The National Interest on MSN

Bell X-1: How one weird plane shattered the sound barrier

The X-1’s fuselage was designed to resemble a .50 caliber bullet—one of the only shapes known to have stable flight at ...
Electronic Specifier

Is 2026 the year for supersonic travel?

Supersonic flight refers to aircraft travelling faster than the speed of sound, approximately Mach one at sea level, or ...
The National Interest

The Bell X-1 Jet Had Exactly One Defining Feature

The plane had no armaments and little maneuverability. But it had speed. It’s easy today to take crossing the sound barrier for granted. Doing so has become relatively commonplace. The majority of ...
Astronomy

Oct. 14, 1947: Flying faster than sound

On October 14, 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager piloted the Bell X-1 aircraft, "Glamorous Glennis," achieving a speed of Mach 1.06. This flight disproved prevailing expert warnings that exceeding Mach 1 ...
insider.si.edu

Supersonic flight : the story of the Bell X-1 and Douglas D-558 / Richard Hallion. Introduction by Michael Collins and Melvin B. Zisfein. Published in association with the ...

https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=liball&source=~!silibraries&uri=full=3100001~!26507~!0#focus ...
insider.si.edu

Bell X-1 Photographs

CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. The Bell X-1 was a rocket-powered aircraft designed and built by Bell Aircraft in 1946 for a joint research project with the National Advisory ...
Washington Times

First American-made supersonic civilian jet breaks sound barrier in flight over the Mojave Desert

American aircraft company Boom Supersonic proved their name by successfully flying their civilian jet, the XB-1, faster than the speed of sound over the Mojave Desert Tuesday. The test flight out of ...
SUAS News

Bell to Build X-Plane for Phase 2 of DARPA Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane Program

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has been down-selected for Phase 2 of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) ...
The Aviationist

Boom’s XB-1 Demonstrator Achieves Supersonic Flight

Less than a year from the maiden flight, the first civil supersonic jet made by a private company aims to demonstrate technologies to pave the way for the return of supersonic airliners. The XB-1 ...