The Rocket Plane That Broke The Sound Barrier | Bell X-1 [Aircraft Overview #51]

[@RexsHangar]

I made an error and mispronounced Bell's test pilot's surname as Woolmans instead of Woolams, this mistake slipped through the editing checks and now I am not at the office to correct it. Apologies. Edit: I also stuffed up Herbert's last name. Note to self: don't make videos when you are sick. F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible. Feel free to leave you questions below - I may not be able to answer all of them, but I will keep my eyes open :)

[@maxschell8823]

Thanks. Great video. Woolams would have continued testing the XS-1 but was killed while testing a P-39 in preparation for an air race.

[@GrummanTiger1]

And you called it "Glorious Glennis" at 13:24, but we won't get nit-picky. 🙂 Hope you get to feeling better soon!

[@pythosdegothos6181]

Sorry to pile on, but you also refereneced Bob (Robert) Hoover as "Herbert Hoover", but that said, great video of a legendary plane.

[@pythosdegothos6181]

Nevermind this. I was wrong. There was a Herbert Hoover flying for NACA.

[@TalkernateHistory]

At the office? Is this an idiom? Or are you talking about a literal office?

[@rockyraab8290]

Many memories here. I had lunch with Yeager at Edwards AFB during the Space Shuttle Enterprise's first drop test, and have flown the attack version of the T-33 chase aircraft. Dittos to your fabulous opening scene and sounds. Please, NEVER change that. It hooked me on your channel the very first time I clicked.

[@klausschwabshubris]

Thank you for your fearlessness if you were involved in testing new technologies.

[@TeenWithACarrotIDK]

@@klausschwabshubris I prefer the word bravery.

[@klausschwabshubris]

@@TeenWithACarrotIDK that works too👍

[@unscentednapalm8547]

Was Yeager as arrogant in real life as he appeared on twitter? Especially about you yanks basically stealing the Brits' designs and belittling their involvement in WW2 that you turned up late for?

[@coleparker]

Wow, that is interesting. I worked at Edwards in 1988 and later from 1993 to 2012 as an Archaeologist/ Historian. In 2011 I met Chuck Yeager went out to the old Pancho Barnes site, where he showed me the place he injured himself prior to the flight. The only thing I really wish I could have asked him, was his experience flying the ME-262 and the P-80.

[@154Kilroy]

The guys that flew in WW2, then in these test programs, and then later in the space program I think it's fair to say lived some of the most interesting lives in all of history. It's crazy these events really weren't that long ago.

[@kooperativekrohn819]

80 odd years ago

[@lunatic_nebula9542]

@@kooperativekrohn819 it is big for 1 human life but considering how long some things have taken it is short, like you could live through all those events

[@kooperativekrohn819]

@@lunatic_nebula9542 yea its like the colour sergeant in the movie ‘zulu’ he fought against the zulus , ww1 and then ww2 …he pasted away on VE day . The man was born to defend and keep the UK safe ! Super soldiering

[@brianhiles8164]

The first _manned_ aircraft that was _intentionally_ made to _continuously_ travel faster than the speed of -light- sound, and not need be in a _dive_ to do so.

[@AndrewGivens]

The interesting thing about continuous supersonic flight in a dive, is that you arrive at your destination really quickly.

[@brianhiles8164]

​@@AndrewGivens I was primarily thinking of aircraft, even today, capable of (continuous) supersonic flight, but exigencies of weight and range (being mission and/or fuel load and/or weapons load) made it efficacious to cross the Mach barrier by effecting a _shallow_ dive to minimize the time it spent in this highest-drag flight regime. Both the F-100 _Super Sabre_ and the SR-71 _Blackbird_ were such crafts. The counter-intuitive nature of high Mach drag is manifest in the fact that the B-58 _Hustler_ had a commensurate fuel efficiency at Mach 2 (its maximum continuous velocity) than at Mach 1.

[@BogeyTheBear]

The experiment was to determine if aerodynamic lift could be maintained at supersonic speed, or find out if the wing stalled once it got past the sound barrier

[@AdjutantReflex0]

I have a scale model of this aircraft signed by Cpt Yeager himself. Got me into aviation at a young age

[@11hitmanDagenius]

that neager named yeager?

[@papakilo-2750]

@@11hitmanDagenius what

[@Supatsu]

@@11hitmanDagenius lets not ruin things by being a terrible racist pos

[@RaisedbyaWildPackofCigarettes]

@@11hitmanDagenius I'm genuinely jealous of the autograph but then you really just did that. Son, liiiiiiiiined it up, and took that killshot. My fucking God. The gravity of this name game is probably enough to bring humanity back into the light.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

Aviation is a rubbish career tho

[@jonmcgee6987]

Interesting that Yeager broke the sound barrier with broken ribs from a riding accident not long before the flight. And of course Hoover who escaped from a POW camp and stole a German fighter to fly to safety.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

Now that's a story to tell.

[@calvingreene90]

@bcooper The lies people tell.

[@WarblesOnALot]

@bcooper ALL Jet, Test, and Fighter Pilots in the 1950s were High Functioning Alcoholics. Especially the Combat Veterans. 3 standard Drunks before bedtime, after a hard day of working while sober, prevents DREAMING while asleep. PTSD generates Nightmares, so Alcohol is known as Warrior Juice. Get used to it. HOWEVER... Yeager broke his Ribs the night before the Mach-1 Flight, when he fell off a Horse, riding in the Moonlight, with his wife on another Horse, racing among the "Joshua Trees" in the Desert. He got the Horses at "Pancho" Barnes' "Happy Bottom Riding Club" a Riding Stable which she operated in conjunction with a Motel, Bar, and Steak-Restaurant...., catering to the Flying Fraternity posted through (what became) Edwards AFB. Open a History Book, you might learn something. ;-p Ciao !

[@ZacLowing]

@@WarblesOnALot I recall something about a piece of broom stick tied to a lever in the cockpit because of the pain from pulling it.

[@WarblesOnALot]

@@ZacLowing G'day, Yes, indeed, a length of Broomhandle stashed in the X-1 Cockpit so Yeager could close the Door Latches on the Cockpit Hatch. Jack Ridley cut off and trimmed the end of the Broomhandle. A celebrated bit of Supersonic Backwoods Hillbilly Engineering...(!). Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@mikepette4422]

the postwar period was amazing because of all the innovations that the war brought were finally being able to be put together in actual designs. the world spent about 5 years trying find out what worked and what didn't. The Bell-X -1 was necessary, they needed to know what really happens after Mach 1 because some speculated it was impossible to control an aircraft after the sound barrier was broken. I'd love to see you do a series of the X Planes all the way to the X-15.

[@henryfleischer404]

I'd like to see them go up to the x-29.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

You mean Germany designed... the explosion of technological advances made after the war were driven by research and development by the Germans during WW2. Operation Paperclip and Operation Lusty captured a vast treasure trove of supersonic aerospace technology and relocating the German laboratories, factories and thousands of engineers and scientists enmasse to the U.S. and other Allied countries.

[@randallriley]

In addition to the errors Rex pointed out below, at 13:24, you call the X-1 the "Glorious Glennis" whereas it was the "Glamorous Glennis."

[@Jonathan.D]

The P38 Lightning was notorious for "Mach tuck" due to compressibility. They believed it was tail flutter causing the issue. They tried multiple fixes until they finally figured out what the true cause was. That's when they installed the dive flaps that cured the problem. That period in time saw so many innovations due to a better understanding. The P38 was one of the few planes that stayed relevant during the whole war.

[@garrington120]

P 38 was an unmitigated DISASTER of an aircraft with a Mack limit of 0.86 FFS !!!

[@Jonathan.D]

@@garrington120 Your reply is the opposite of what all the historians have said. It had an issue with compressibility but that was fixed with the speed flaps. It had more speed, a better climb rate, and was more maneuverable than most every enemy plane. It was used as a fighter, a fighter bomber, and it was one of the first that could do long-range escorts. Lindbergh flew the P38 and had no issue with it. Not only was it fast it was also the best gun platform because the guns aimed straight ahead. Your reply makes no sense.

[@FallenPhoenix86]

@@garrington120 Why comment on a subject you clearly know nothing about?

[@jamesbarca7229]

@@garrington120 Tell that to Yamamoto.

[@garrington120]

@@jamesbarca7229 Ohh right the P 38 raid on an unarmed Military Transport plane

[@donjones4719]

OK, let's "dive" in. The fascinating thing about the pace of airplane development is that the F-86 Sabre, a fully functioning combat jet that could get itself from A to B, was flying at the same time the X-1 was. Yes, the X-1 broke the sound barrier first, but the F-86 prototype did it a couple of months later, and that exact Mach 1 capable airframe was flying during the X-1 tests. The F-86 needed a shallow dive to go above Mach 1, so it doesn't set any official level speed record. *BUT* breaking the sound barrier is not a speed record, it was an aerodynamic "barrier" to the advancement of speed. The common assumption for a long time had been that it would be broken in a dive.

[@darrinslack1269]

all with nice nazi engineering

[@steveh1792]

The XF-86, flown by George Welch, might have actually exceeded Mach 1 in a dive (the only way the aircraft could manage the trick) a few days *before* the XS-1's supersonic flight. Welch was tracked by NACA equipment at Mach 1.02 on October 19 and 21, five and seven days after Yeager's flight. This was done using the same flight profiles he'd flown before October 14. (The XF-86 was later officially credited with exceeding Mach 1 by the air force when a British pilot evaluating the aircraft inadvertently spilled the beans on an open radio channel.) Whether or not George Welch beat the XS-1 to supersonic flight, Chuck Yeager certainly was the first to exceed Mach 1 in level flight (or in his case, a slight climb).

[@donjones4719]

@@steveh1792 I've found the idea that George Welch beat Yeager to the barrier a fascinating one. I've read a number of articles arguing both sides of the case over the years and, although an initial believer, have sadly concluded the evidence/deductions that he did to be unconvincing. I'm pretty sure Welch wasn't flying the same profiles, as I recall it the plane still had some regular flying and mechanical glitches that hadn't been worked out yet. But, I'll settle for it being not completely impossible. To me it's enough that the airframe was capable of it. One detail *is* convincing - that North American knew it would be very embarrassing to NASA and the government if they beat them to the punch with an "ordinary" airplane developed by a private company. or even came close. NA valued their relationship to the government and would have kept a lid on it either way. And yes, the other slight impediment to announcing it was the program was top-secret. :) Those Brits, they're such scamps.

[@TheIndianalain]

@@steveh1792 For me Welch will always be the one who broke the sound barrier. But maybe I have a soft spot for the Pearl Harbor hero since I watched Tora! Tora! Tora!...

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

The F-86 Sabre was an absolutely brilliant design by German Fokker engineer *Edgar Schmüd* and a team of Messerschmitt engineers brought over to America by Operation Paperclip and Operation Lusty. The Sabre' s wings were designed by the _Luftfahrfohrschaltstung_ the World's only supersonic wind tunnel facility in Braunschweig Germany.

[@sim.frischh9781]

Looking at the history and collective achievements of the X planes, that certainly is one serious heritage. Not just the X-1, but several of them wrote their names into history. The X-15 still hold the official speed record to this day, as far as i´m aware.

[@argon7624]

Speed records for aircraft get a bit iffy thanks to the Space Shuttle. You'd have to go to great lengths in order to define the semantics which separate it from the X-15, as both are human controlled rocket powered aircraft.

[@sim.frischh9781]

@@argon7624 X-15 is not meant for space flight. One is a PLANE, the other a space craft.

[@argon7624]

@@sim.frischh9781 Both are planes, both are capable of aerodynamic flight using their own aerodynamic capabilities, both were controlled like planes during their unpowered descent, and both achieved high atmosphere near-vacuum flight. If anything, the space shuttle is a spaceplane, being both a plane as well as a spacecraft.

[@sim.frischh9781]

@@argon7624 Because in order to reach space, or the surface when coming FROM space, you need to cross the atmosphere. However you will reach with one regions the other will never get to.

[@argon7624]

@@sim.frischh9781 Space isn't a hard defined thing though, as the space shuttle still operates comfortably within the thermosphere. It never crosses any boundaries because no boundaries inherently exist within our earth.

[@VikingTeddy]

Early cold war is my favorite. It's so exciting! Jet propulsion, though still relatively new has moved on from being a mere curiosity, and designers are trying out all kinds of crazy ideas. There's no optimum shape yet and the planes are futuristic looking and varied. The best looking jets are all pre 70's. Everything is being thrown at the wall to see if it sticks.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

Several optimum shapes were developed by the Germans during WW2 at _Luftfahrfohrschaltstung_ supersonic aircraft wind tunnel laboratory in Braunschweig Germany. The only large diameter supersonic aircraft wind tunnels to exist in the world until 1947. The most notable design produced by the _Luftfahrfohrschaltstung_ was the Boeing B-47 which was the basis for the Boeing 707 series and every successful jet airliner to follow.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

It's hard to believe there are only two decades between this and the aircraft you usually share on this channel.

[@spacecadet35]

What gets me is that it was only seven years between the introduction of the Gloster Gladiator and the Gloster Meteor.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

@@spacecadet35 Holy moly!

[@grrlpurpleable]

Awesome episode Rex. While I love your other favourite era, this early Cold War era in aviation really grabs my attention. Awesome start with the X-1 too! :) Looking forward to more.

[@bencaffarel2343]

Ah, yes, the Miles M-52, or, in Metric, the Kilometers M-83.6859

[@gswombat]

😂

[@wrightflyer7855]

New subscriber here, but big time aviation buff since the early 1950s. Thank you for the excellent, thoughtfully researched presentations and choice of relatively obscure subjects. Thanks sgain Rex. Wright Flyer, USAF (1968-1972).

[@SephirothRyu]

And thus, the channel breaks the interwar barrier.

[@somerandomguy___]

Oh how nice! The only thing I knew about this plane beforehand was that it was the plane to reach mach 1 I also love that this plane was made for the virtuous purpose of gaining more knowledge rather than another war machine

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

More knowledge in order to make faster war machines lol

[@alt5494]

It's worth mentioning that the British had just provided dozens of Nene engines that would be directly developed into the Vk-1 engine that would power the Mig-15. The quote from Stalin "what fool would sell us his secrets". Perfectly drives home why the USA rethought sharing information with the UK.

[@stephenremington8448]

Also, the De Havilland Trident, all the info was given to Boeing who made rhe 727.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

The reasons include trying to maintain the frendship with the Soviet Union to reduce the chance of war with them. Stalin had already stolen the atom bomb secrets from the Americans.

[@alt5494]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 At the time the spy's in the Manhattan project where unknown. Though of the two major information transfers one was by a British citizen. One would hope all those involved knew the massive number of victims they harmed though the Soviet nuclear program.

[@richardvernon317]

@@alt5494 There were five major soviet spies in the Manhattan Project. Three British (though of the three one actually a German and another an Italian) and two Americans (Theodore Hall and David Greenglass). Three of them, the German and two Americans worked at Los Alamos.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

The scene in The Right Stuff where Yeager spun the X-1A is just a masterpiece of movie making

[@thegodofhellfire]

Great video. Shaped like a .50 cal bullet, never knew!

[@vumba1331]

Yep, the stabilator was the trick that made the transonic flight possible without the aircraft 'tucking'. The British were most unimpressed with the septics taking their info and design secrets without reciprocating, par for the course with the septics but not the best way to build up trust. They also never acknowledged the contribution of the English Spitfire designers made in the design of the North American P51, the poms were years ahead in the streamlining and contouring to integrate the wing to the fuselage.

[@benwilson6145]

The Septics did the same with the Atomic bomb research, not to be trusted.

[@vumba1331]

@@benwilson6145 Indeed, turbojet engine another example, British and German technology.

[@allangibson2408]

The Americans did the same thing with the British contribution to the Manhattan Project…

[@michaelpielorz9283]

A variable horizontal stabilizer was done years before on a jet.for nearly the same reason.

[@vumba1331]

Forgot about boeing copying the Trident design to produce the 727. Said they were interested so came over the England to look at the design, features, plans etc, then went back and backed out of the deal, announced the 727 some time later. Someone also pointed out that the 737 just looks like a scaled up Me 262, no surprises there.

[@1944GPW]

Another fabulous video! Also it should be noted that the X-1 did a single ground takeoff on 5th January 1949 with Chuck Yeager at the controls. The film is here on YT.

[@boris1932]

I remember reading that "Slick" Goodlin (Bell company test pilot) wanted $100,000 to break the sound barrier and with Yeager at the side, an agreement about money couldn't be reached, so Chuck was given the chance to attempt breaking the barrier.

[@maxschell8823]

Goodlin's bonus negotiations of $150,000 over a five year period were based on the assumption that Bell would be successful in obtaining phase two (2) of the contract i.e. meeting and exceeding Mach 1.0. Remember the contract for phase one (1) was transonic i.e. Mach 0.80. Bell and Goodlin meet the requirements of phase one (1).

[@boris1932]

@@maxschell8823 Thanks for the details Max.

[@fast_richard]

I got a chuckle out of the slips of the tongue "Glorious" Glennis and "Herbert" Hoover. Prior to the book and movie "The Right Stuff" Bob Hoover was by far the most famous of the X-1 test pilots, because of his decades of exhibition and airshow flying. Hoover and Yeager were lifelong close friends and friendly aerial rivals after first meeting as young test pilots.

[@electrolytics]

Yeah, Wheatfield, NY(Niagara Falls) right down the road. The Bell Hangars are still there. It's a subdivided industrial park now. Air Force Reserve Base right next to it.

[@hertzair1186]

There is evidence that that a German pilot, Hans Guido Mütke, actually accidentally exceeded the speed of sound in a dive in a ME-262 jet in 1944. He described the characteristics of breaking the sound barrier before they were known (buffeting as he accelerated, then smooth and quiet, then buffeting returned as he slowed back down). His airframe was damaged after that dive, showing that he did exceed the aircrafts Never Exceed Speed (Vne). The story can be read at Mütke’s Wikipedia page. His plane still survives in a Swiss museum. Later wind tunnel testing proved the 262 was capable of supersonic flight.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

Yes, Mutke was the first credible person to experience Mach Tuck and live to tell about it, he credited his survival to the Messerschmitt Me-262s fly-by-wire horizontal Stabilator to counteract the plane sudden pitch down as it reached Mach 1. The Munich Technical University confirmed through modern computer analysis that the Me-262 could in fact reach Mach 1 in a steep dive. The Bell X1 used a nearly identical version of the Me-262s Stabilator system.

[@hertzair1186]

@@sandervanderkammen9230 so History may need to be revised…..the Germans were the first to go aircraft supersonic and the first into space (V-2 reaching the Karmann Line in 1942)

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

@@hertzair1186 Yes, Germany was years ahead of Britain and America in supersonic aircraft technology. The _Luftfahrfohrschaltstung_ supersonic wind tunnel laboratory in Braunschweig Germany was the world's only large diameter supersonic aircraft wind tunnel until 1947 or was constructed in 1936-1938. The A9 tunnel was brought to White Oaks Virginia and was used by NASA during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space program as well as supersonic planes and missiles.

[@hertzair1186]

@@sandervanderkammen9230 …as British test pilot Cptn Eric Brown stated in his autobiography and on film…”we weren’t surprised how far ahead of us the Germans were…we were shocked!”

[@HammerOn-bu7gx]

The Bell X-1 was not the first aircraft to break the speed of sound. All previous attemps ended in crashes or midair breakups; See the discussions on British attempts. It was the first purpose build vehicle that successfully broke Mach 1 and sucessfully returned.

[@rubiconnn]

Didn't one of those super sketchy WW2 German peroxide propelled aircraft break the sound barrier before crashing and exploding?

[@braininavatnow9197]

The first person to break the speed of sound was Zhang Li Wu who was shot out of a cannon in 1548 in Shaanxi province, China....he died upon impacting the ground....but with a smile on his face.

[@papakilo-2750]

@@braininavatnow9197 mf they didn't even have speedometers back then

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

​@@rubiconnn Hans Mutke was the first person to reach supersonic in a dive in a Messerschmitt Me-262 and was the first person to discribe the effects of "Mach Tuck" Mutke used the Me-262s fly-by-wire Stabilator trim control system to recover effective pitch control of the aircraft and land safely.

[@colinschaeffer3940]

@@sandervanderkammen9230 So he claimed. Not verified!

[@tisdude8955]

This is such a cool aircraft! I just was in DC and saw it at the Udvar-Hazy center

[@rudywoodcraft9553]

Enjoyable video! I've always enjoyed seeing the X-1 at the Dayton Air Force Museum, where you can see wooden triangles glued on the trailing edges of the wings...experimentation and human ingenuity!

[@maxschell8823]

Glamorous Glennis hangs in the atrium at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

[@jihadthat777]

I've heard the story of the X1 various times, and even now this video presented new info I never heard about before. It would be nice to see a video centered around a bird or birds which had a severe issue with that roll coupling ordeal.

[@Kurgutt]

I'd love to see a X-15 overview from yours thank you for this video ❤

[@aiaardvark]

VO error at 13:24. "Glorious Glennis" instead of "Glamorous Glennis".

[@pikminfan6778]

This plane was seen and mentioned in the infamous Arthur episode, Arthur's Big Hit.

[@motorTranz]

Excellent documentary! Thank you!

[@paulhaynes8045]

This really resonated for me, from a purely personal perspective - this programme got going a few years before I was born, and ended a few years afterwards. It's a strange feeling to know I'm roughly as old as supersonic flight!

[@MOTV88]

Another great video! Thank you for focusing on the details and technical aspects of the Bell X-1 and including all the other pilots and engineers who were just as important in X-1 project. Can't wait for more!!!

[@isaactuuri6488]

thank you for your information, top notch to be sure.

[@nickdanger3802]

HMG had sufficient funds for the Bristol Brabazon luxury air liner, Saunders Roe luxury flying boat, DH Comet jet air liner, Avro Tudor liner and Blackburn Beverly military transport. And the 1948 Olympics, free health care and subsidized housing. And hold on to the Empire. M52 was designed around a jet engine that had not yet been built. As I understand it.

[@robertdragoff6909]

And don’t forget, Churchill lost the election

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Most of what you seems to be complaining about were intended to bring money into the country and that includes the Olympics and the NHS. The fact that they didn't is irrelevant at this point in history that this film covers. The country needed housing and surprisingly we still need cheap housing. We also needed better health provision, there some social healthcare provision but it was limited in scope. The NHS increased productivity in industry by reducing sick days. The M52 had no commercial potential as there was no evidence that it would work. Nor was there any evidence to suggest that it had any practical use.

[@adriancash7063]

Brabazon.

[@nickdanger3802]

@@adriancash7063 My missnake. 130 - Ton Colossus Takes The Air (1949) kzbin.info/www/bejne/joSxqIR5hL2GpdE

[@GeneralJackRipper]

Yeah, I think I just clicked the 'Like' button before the video started playing. The manliest aircraft to ever be piloted. Bar none.

[@bummer6]

I have a request! I would love to see a video on the Granville Gee Bee Model Z. I know it's a bit later than the stuff you usually cover, but it's only of my favorite aircraft of all time and I'd love to see you cover its' history

[@c.caecilius8791]

I just saw the X-1 at the Smithsonian a few weeks ago. Thanks for the background!

[@fasold2164]

As far as I know the first aircraft to break through the sound barrier was a Me 163 A, piloted by Heini Dittmar, on October 2nd 1941. When attaining a speed of 1004 km/h he sudddenly lost control and was barely able to recover and return to the airfield. Even US-testpilots who flew captured Me 262 stated in a report of 1946, that during a shallow dive the 262 could achiev a top speed of 950 km/h. At about 1000 km/h the controls failed but once beyond the sound barrier the controls worked normally again.

[@richardoakley8800]

P 51 and mosquitos were known to go past the sound barrier in a steep dive

[@trooperdgb9722]

@@richardoakley8800 No, they weren't.

[@trooperdgb9722]

Both 950 and 1004 kmh are well UNDER the speed of sound (1235kmh at 20 degrees C) Neither the 163 nor the 262 achieved Mach 1. The 163 reportedly reached a speed of 1130 kmh in July 1944 - flown by Dittmar.. ..but that is still well under Mach 1. If you have convincing actual evidence otherwise please provide a link.

[@richardoakley8800]

@@trooperdgb9722 shame you have quoted the speed of sound at sea level.. a 15000 feet its 660mph. The Me 163 could reach 680 mph in a steep dive.. last time I was at skool 680 was faster than 660 mph.

[@trooperdgb9722]

@@richardoakley8800 At 15000 ft it is 626 Knots..or 720 mph. (1160 kmh) Your turn.

[@RonJohn63]

1:15 Your "bad old" thumbnails are quite nice. They're less colorful than the newer thumbnails, but have a higher contrast than the new thumbnails; I find the high contrast most helpful.

[@SMichaelDeHart]

General Chuck Yeager...Mountaineer Proud!! A West Virginia farm boy made the big time!!

[@nomaambundy9989]

I read somewhere that the leather used to seal to junctions on the liquid oxygen lines had a habit of becoming explosive in the presence of oil and oxygen.

[@kooperativekrohn819]

Another great video ! Loving the longer length content ❤️

[@johnladuke6475]

"...but that will be covered in another video." Oh Rex, you dirty tease, just like all the others with your enormous list of future video ideas for later. Don't change.

[@1i8m]

I can’t believe how interesting your videos are. You could keep my attention for 45 minutes talking about table cloths.

[@Assassine0606]

I think I share your love for the aviation design in the early cold war. Air-to-Air Missle aren´t that prominent and bonkers yet, so we get jets that go into dog fighting, I really like that

[@drstevenrey]

I admire the balls of these pilots, not being put off by the fact that this thing might just spontaneously blow up at any time.

[@rafchris]

Indeed an amazing era. I woukd have loved to be a test pilot back then with for insrance the high speed flight in the RAF or a company man. Lighning's, hunters, sea vixens, vulcans, victors, etc etc. And how different history could be if only the UK had abit more will. The sound barrier, nuclear energy, rockets. For a while the future was occuring in Nissen huts in English country lanes in the 50s and 60s, a dar cry from the glamour of working in the states, which of course alot of British engineers did from the likes of the Miles programme for instance when they found themselves unemployed!

[@brianperry]

I remember Chuck Yeager, when speaking about his record breaking flight, that Bell had developed the 'all flying elevator,' this is what gave him the advantage. Whether he was aware, or not, of the Pentagons reneging on the USA/UK agreement I guess we will never know. I believe the F86 had a dummy looking normal elevator to fool, presumable the Russians. It sure was a time of espionage and counter espionage. Well documented interesting video. Thanks for your research .

[@peteranderson037]

Considering how compartmentalized such secret information would have been, it is likely that nobody in the X-1 program knew where the information came from. This would explain why Yeager was very adamant about the X-1 being all American till the day he died. As far as he, Jack Ridley, Bob Hoover, and everyone else on the team knew, it was. As far as I'm aware, the X-1 didn't have an all flying elevator. Maybe later models, but not the original ones. The original X-1s had a jack screw trim system that moved the entire horizontal stabilizer up and down for pitch trim. The basic concept was fairly common back then, even the Piper J-3 Cub has this kind of trim system. If memory serves me correctly, the system in the X-1 was electromechanically actuated using a switch on the control yoke. When info about the solution to the pitch stability problem trickled down to their ranks, Ridley figured that the trim system could be used as an ad-hoc all flying elevator. Yeager and Hoover would prove this theory in flight. This eliminated the need to have a true all flying elevator installed, saving time and money.

[@maxschell8823]

@@peteranderson037 The NACA was conducting tests on a Curtiss "test bed" XP-42 which was the modified Curtiss P-36 . The test report was on-line. Dated about 1946.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

The Bell X1 used a electric Stabilator trim control system nearly identical to the one found on the *Messerschmitt Me-262* Germany was years ahead of the Americans and British in high speed research and in particular in the understanding of Compressibility and critical Mach number of various flight control surfaces. The Me-262 was developed the data from the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt, the world's only large diameter supersonic aircraft wind tunnel facility. The Me-262 was The first aircraft to be designed with a horizontal stabilator to counteract the effects of Compressibility.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

The NACA Technical Note no.1139 with wind tunnel and flight tests data on the XP-42 horizontal stabilator was made available to the RAE... That false propaganda myth won't fly here.. Dennis Bancrofts claims that the U.S. reneged on sharing research is a total fabrication, Bancroft is not a credible source, he was implicated in the M.52 scandal in which Miles Aircraft was charged by the Crown with 24 counts of fraud and embezzlement.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

The F-86 Sabre was designed by a team of German engineers from Messerschmitt led by Edgar Shmud. The A model used the electric horizontal stabilator trim system from the Me-262, later versions had an upgraded hydraulically controlled slab stabilator.

[@Plainview200]

Yep, those post WW 2 designs are particularly interesting. New approaches to utilizing a new method of propulsion...

[@Ob1sdarkside]

When aircraft developed at an amazing rate. Great period

[@commonnerfer]

Any chance of you covering the XP-50 and the XF5F naval version?

[@soppdrake]

15:50 Wait, what? Was the stratofortress lifted up? Wow, just wow! Pure Gerry Andersen

[@timothystark5986]

Bob hoover, not Herbert hoover lol

[@midnightrambler8866]

I didn't know the president was a pilot.

[@jonmcgee6987]

Bob Hoover has a bit of an interesting back story before these flights.

[@bobcoats2708]

Bob Hoover did not fly the X1

[@ducksoff7236]

He said Robert. Bob is short for Robert in the English language.

[@ducksoff7236]

@@bobcoats2708 And where does anyone say he did? No one here did. Though he was Yeager's back up pilot and he flew chase for the Mach 1 fight.

[@noname2490]

I love the sarcasm with certain words in certain videos with leaders that have small mustaches and "the aircraft decided to explode"

[@marcusbrooks2118]

The plural of “incident” is “incidents,” not “incidentses.” This differs from incidence (as in angle of) with plural incidences (as in variable geometry). Or instance (for instance) with plural instances. Pardon my OCD.

[@steveh1792]

*Herbert* Hoover? (14:50) That would be Bob Hoover, one of the best test and demonstration pilots ever, also a friend of Chuck Yeager's.

[@bobcoats2708]

Nobody bothered to look this up apparently. Herb Hoover, not Bob Hoover, flew the X1

[@steveh1792]

@@bobcoats2708 Learn something new every day; almost nobody remembers the second guy to do something new, although Herb was the first civilian to fly the X-1 supersonically. (Bob Hoover did, however, fly chase on the X-1 in a P-80. Injuries he sustained while test flying an F-84 made it impossible to fly the X-1 himself. He and Yeager were also involved with evaluating a MiG-15 flown to South Korea by a defecting North Korean pilot.)

[@Iowa599]

I imagine the take-off is scary, in the X1, when strapped to the bottom of a B29.

[@WhitzWolf92]

20:40 From that specific angle, the X-1E look eerily similar to the SR-71, despite being totally unrelated. Although both were designed to break speed records... Actually, think about it! Humanity went from just (intentionally and continuously) breaking the sound barrier in 1947 to producing the fastest air-breathing aircraft on record in 1964. Just 17 years from one to the other, starting 75 years ago! Maybe I’m just sleep-deprived, but that realization just blew my mind.

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

.Sorry Zany, *The MiG-17 had a top speed of only Mach .93.* *The first aircraft made by the Mikoyan and Gurevich to reach Mach 1 in sustained level flight was the MiG-19.* *The MiG-19 was powered by two Tumansky RD-9 AXIAL COMPRESSOR TURBOJETS.*

[@Maddog3060]

Fun Fact: Pinecastle Airfield was later renamed Michael McCoy AFB some time after being handed over to the USAF. (Named for a bomber commander who diverted his crashing aircraft away from civilian neighborhoods while approaching Pinecastle.) Michael McCoy was later decommissioned and now is known as Orlando International Airport (MCO). So if you've flown into Orlando you've probably landed at the same place they initially tested the X-1. I mean, yanno, unless you flew into Sanford. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[@davidrivero7943]

As always , splendid. ! Lots of Aviation History does my appendage shaped State , has. I live 4 miles away from Glenn Curtis 1900 Aviation School in Miami Springs. Lets not forget NASA .

[@flemmingaaberg4457]

Another great show - thanks

[@maxschell8823]

17 January 1947 Chalmers Goodlin, Forth powered flight. Obtains 0.828 Mach. Slight buffeting experience. For those interested in the detailed X-1 story read "Into the unknown" by Louis Rotundo.

[@lightbox617]

I was born in 1948. I didn't learn about the sound barrier flight until the mid to late 60's. I'm 73. What can I fantasize about what is going on in the air now?

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

...Sorry Zany, *The MiG-17 had a top speed of only Mach .93.* *The first aircraft made by the Mikoyan and Gurevich to reach Mach 1 in sustained level flight was the MiG-19.* *The MiG-19 was powered by two Tumansky RD-9 AXIAL COMPRESSOR TURBOJETS.*

[@tihspidtherekciltilc5469]

Would doing some videos on wind tunnels be too far off topic as I find those just as interesting and you're the best person I can think of to cover them. Again, thanks for everything you do.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

Thanks Rex … that’s Such a Great Opening Scene … I’m trying to guess what type of motor it is …Merlin …? And this episode has the bonus lesson of HyperSonic Dynamics …Did Germany lead the world in Wind tunnel design and Schlering Photography…

[@airmakay1961]

Oh, yeah! Bring on the X-planes! When pilots were bold, engineers creative, and budgets fat.

[@xxxYYZxxx]

The X-1 history is quite impressive. I just figured the X1 broke Mach 1 and they quickly moved on to the X2.

[@LA_Commander]

Amazing history there. Although in truth the German air force more than likely broke the sound barrier before 1947, as they had the rocket-propelled Komet in 1941 and the ME-262 jet in 1943, both of which could exceed the sound barrier in a dive. Neither of these planes required a mother ship, by the way. Although the Germans more than likely broke the sound barrier first, these planes were not designed to do that, and if they did it would have been done inadvertently. Also, the pilots didn't have the means to document the actual event. So, official history will remember the Bell X-1 as the first plane that broke the sound barrier. I also read General Yeager's book it is a terrific read for anyone interested in aviation history!

[@thethirdman225]

Rubbish.

[@thethirdman225]

@@AKguru762 No way. The Me-163 lost its vertical tail when it exceeded its critical Mach number. The aircraft was simply not strong enough to survive the stresses imposed by sonic or supersonic flight.

[@LA_Commander]

@@thethirdman225 yeah, that is a well reasoned, thoughtful, insightful, helpful remark which contributed so much to the conversation.

[@thethirdman225]

@@LA_Commander Sorry if I don’t toe the party line. I’ve been a renegade all my life so I’m well used to being out of step. It doesn’t make me wrong or stupid. Rudolf Opitz flew the Me-163 as a test pilot and it was on July 6, 1944, flying Me-163B V18, when he exceeded the aircraft’s Critical Mach number - the speed (I know Mach number is a ratio, not a speed) at which airflow becomes sonic at some point on the airframe - and the rudder was simply shredded. Opitz just managed to regain control before the aircraft plunged into the Baltic. A description of this can be found in William Green’s _”Warplanes of the Third Reich”_ on page 604. Dittmar’s flight, which got to Mach 0.84 on 2 October, 1941, resulted in an immediate loss of pitch stability and he had to chop the throttle to save himself and the aircraft. This incident is described on page 596 of the same book. The Messerschmitt Me-262 simply did not have enough installed power to fly supersonic and there is absolutely no evidence it ever did. On page 625 of the aforementioned book, there is a photograph of a low drag canopy configuration for the -262 which was used for high speed testing. Green claims it got to 624 mph but provides no information on testing. I usually find that most people who make these claims talk about the Germans and their advanced projects know little to nothing about supersonic flight. When you understand things like drag divergence Mach number and the stresses transonic flight places on the airframe, you realise how wide of the mark these claims are. To treat them as though they were daily events and as though it was only a matter of time before Germany had supersonic fighters - or even that the Me-163 was supersonic - is not just a failure to understand the problem, it is simply wrong. All the arguments I see about this are constructs that start with “if”… They are proof of nothing. I know because I did it myself years before the internet made an art form out of it. I’ll accept your apology.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

@@thethirdman225 Ahole much?

[@jimsvideos7201]

14:50 The former President?

[@Skyliner04s]

Hello Rex! I discovered your channel just maybe 10 days ago. I love your videos. Since I am from Germany I just have one request: Could you please announce heights, speeds and other numbers in metric units, too? I found myself pausing the video and grabbing my phone to convert. This would be highly appreciated. Thank you for the high quality videos! Videos like yours get harder and harder to find on YT.

[@jamesbarca7229]

I oftentimes find myself doing the same thing but the other way. The windows calculator has a convenient speed converter. Just click on the upper left corner and it gives you a drop-down box with numerous different converters. I use it so much I just pinned it to my taskbar.

[@Skyliner04s]

@@jamesbarca7229 Yes, that is a solution, but it could be easier if the source covered both units, right?

[@jamesbarca7229]

@@Skyliner04s Sure it would. But, as aggravating as it is, the world doesn't revolve around me and not everyone is going to do it the way I want, so I work with what I have.

[@Skyliner04s]

@@jamesbarca7229 Yes you are right.

[@EmyrDerfel]

Including both units as overlay text should be possible, while the script refers to the units used by the designers.

[@glennpettersson9002]

Thank you great video👍

[@WarmongerSmurfOnXbox]

Hahaha! Little did you know I already have a crippling caffeine addiction.

[@ducksoff7236]

Robert Hoover who we all know better of course as Bob Hoover. "The greatest stick and rudder man who ever lived" so named by General James who we all know better of course as Jimmy Doolittle.

[@Inpreesme]

Thank you

[@fionnhall8530]

Great video helps me go to sleep

[@longrider42]

The P-47D, was most likely the first plane to break the sound barrier, in a dive, but the wings tore off, when the pilot tried to pull out. the P-47N, had squared off wings which where reinforced, so it could dive on Buzz Bombs. The P-38, almost broke the sound barrier several times in dives, and that well, ended badly. Until the installation of a dive brake behind the cockpit.

[@realityquotient7699]

There's a lot of controversy around that. While they were certainly pushing up against the sound barrier, at those speeds the pitot tubes were prone to giving erroneous readings. Turbulence and all that. The biggest obstacle to a propeller-driven aircraft breaking the sound barrier is the propeller itself. They just don't hold up well at the RPM needed to produce the necessary thrust. As an aside, model airplane engines experience the same problem. A Cox TD .049 c.i.d engine can be made to run fast enough that the propeller tips go supersonic. The propellers almost always explode at that point, and those propellers are only 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

[@djbiscuit1818]

I think you're misremembering some things you read and/or were told. The P-47 and P-38 both ran into Mach compressibility, where airflow over certain regions of the plane went supersonic, but that is NOT the same thing as the *vehicle* going supersonic. The P-38 had a wing with a thick chord which produced lots of lift, but also resulted in a very large speed increase for airflow over the top of the wing. This meant it actually ran into issues *further* from Mach 1 than many contemporaries. It ran into compressibility at speeds as low as mach .64, nowhere *near* Mach 1. (Take a look at supersonic designs, especially in the early days, and you'll see they used very slim wings. E.g., the F-104 starfighter) Finally, the P-47N was NOT designed for the ETO, but the PTO. While the wings look "squared off"/clipped, they're actually *larger*, and were designed to carry fuel tanks to aid in it's use as an escort fighter for bombers flying over Japan. EDIT: I'm now watching the video, and it seems that you....didn't. Rex literally explained compressibility in the first 3 minutes, then started talking about thin wings at 8ish minutes, along with all the intervening time focusing on the issues planes faced as they approached supersonic speeds.

[@justcarcrazy]

14:50 Robert "Bob" Hoover, not Herbert Hoover

[@bruettingmarcus]

I‘ve read in an aviation book that the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet could have been the first ever aircraft to reach supersonic speed during testing.

[@rohantime5938]

So did the me 262 but they los the war so they get zero credit for everything

[@f-35enjoyer59]

@@rohantime5938 Any proof for that?

[@rohantime5938]

@@f-35enjoyer59 lol no cuz they lost the war

[@f-35enjoyer59]

@@rohantime5938 your entire argument is *makes shit up* ThErE’s No SoUrCe SiNcE tHeY lOsT tHe WaR

[@rohantime5938]

@@f-35enjoyer59 some German pilot did

[@tedsmith6137]

Very interesting, as usual.

[@lewiskemp5893]

First time seeing your videos. So I subscribed

[@maxmachac9756]

Some dude in 1903: "We would need every scientist figuring things out for 1000000 years before we figure out how to fly" 60 years later" haha Mach 1 go brr

[@donjones4719]

Another dude from 1903 was still around for the X-1 flight: Orville Wright.

[@maxmachac9756]

@@donjones4719 wild to think about

[@stephenremington8448]

The first jets were around WW1 time I think, motor jets, where the compressor was powered by a piston engine. Also, turbo jets were invented years before they could actually be made, because the metal alloys needed were not available at the time.

[@donjones4719]

@@stephenremington8448 No motor jet flew before 1930, when an Italian one did. I was able to remember that one and ended up on the Wikipedia page for "Motor jet." That page notes the WW I era work you mention. Those existed only on paper, though. For various reasons the motor jets were dead ends, with limited speeds. But an interesting step.

[@donjones4719]

@@maxmachac9756 It's even more mind-blowing than the fact the wingspan of a B-29 was longer than the first 1903 flight.

[@DiaperBaby1]

Can you do one on the SBD-3?

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

Sorry Zany, *The MiG-17 had a top speed of only Mach .93.* *The first aircraft made by the Mikoyan and Gurevich to reach Mach 1 in sustained level flight was the MiG-19.* *The MiG-19 was powered by two Tumansky RD-9 AXIAL COMPRESSOR TURBOJETS.*

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Look up Bill Frost from Saundersfoot, Wales, UK. First man to fly in UK apparently, in 1896. Just a glider, with the help of hydrogen filled bags. Unpowered. That was the stumbling block, taking a heavy engine with you, with enough power to fly itself and the rest, that the Wright brothers overcome a few years later.

[@jongason660]

Great thank you

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

Some decisions are hard to X-plane.

[@EdwardRLyons]

Nice outline of the X-1 programme. But! NACA is not pronounced as a word ("nakka") -- it is always spelled out: N. A. C. A. Which is why in text you mostly see it referred to as "the NACA".

[@neves5083]

YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY EARLY COLD WAR, FIRST GEN FIGHTER JETS *HAPPINESS NOISES*

[@NathanDudani]

Lol

[@lewiswestfall2687]

Great video

[@marleegould542]

"1st time I saw a jet, I shot it down." -Chuck Yaeger

[@louisavondart9178]

. I grew up in New Zealand and when I was ten years old ( 1967 ) it was quite common to hear sonic booms over my school. Kiwi pilots playing with their Venom jet fighters from the nearby Ohakea airbase. They didn't need no steeeenking rocket.....

[@sandervanderkammen9230]

The Venom was not supersonic. Its very sad New Zealand no longer has an Air Force

[@michaeldenesyk3195]

Part of the acromony between the Pentagon and the UK was the decision of the UK to send the Nene Engine to the Soviets

[@WilhelmKarsten]

The rest was Britain's surrender to the Americans in 1940 and being forced to become a US territory in 1946... Britain would not payoff its debt and get its independence back until 2006.

[@delliardo583]

The X-1B can be found in the Research and Development section of the National Museum of the United States Airforce. I hope to visit it soon when I can find time.