High Gallery 

U. S. Military Aircraft

 Bell Aircraft

X-2

The Bell X-2 "Starbuster" was a research aircraft built to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2-3 range.  Providing adequate stability and control for aircraft flying at high supersonic speeds was only one of the major difficulties facing flight researchers as they approached Mach 3. For, at speeds in that region, they knew they would also begin to encounter a "thermal barrier", severe heating effects caused by aerodynamic friction. Constructed of stainless steel and a copper-nickel alloy, and powered by a two-chamber XLR25 2,500 to 15,000 lbf (11 to 67 kN) sea level thrust throttleable rocket engine, the swept-wing Bell X-2 was designed to probe this region

TECHNICAL DATA

Description	Specifications
Manufacturer: Bell	Length: 37 ft 10 in
First Flight: 18 November 1955	Height: 11 ft 10 in
Enter Service: N/A	Wing Span: 32 ft 3 in
Model:	Wing Area:
Crew: 1	Empty Weight: 12,375 lb
Nickname: Starbuster"	Max. Weight: 24,910 lb
Basic Role: Research aircraft	Armament: None
Other Versions:	Propulsion
Principal User: U. S. Airforce, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics	Power Plant: Curtiss-Wright XLR25 rocket engine
Performance	Horsepower: 15,000 lbf at sea level
Range:	No. Of Engines: 1
Max. Speed:  Mach 3.196	Drawing
Ceiling: 126,200 ft
Climb Rate:	Photo Unknown