Research Flying

From the 1940s to the 1960s, U. S. engi­neers built a series of research airplanes to explore supersonic flight. These craft included the Bell X-1, Bell X-2, Douglas Skyrocket, and X-15—all were record breakers. Their flights helped engineers design supersonic jet fighters and manned spacecraft. The British Fairey Delta 2 (FD-2) set a world airspeed record of over 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 kilometers per hour) in 1956. The small FD-2 had the same delta wings

О The U. S. Air Force began flying the CV-22 Osprey in 2006. The Osprey has tilting prop rotors, which allow it to take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane.

SECRET EXPERIMENTATION

Research flying is often secret. Developed in secret between 1975 and 1982 by Lockheed for the U. S. Defense Advanced Research Agency, the F-117 Nighthawk was in U. S. Air Force service years before it was revealed to the public.

Phantom Works, a project division of McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing), tested a different aircraft, the Bird of Prey, from 1996 to 1999. Termed an "invisible airplane," the Bird of Prey was hard to detect because of its shape, the way it was painted, and stealth specifications similar to those of the F-117.

о An F-117 Nighthawk drops a guided bomb unit during testing over Utah in 2000.

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and drooping nose made familiar by Concorde in the 1980s.

Not all experimental airplanes fly higher or faster. The Altus is a civilian version of the military Predator, a U. S. drone used after 2000 in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Altus carries scientific instruments to sample the atmosphere, flying at only 80 miles per hour (129 kilometers per hour), but it is able to stay in the air for up to 24 hours. The Proteus airplane can also stay in the air for up to a day. It is designed by Burt

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Rutan, innovative designer of Voyager, an airplane that flew nonstop around the world (in 9 days) in 1986. Rutan also produced SpaceShipOne, the world’s first successful private spacecraft.

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SEE ALSO:

• Bell X-1 • Concorde • Engine

• Glider • Jet and Jet Power • Kitty Hawk Flyer • Rocket • Wright,

Orville and Wilbur

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