A Revell Bell X-Plane,
Chuck Yeager's, in 1/32 Scale. I really like the idea of
an orange plane. This is a good kit. Includes an engine
and even the broomstick piece Yeagar used to close the latch
from the inside (after suffering some broken ribs in an
accident). The cockpit isn't bad as far as detail.
The engine in the rear, while done well, is hidden when
you put the back end together. The plane is painted Testors
Gloss Orange (though, it should be flat to be accurate,
but I like the look of the gloss color).
When done it's a big plane, almost a foot long. It comes
with a clear piece of plastic to hold it up on it's landing
gear, but I used fishing lead weights in the nose with white
elmers glue to add balance, and that keeps the nose down,
and the plane on it's gear.
X-Planes:
Pushing the Envelope of Flight - Since the first edition
of X-Planes at Edwards was published in 1995, many new types
of civilian (Rutan-types, 717 and 777), military (Bombers,
Fighters, Reconnaissance Drones and Transports) and dedicated
research aircraft (X-planes) have been created by numerous
manufacturers and then flight-tested at the Air Force Flight
Test Center (AFFTC) and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
(DFRC) at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of California.
A number of these flight-test programs have concluded but
a number of them are ongoing. These include: Boeing North
American B-1B Lancer'; Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit; Boeing
C-17A Globemaster III; Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle; Lockheed
Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor; Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Prototypes
- Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35; Lockheed/Boeing/General
Dynamics YF-22A Lightning II; Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23A
Gray Ghost; Boeing 717; Boeing 777; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV) - RQ-1 through RQ-8; Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles
(UCAV) - Boeing X-45A and Northrop Grumman X-47A Pegasus;
X-planes, X-32 through X-49.
Hypersonic:
The Story of the North American X-15 - Fueled by an obvious
passion for their subject, the authors skillfully boil a daunting
body of history, technical data, and personalities down into
an eminently accessible chronicle of technical achievement
and human bravery. In doing so they've drawn on a wealth of
documentary materials and interviews from pilots, NASA and
USAF sources and key personnel from North American Aviation,
the X-15's manufacturer. Pilots Scott Crossfield and Bill
Dana (the first and last to fly the space plane, respectively)
have also contributed written introductions.
