Rocket-powered and shrouded in secrecy, X-planes helped pave the way for the US space programme: Now they have another mission – taking the boom out of supersonic travel.
The Planes of Fame Air Museum, one of the world's oldest and largest collections of vintage aircraft, has been making steady progress on a rare piece of history to add to its already impressive stable of airworthy airframes. The type in question is Bell YP-59A Airacomet 42-108777, one of just six remaining examples of America's first jet-powered aircraft of the 66 built. It is also a uniquely surviving pre-production variant.
On January 9, 1943, at the controls of the United States Army Air Forces, Boeing’s Chief Test Pilot, Eddie Allen, made the first flight of the Lockheed L-049 Constellation prototype, NX25600, from Lockheed Air Terminal at Burbank, California
October 1942: At Muroc Dry Lake, in the high desert north of Los Angeles, California, Bell Aircraft Corporation’s Chief Test Pilot, Robert Morris Stanley, made the first flight of the top secret prototype turbojet-powered fighter, the Bell XP-59A Airacomet, serial number 42-108784. Weather was “C.A.V.U.” (Ceiling and Visibility Unrestricted) and wind was from the west at 20 miles per hour (9 meters per second).