary. Yeager soared into the record books on 14 October 1947, reaching the speed of Mach 1.06 in the first X-1, 46-042, named Glamorous Glennis for his wife. The fact was initially classified by the USAF, but news was leaked in December.
The X-1’s career did not end there, as the type was further modified and refined as the top speeds of aircraft began going higher and higher in the 1950s. The X-1A through X-1E pushed the record to Mach 2.44 by December 1953; the program also tested thermal dynamics, set altitude records (90,000 feet in May 1954), and incorporated design elements that would be used in space travel, such as reaction jets in the nose. It was an extremely dangerous job: three men were killed during the program, and Yeager himself nearly died when the X-1A went out of control after he reached Mach 2.44. Four of the X-1 prototypes were lost in accidental explosions.
By November 1958, the design could be improved no further, and technology had surpassed it—production fighters were regularly reaching Mach 2, and Mach 3 aircraft were already being built. The X-1 program was ended for good, but left behind an incredible legacy.
This is the real "Glamorous Glennis," as she hangs today in the Milestones of Flight exhibit at the entrance to the Smithsonian. (The wing in the foreground is the "Spirit of St. Louis.") Once X-1 testing was finished in August 1950, the aircraft was immediately handed over to the Smithsonian for preservation. After having read so much about Yeager and the X-1 in Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff," along with the movie of the same name, it was quite something to see the X-1 in person.