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Wild Blue Yonder 1: 50 Years of Gs & Jets
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Wild Blue Yonder - Episode 1 - 50 Years of Gs and Jets (Digital Ranch) (Spectrum Holobyte)(1-107-40-101)(1994).iso
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00026_Field_26.txt
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1994-08-29
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The First Tests
In December 1945, the first Bell XS-1 was completed and a Boeing
B-29 was modified to be its mother ship. Tests of the XS-1 began
in December of 1945 at Pinecastle Army Air Force Base in Florida.
These first ten flights were made without power. Each time, the
XS-1 was released from the mother ship and glided to the ground.
Almost unbelievably, given the advanced aerodynamics of the
aircraft, the XS-1 handled well. The pilot for these first tests,
Jack Woolams, called this plane the most delightful he had ever
flown. The next year, Woolams died in the crash of a Bell P-39
as he prepared it for a trophy race.
In April 1947, testing was transferred to Muroc Dry Lake (now
Edwards Air Force Base) in California. At Muroc, Chalmers
"Slick" Goodlin became the aircraft's new test pilot. In one of
his nine flights, Goodlin tested the plane's engine. Once it was
determined that both the aircraft and the rocket engine
functioned properly, engineers prepared the X-1 for its assault
on the sound barrier.