Jetrader - Summer 2015 - 43

following an explosion on what would have
been its 26th flight. Luckily, the pilot had
not yet got into the cockpit. By 1958, the
X-1A and B together had made 54 flights,
the last four on the X-1B being piloted by
Neil Armstrong-yes, that Neil Armstrong.

The X‑1C? It Never Happened
The X-1C was intended to be a test model
for Air Force research on the firing of guns
and rockets at supersonic speeds. This version never got past the mockup stage.

The second generation twins, X-1A and X-1B,
tail numbers 1384 and 1385. These were
stretched versions of the original X-1 with
space for larger tankage for fuel and liquid
oxygen. Archival photo from San Diego Air &
Space Museum.

The X-1E
The X-1E was actually the second of the
three original X-1s (hence the debate about
the total being six or seven). It had been
slated to retire in 1951, but with the loss of
X-1 number 3 and the X-1D that year, it was
pressed back into service. By 1955, it had
been upgraded with extremely thin wings, a
more powerful rocket motor, a fighter-type
cockpit canopy and an ejection seat, but it
retained the original fuselage length. In
its later flights, it was also fitted with two

broke up or caught fire he would just have
to sit there and ride down with it. Of all the
experimental aircraft Yeager flew, the X-1A
was probably the only one for which he had
to leave his parachute behind.
But for Yeager, the competitive pressure
was on. In November 1953, NACA test pilot
Scott Crossfield had flown the Douglas
Skyrocket to Mach 2, becoming the "fastest man alive." Yeager, being with the Air
Force, wanted to snatch back the title with
a flight in December that should take him
to about Mach 2.2. Beyond Mach 2.3, the
Bell engineers calculated, the X-1A would
become unstable because the vertical stabilizer was too small, but they didn't think
it could go that fast anyway. As it turned
out, they were right about the instability
but underestimated the speed capability.
Come December, on his fourth flight in
the X-1A, leveling off at 75,000 feet altitude, Yeager passed easily through Mach
2.0, and in a few seconds went through 2.3
and hit Mach 2.4 before the rocket burned
out. As he tried to correct for a bit of roll,
the aircraft suddenly became uncontrollable, yawing, rolling and tumbling wildly.
The G forces slammed him around in the
cockpit so violently that his helmet cracked
the canopy and knocked him almost senseless. Yeager lost 50,000 feet of altitude in
just 50 seconds of spinning and tumbling
before he regained control. Luckily, he
found himself just barely within gliding
distance to Edwards.
Yeager never flew the X-1A again, but a
dozen other NACA and Air Force pilots flew
it and its sister ship, the X-1B. The X-1A
didn't survive to the end of the program. In
1955, it was jettisoned from the mother ship
733444_Aircraft.indd 1

Jetrader  *  Summer 14/05/15 43 PM
2015 4:42
http://www.jetyard.com
Jetrader - Summer 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jetrader - Summer 2015
