posted 06-19-2022 07:42 AM               

Space Cover 655: X2 First Glide Flight

It doesn't look like a space cover, but there's a mantra in astrophilately that says "it's the postmark that counts". So here is a postcard canceled at Edwards, CA (home of Edwards AFB) on June 27, 1952, the date of the first glide flight of the X2 rocketplane, almost 70 years ago at Edwards.

The Bell X2 was a big step beyond the earlier X1 series of rocketplanes – swept wings and an engine with more than twice the thrust that would allow the X2 to hit three-times the speed of sound (Mach 3). But the first thing was to figure out if the pilot could land this beast. In order to save weight and volume, Bell equipped the X2 with a very small nosewheel, and two short landing skids about midship (see the side view below).

On June 27, 1952, the #2 X2, minus the rocket engine, was taken aloft under its' B50 mother plane at Edwards. Bell test pilot Jean "Skip" Ziegler entered the X2 cockpit and the X2 was dropped at 31,500 ft altitude and 206 mph. The rocketplane behaved well during the glide and into its landing flare. However, when the landing skids touched down, they rapidly dragged the nose down, damaging the nosewheel on impact. As the rocketplane skidded across Edwards' dry lakebed, it rolled left, and with the short skids the left wing touched ground pulling the plane left. Then the X2 rolled to the right, and the right wing touched, turning the plane right, rolled back left, the left wing touched again, turning the plane left again, before finally dragging to a stop. Ziegler's zig-zag wild ride ended in just over 1000 feet and left deep gouges on the lakebed. But could have been a lot worse.

The X2 continued on through several more landing "wild rides" before the landing gear problem was finally sorted out. And a fuel explosion during a captive flight on May 12, 1953 destroyed the #2 X2, killing both Ziegler and mother plane observer Frank Wolko. The surviving #1 X2 finally made its' first powered flight on November 18, 1955. The X2 went on to set some impressive new records through the first part of 1956 before meeting its tragic end on September 27, 1956, killing pilot Mel Apt.

The X2 was a spectacular but oft snakebit precursor to human spaceflight, to say the least...