3 ms·
Considering this is for a vehicle that never came close to working in its prototype form and was based on an ill-conceived fascination with a saucer design that
by cpleppert 14y ago
Considering this is for a vehicle that never came close to working in its prototype form and was based on an ill-conceived fascination with a saucer design that required it to be nothing but an ensemble of jet engines with thrust redirection required in every direction it makes one wonder how anything ever gets released to the public.
- nobodysfool 14y agoNever came close to working? I read that it achieved Mach 3, well before the first reported Mach 3: The first flight at faster than three times the speed of sound occurred on 27 September 1956. The aircraft was the Bell X-2 and the pilot was Captain Milburn Apt. The Bell X-2 was launched from a specially-modified Boeing B-50 at 31,800 feet. It achieved a speed of Mach 3.196 (2,094 mph). However, the flight then encountered problems known as inertia coupling and Apt jettisoned the cockpit capsule. For some reason, he was unable to use his parachute and was killed - it was his first flight in the X-2. The aircraft itself crashed of course and was scrapped. So, if it did achieve Mach 3, I see no reason why they would have considered scrapping it, since apparently it did better than the Bell X-2 could have done, earlier than the Bell X-2 experiment even.