The XS-1 (X-1)

The designation "XS-1" stood for eXperimental Sonic. The mission of the XS-1 was to investigate the transonic speed range (speeds from just below to just above the speed of sound) and, if possible, to break the "sound barrier."

The planes (there were 3 XS-1 built) have become commonly known as X-1. Not only was it the first aircraft to travel supersonic, it was the first in a line of X aircraft leading eventually to the space shuttle. Because the U.S. was in the midst of WWII, only Bell Aircraft was able to take on the project in 1944. The configuration which was developed was a thin, straight-winged aircraft with a bullet-shaped fuselage. The XS-1 began flight testing in 1946 and eventually Chuck Yeager flew it through the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.

When Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, he did so over the desert of Southern California. But the beginning flights were conducted in the skies over Orlando, Florida. Eleven flight tests took place between January 19 and March 6, 1946. These preliminary tests were important to find if the XS-1 would prove to be airworthy and stable enough to reach the speed of sound.

The XS-1 were 31 feet long and had a wingspan of 28 feet. They were built of aluminum stressed-skin construction to extremely high structural standards. The XS-1 carried only enough fuel for about 5 minutes of flight and because of that, it was launched from under the wing of a B-29. For it's tests in Orlando, it was actually unpowered. The process was primarily of the XS-1 being dropped in mid-air and gliding it down to a landing.

The test pilot for all the Orlando flights of the XS-1 was Bell Aircraft pilot Jack Woolams. Woolams was born in 1917 and died at the end of 1946, less than a year after his work with the XS-1.