This Day in Aviation History
January 19th, 1946
First unpowered flight of the Bell X-1.
 
The X-1-1 was delivered by Bell in December 1945. At the same time, the Army Air Forces asked that NACA personnel oversee the instrumentation and data analysis of the X-1 flights. As a result, an NACA team was incorporated into the program. The first glide flight of the X-1 occurred on Jan. 19, 1946, at Pinecastle Field, FL, by Bell test pilot Jack Woolams. The X-1-1 was air launched from a B-29. Woolams made a total of 10 glide flights to test the X-1’s low-speed handling before it was returned to Bell in March 1946 for installation of the rocket engine. The aircraft was delivered to Muroc in October 1946….
 
Source:
NASA, NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: First Generation X-1: http://gstv.us/1P1poQj
 
YouTube, BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER – NOVA – Discovery Science History (full documentary): http://gstv.us/1P1ptn3
 
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Photo from: http://gstv.us/1P1pTK9
 
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