The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was a joint NACA-U.S. Army Air Forces-U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by the Bell Aircraft Company. Conceived in 1944 and designed and built during 1945, it reached nearly 1,000 m.p.h. (1,600 km/h) in 1948. A derivative of this same design, the Bell X-1A, having greater fuel capacity and hence longer rocket burning time, exceeded 1,600 m.p.h. (2,575 km/h) in 1954. The X-1 was the first airplane to exceed the speed of sound in level flight and was the first of the so-called X-planes, an American series of experimental rocket planes designated for testing of new technologies and often kept secret.
Read more about Bell X-1: Design and Development, Operational History, Variants, Specification (Bell X-1), Specification (Bell X-1E)
Famous quotes containing the word bell:
“Those feelings of envy are familiar to many of us. We see our children accomplishing things that we’ve always been afraid to try, or we give them opportunities that we never had, and we find ourselves feeling jealousy mixed with our pride, or we feel resentful when they take it all for granted.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell (20th century)