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Bell X-14 (Type 68)

1957 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History

The transition from vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) to traditional forward flight was occupied by aeronautical engineers for decades before jet engines were realized. Bell Aircraft developed the Model 68 for testing by the United States Air Force (USAF) and NASA in the 1950s, with the goal of using a vector thruster to provide the lift needed to take off, land, hover, and adjust the aircraft itself at the same time in regular level flight. Although only one Type 68 was built for the program, the vehicle generally flew without any problems and was not retired until a crash in May 1981.

It received the official X-Plane designation "X-14".

To expedite the construction and development of the aircraft, the Bell team delivered a rather slender looking aircraft featuring an open-air cockpit, long landing gear legs, a low-mounted main aircraft and a twin-engine layout, including a pair of , British Armstrong Sidley "Viper 8" turbojets, each with a thrust of 1,750 pounds. The basic form consists of the fuselage sections of a Beechcraft Bonanza civilian aircraft and a T-34 Mentor military trainer - both of which were originally propeller-driven fuselages. Thrust deflectors are added to direct the resulting engine thrust in the desired direction based on the flight action at hand. A pair of circular air intakes occupy the nose section of the fuselage. The fuel tanks are mounted externally under each wing.

Unfortunately, the pilot did not install an ejection seat to save weight.

The first flight of the X-14 was recorded on February 19, 1957, which accomplished the required vertical takeoff and landing maneuvers, with hover effects controlled in between. A forward flight transition was added to the test flight recorded on May 24, 1958. In 1959, the aircraft was delivered to NASA for further testing, and its British engines were replaced by the General Electric J85 model, which gave rise to the revised "X-14A" designation. Considering that the Cold War era saw extensive VTOL programs in both the United States and Europe, the X-14 actually proved to be an invaluable platform for VTOL research.

NASA astronauts also did some training on the X-14 when crews planned to land the lunar module on the lunar surface in the Apollo rocket era.

Another engine change - the J85-GE-19 family of engines - resulted in a revision of the "X-14B" designation in 1971, which also added an improved avionics suite with fly-by-wire capability. The X-14B was routinely tested by NASA until it crashed while landing in an accident on May 29, 1981 - the crash did no harm but marked the X-14 beyond repair and the official end of the product's test life.

Only the above three names are implemented. A dedicated trainer was maintained under the name "X-14T" but was never promoted. Likewise, the "X-14C" was intended to have a more traditional enclosed cockpit, but never moved beyond the early design stages.

The only X-14 (X-14B) prototype was recovered from a junkyard in 1999 by a private collector to restore the aircraft to display condition.

Performance specifications for the X-14A (with British Viper engines installed) include a top speed of 172 miles per hour, a range of up to 300 miles, and a service ceiling of 20,000 feet. Dimensions include a length of 7.6 meters, a wingspan of 10.4 meters and a height of 2.4 meters.