Bell X-1A Flight Test Piloted by Chuck Yeager 1954 US Air Force; JQ Music

• published: 30 Sep 2015
• views: 36

more at: http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html "Summary: 1) LS of fighter aircraft lined up on ramp at Edwards AFB, California. They are L to R: F-86, F-84, F-86D, F-86, F-89, F-102, and another aircraft in distance. 2) MS 1/4 FV B-29 with X-1A installed in bomb bay. 3) MCU showing X-1A in cutaway bomb bay of B-29. 4) MS showing crew members of B-29 and X-1A -- Maj. Charles Yeager, at right, picks up helmet and parachute and walks to aircraft. 5) LPS B-29 with X-1A taking off, L to R. 6) LS B-29 with X-1A taking off and climbing for altitude, L to R. 7) ALS B-29 in flight to right with X-1A attached to bomb bay and fuselage. 8) AMS, almost direct up shot, of B-29 and X-1A. 9) ALS direct SV of X-1A dropping away from B-29 -- rocket engine can be seen starting and X-1A continues flying to right. F-86 chase plane can be seen in upper left corner of frame. 10) ALS showing contrail of X-1A far overhead -- small contrail of F-86 can be seen far to rear of X-1A. 11) ALS from chase plane at X-1A diving and turning, ground is visible in left bg. 12) LPS of X-1A landing on desert. 13) CU FV X-1A after flight -- group of personnel are around plane. 14) CU of Maj. Yeager in cockpit of X-1A -- he climbs out and jumps to the ground." Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied. The film was silent. I have added music created by myself using the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation and the Independence and Proteus VX VST instrument plugins. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_X-1 The Bell X-1, designated originally as XS-1, was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics-U.S. Army Air Forces-U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by the Bell Aircraft Company... Variants... X-1A Ordered by the Air Force on April 2, 1948, the X-1A (serial 48-1384) was intended to investigate aerodynamic phenomena at speeds greater than Mach 2 (681 m/s, 2,451 km/h) and altitudes greater than 90,000 ft (27 km), specifically emphasizing dynamic stability and air loads. Longer and heavier than the original X-1, with a bubble canopy for better vision, the X-1A was powered by the same Reaction Motors XLR-11 rocket engine. The aircraft first flew, unpowered, on 14 February 1953... After NACA started its high-speed testing with the Douglas Skyrocket, culminating in Scott Crossfield achieving Mach 2.005 on 20 November 1953, the Air Force started a series of tests with the X-1A, which the test pilot of the series, Chuck Yeager, named "Operation NACA Weep". These culminated on 12 December 1953, when Yeager achieved an altitude of 74,700 feet (22,800 m) and a new airspeed record of Mach 2.44 (equal to 1620 mph, 724.5 m/s, 2608 km/h at that altitude). Unlike Crossfield in the Skyrocket, Yeager achieved that in level flight. Soon afterwards, the aircraft spun out of control, due to the then not yet understood phenomenon of inertia coupling. The X-1A dropped from maximum altitude to 25,000 feet (7,600 m), exposing the pilot to accelerations of as much as 8g, during which Yeager broke the canopy with his helmet before regaining control. On 28 May 1954, Maj. Arthur W. Murray piloted the X-1A to a new record of 90,440 feet (27,570 m). The aircraft was transferred to NACA during September 1954... the aircraft was lost on August 8, 1955 while being prepared for launch from the RB-50 mothership, becoming the first of many early X-planes that would be lost to explosions... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager (/ˈjeɪɡər/; born February 13, 1923) is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air Force and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager's career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer) and became a P-51 fighter pilot. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft. As the first human to break the sound barrier, on October 14, 1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter set a new record of Mach 2.44. Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany, and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he was promoted to brigadier general...