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Bell X-2 (Starbuster)

1955 COLD WAR X-PLANE

Bell X-2 (Starbuster) History

Bell Aircraft was again commissioned by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) to provide a high-speed rocket-powered research aircraft program in the late 1940s following the success of the Bell X-1. This powered the subsequent appearance of the Bell X-2 in the mid-1950s, extending the rigorous flight test regime into the Mach 2/3 Mach speed range. The X-2 is essentially an upgraded, more powerful version of the X-1.

A pair of X-2 aircraft, nicknamed "Starbuster", was completed for the upcoming test.

To power the new aircraft, a Curtiss-Wright XLR-25 dual-chamber variable-thrust rocket engine rated up to 15,000 lbs was installed and combined with throttle controls (the X-1 lacked controls )With the use of. The sleeker, leaner fuselage was aerodynamically improved and used a low-mounted main aircraft assembly with swept wings (as opposed to the X-1's straight wings).

Although all leading edges are also swept, the rear remains a vertical rear wing with a mid-level horizontal plane.

Like the X-1, the X-2 is an airborne vehicle, although this time a specially modified Boeing B-50 Superfortress replaces the original B-29 mothership. Like the X-1, the X-2 also used all the gliding power for its first test flight, which took place on June 27, 1952 - with the aid of an integral wheeled landing gear.

The first rocket-powered flight did not occur until November 18, 1955.

When the X-2 set a new speed record of Mach 2.87, it became the record holder itself. She was also the first powered manned aircraft to break the 100,000-foot altitude limit, reaching 126,200 feet on September 7, 1956 (with test pilot Iven Kincheloe in control). On September 27, 1956, the X-2 became the first aircraft to exceed Mach 3.0 with some modifications to the flight controls above Mach 3 (Test Pilot Milburn Apt).

During the same flight, however, the plane experienced an "inertial coupling" that caused the rocket plane to lose control, killing Apt when it attempted to eject on May 12, 1953.

Apt's death delayed further work on the X-2, and the product was officially written off in anticipation of the arrival of the more advanced North American X-15 rocket research aircraft, due later in the decade. Three of this type would be built, and the program would provide additional high-speed data until it ceased in December 1968.

In its current form, from June 1952 to September 1956, only the first X-2 prototype completed any powered flight - a total of 10 - with seven glides to its name. The second prototype never made its only powered flight and added three glides to the end of its record.