#x plane

An XP-80A over the Mojave Desert - circa 1944

Serial liar, or just really Fast Guy???

The Ryan X-13 Vertijet grew from an in-house Ryan study to see if the Ryan FR-1 Fireball could be modified for vertical takeoff. This was expanded on by the US Navy who were interested in operating aircraft from submarines. In 1953, the US Air Force awarded Ryan a contract for the X-13.

The first of two X-13s first flew on 10 December 1955. It was fitted with a temporary conventional undercarriage to enable it to take off horizontally and test flight characteristics. In flight transitions from horizontal to vertical and back again were made. The undercarriage was then replaced with one under the tail and vertical take offs were made.

Once the feasibility of the vertical take off and change to horizontal flight was demonstrated, the X-13 was tested from its intended operational launch platform, a truck mounted vertical trailer. This also proved successful and the versatility of the X-13 was demonstrated by taking off, crossing the Potomac River and landing at the Pentagon.

Despite the successful tests, the USAF did not have a requirement for such an aircraft and discontinued the tests on 30 September 1957.

This week in 1960, test pilot Joe Walker flew the Museum's North American X-15 (56-6670) on his first free flight in the X-15. He would go on to pilot the X-15 two dozen times, including two flights over the Kármán line. #AirSpacePhoto