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- This article is about experimental aircraft. For the flight simulator, see X-Plane.
The X-planes are a series of experimental United States aircraft (and some rockets) used for testing of new technologies and usually kept highly secret during development.
The first of these, the Bell X-1, became well-known as the first plane to break the sound barrier, which it did in 1947. Later X-planes yielded important research results, but only the North American X-15 rocket plane of the early 1960s achieved comparable fame. X-planes 7 through 12 were actually missiles, and some other vehicles were unpiloted. Most X-planes are not expected to ever go into full-scale production, and usually only a few are produced. One exception is the Lockheed Martin X-35, which competed against the Boeing X-32 to become the Joint Strike Fighter.
As of 2006, new X-plane projects are still underway.
Fictional X-series planes
Many movies, television series and video games have featured fictional X planes, with both feasible and currently infeasible designs. For instance, Stargate episodes feature X-301, X-302, X-303, and X-304 spacecrafts.
See also
- Experimental aircraft
- List of experimental aircraft
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- X-plane gallery
- Skunk works
Reference
- Jay Miller, The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45 (Motorbooks International, 2001)
External links
"X-plane"