X-1B on Lakebed, NASA history collection

The Bell Aircraft Corporation X-1B rocket-powered research aircraft, one of the growth versions of the original X-1 series, is shown in this 1957 photo on the bed of Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to the NACA High-Speed Flight Station. The X-1B offered an ideal testbed for a test reaction control installation. In November 1957, NACA technicians finished installing reaction controls on the X-1B. NACA test pilot Neil A. Armstrong made three flights in the airplane to experience the reaction controls performance. Since cracks in the fuel tanks of the X-1B forced its grounding in 1958, reaction control research shifted to the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The Bell X-1B was a second-generation X-1 used by the U.S. Air Force for pilot familiarization before being turned over to NACA in December 1954. The X-1B had a modified fuselage with greater capacity for fuel tanks, an improved cockpit, and a turbopump fuel system as compared with the X-1. The NACA used the X-1B primarily for aerodynamic heating and reaction-control research from 1956 to 1958. The aircraft was fitted with special instrumentation for exploratory aerodynamic heating tests. It had over 300 thermocouples installed on it. The X-1B was the first aircraft to fly with a reaction-control system; a prototype of the reaction-control system used on the X-15 and other piloted test aircraft. The X-1B was given to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Dayton, Ohio, on January 27, 1959, for preservation and display. This aircraft completed a total of 27 glide and powered flights by eight U.S. Air Force and two NACA test pilots. Second-generation X-1 aircraft were 35.8 feet long and had a wingspan of approximately 28 feet.
NASA Identifier: NIX-E-4097