Bell X-1 - Operational History

Operational History

The Bell Aircraft chief test pilot, Jack Woolams, became the first man to fly the XS-1. He made a glide flight over Pinecastle Army Airfield, in Florida, on January 25, 1946. Woolams completed nine more glide flights over Pinecastle before March 1946, when the #1 rocket plane was returned to Bell Aircraft in Buffalo for modifications to prepare for the powered flight tests. These were held at the Muroc Army Air Field in Palmdale, California. Following Woolams' death on 30 August 1946, Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin was the primary Bell Aircraft test pilot for the X-1-1 (serial 46-062). He made 26 successful flights in both of the X-1 from September 1946 through June 1947.

The Army Air Forces was unhappy with the cautious pace of flight envelope expansion and Bell Aircraft's flight test contract for airplane #46-062 was terminated. The test program was taken over by the Army Air Force Flight Test Division on 24 June after months of negotiation. Goodlin had demanded a US$150,000 bonus for breaking the sound barrier. Flight tests of the X-1-2 (serial 46-063) would be conducted by NACA to provide design data for later production high-performance aircraft.