Bell X-2

E17995

The Bell X-2 was a rocket-powered experimental research aircraft developed in the 1950s to investigate flight characteristics at extremely high speeds and altitudes, contributing crucial data to early supersonic and space-era aeronautics.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of Bell X-2

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of the Bell X-2 (The Bell X-2 was a rocket-powered experimental research aircraft developed in the 1950s to investigate flight characteristics at extremely high speeds and altitudes, contributing crucial data to early supersonic and space-era aeronautics.)

All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
Bell X-2 canonical 8
Bell X-2 number 46-674 1
Bell X-2 research program 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf X-plane ⓘ
experimental aircraft ⓘ
research aircraft ⓘ
rocket-powered aircraft ⓘ
accident fatal crash on 1956-09-27 ⓘ
carrierAircraft B-50 Superfortress ⓘ
constructionMaterial K-monel ⓘ
stainless steel ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States ⓘ
crashCause loss of control due to inertial coupling ⓘ
crew 1 ⓘ
engineType liquid-fueled rocket engine ⓘ
fatalities 1 in 1956 crash ⓘ
firstFlight 1952-11-18 ⓘ
firstPoweredFlight 1955-11-18 ⓘ
fuselageType slender streamlined fuselage ⓘ
introduced 1955 ⓘ
landingGear retractable tricycle landing gear ⓘ
launchMethod air launch from carrier aircraft ⓘ
manufacturer Bell Aircraft ⓘ
maximumAltitude over 126,000 feet ⓘ
over 38,000 meters ⓘ
maximumSpeed about Mach 3.2 ⓘ
approximately 3,370 km/h ⓘ
notableFlight record Mach 3.2 flight by Milburn G. Apt ⓘ
numberBuilt 2 ⓘ
operator National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ⓘ
linked to: NACA

United States Air Force ⓘ
powerplant Curtiss-Wright XLR25 rocket engine ⓘ
primaryUser United States Air Force ⓘ
program X-plane program ⓘ
purpose high-altitude research ⓘ
high-speed research ⓘ
investigation of flight characteristics at Mach 2–3 ⓘ
study of aerodynamic heating ⓘ
study of stability and control at very high Mach numbers ⓘ
record first aircraft to exceed Mach 3 in level flight ⓘ
researchContribution contributed to design of later high-speed aircraft ⓘ
data on aerodynamic heating at Mach 2–3 ⓘ
data on stability and control at very high Mach numbers ⓘ
informed early space-era aeronautics ⓘ
retired 1956 ⓘ
status retired ⓘ
successorInRole Bell X-15 ⓘ
tailConfiguration conventional tail unit ⓘ
testPilot Frank K. Everest Jr. ⓘ
Iven C. Kincheloe Jr. ⓘ
Milburn G. Apt ⓘ
wingConfiguration mid-wing monoplane ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Curtiss-Wright XLR25 → usedIn → Bell X-2 ⓘ
Bell Aircraft → developed → Bell X-2 ⓘ
NASA X-plane series → includes → Bell X-2 ⓘ
Milburn G. Apt → notableWork → Bell X-2 test flights ⓘ
linked to: Bell X-2
Milburn G. Apt → aircraftFlown → Bell X-2 ⓘ
Milburn G. Apt → testProgram → Bell X-2 research program ⓘ
linked to: Bell X-2
Milburn G. Apt → crashInvolved → Bell X-2 number 46-674 ⓘ
linked to: Bell X-2
Bell X-1A → successorInProgram → Bell X-2 ⓘ