Jack Woolams News Today

The historic X-1 rocket plane not only gave the world supersonic flight, but also solved many engineering problems, allowing modern aircraft to be designed.

The X-1 program became the template for future X-programs, like the X-15, X-20, and X-29. And data gathered from the X-1 flights deeply informed the development of future fighter jets. Today, you can find Glamorous Glennis on display at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Or, you can watch a depiction of Yeager’s historic flight in The Right Stuff (1983).

The United States wasn’t the first country to develop a jet-powered fighter aircraft, but it was definitely the first in which a pilot flew wearing a gorilla mask and derby hat while holding a cigar.

When asked to picture a member of the armed forces, your mind likely immediately jumps to the image of a hardened soldier with a steely gaze coldly

On October 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Breaking The Sound Barrier, which airs in the UK and US tonight on the Smithsonian Channel, reveals newly-colourised footage of the famous October 14, 1947 flight.

X-Plane Files: THE LIFE OF X-1 ZERO SIX THREE X-Plane Files: THE LIFE OF X-1 ZERO SIX THREE XS-1 on the ramp with the B-29 mothership in 1949. This is the second XS-1 built; it later was converted into the X-1E. Unlike the XS-1-1, which was flown by the Air Force, the XS-1-2 was flown mostly by Bell and NACA pilots. It gathered much more research data than the more famous XS-1-1, known as "Glamorous Glennis." Photo by NASA A little while back, we began a series of articles looking at the air-te...

AVweb Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin imagery courtesy of Jean-Luc Beghin. Last October, when I wrote a commemorative on the anniversary of the Bell X-1’s exceeding Mach 1, I spent many minutes contemplating my office wall. Or more precisely, what’s on my office wall. It’s one of a short list of my possessions that spark Kondo-esque joy: a fabulous pen-and-ink illustration of the Bell X-1 cockpit by Belgian-American artist Jean-Luc Beghin. I grabbed a Post-It note and wrote “...

(Courtesy photo) Dec. 12, 1955: First prototype of hovercraft patented by British engineer Christoper Cockerell. A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambie...