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, a 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, The Sound Barrier Documentary: http://gstv.us/2DPXA0g

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