Smithsonian Report. 1955. — Hunsaker 



Plate 



Flying rcL'ularly at t i-aiis' Miic and siipci-si uiic S[v\cls, ilicsc research aii-plancs arc c.\pk)ring 

 new fields for data needed to design the military and civil airplanes of the future. In 

 center is the Douglas X-3; at lower left, the Bell X-IA flown late in 1953 at a record 1,650 

 mph. or 2.5 times the speed of sound. Continuing clockwise from the X-IA are the Douglas 

 D-558-I"Skystreak"; Convair XF-92A; Bell X-5 with variable sweepback wings; Douglas 

 D-558-1I "Skyrocket," first piloted airplane to fly at twice the speed of sound; and the 

 Northrop X-4. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Air Force, the 

 Nav\', and the aircraft manufacturing industry are joined to design, build, and fly these 

 and other adwanced airplanes in a high-speed flight research program. 



