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The Bell X-16 was a high altitude
''American X-Vehicles: An Inventory – X-1 to X-50''
(Monographs in Aerospace History No. 31: Centennial of Flight Edition). Washington, D.C.: NASA SP-2003-4531, June 2003. Retrieved: 26 July 2009. * Miller, Jay. ''Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works: The Official History''. Leicester, UK: Aerofax, an imprint of Midland Publishing, 1995 (revised edition). . * Polmar, Martin. ''Spyplane: The U-2 History''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press, 2001. .
{{Authority control X-16, Bell X-16 Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States
aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...
jet aircraft
A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines.
Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
designed in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the 1950s. The designation of X-16 was a cover to try to hide the true nature of the aircraft mission from the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
during the Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.Jenkins et al. 2003, p. 23.
Development
During the second half of 1953,Fairchild Fairchild may refer to:
Organizations
* Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company
* Fairchild Camera and Instrument
* List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies
* Fairchild Fash ...
, Bell, and Martin Aircraft
The Glenn L. Martin Company—also known as The Martin Company from 1957-1961—was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin, and operated between 1917-1961. The Martin Company produc ...
conducted high altitude reconnaissance aircraft design studies for the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
under project MX-2147.Polmar 2001, p. 26. All three designs used Pratt & Whitney J57
The Pratt & Whitney J57 (company designation: JT3C) is an axial-flow turbojet engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in the early 1950s. The J57 (first run January 1950) was the first 10,000 lbf (45 kN) thrust class engine in the United States ...
-19 turbojets. The Bell and Martin (B-57D) designs were chosen for further development. The Bell Model 67 design was designated the X-16. A full-scale mock-up was completed and one aircraft was partially completed. It was designed as a high altitude long-range reconnaissance aircraft.Miller, Jay (2001). The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45 (third ed.). Motorbooks International. .
The X-16 design was breaking new ground with its design. Its wing was long with a high (11.9) aspect ratio. The structure was significantly lighter and more flexible than usual for jet aircraft wings. The entire aircraft was made as light as possible to achieve its intended 3,000-mile unrefueled range at .
A total of 28 aircraft were ordered, but none were completed. The first X-16 was about 80 percent complete when the program was cancelled by the Air Force in favor of the Martin RB-57 in 1956. Although no X-16 was ever completed, it made contributions to aircraft design with its lightweight design. It was also a driving force behind the development of the high-altitude versions of the J57 that would later power the Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...
and other aircraft.
Specifications (X-16, as designed)
See also
References
;Notes ;Bibliography * Jenkins, Dennis R., Tony Landis and Jay Miller''American X-Vehicles: An Inventory – X-1 to X-50''
(Monographs in Aerospace History No. 31: Centennial of Flight Edition). Washington, D.C.: NASA SP-2003-4531, June 2003. Retrieved: 26 July 2009. * Miller, Jay. ''Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works: The Official History''. Leicester, UK: Aerofax, an imprint of Midland Publishing, 1995 (revised edition). . * Polmar, Martin. ''Spyplane: The U-2 History''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press, 2001. .
External links
{{Authority control X-16, Bell X-16 Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States