Bell manufactured two airframes, only one of which was flown by the NACA. It flew a total of 133 Air Force – NACA flights between 1951-1953. The X-5 completed all of the research goals originally set for the first aircraft capable of variably sweeping its wings in flight.
Bell manufactured two airframes, only one of which was flown by the NACA. It flew a total of 133 Air Force – NACA flights between 1951-1953. The X-5 completed all of the research goals originally set for the first aircraft capable of variably sweeping its wings in flight. Demonstrating wing sweep from 20 to 60 degrees, the aircraft verified NACA wind-tunnel predictions of reduced drag and improved performance resulting from increased wing sweep as it approached Mach 1. Even vicious spinning characteristics of the X-5 yielded a wealth of data for determining poor aircraft spin design.