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  • Bell X-5

    The X-5 was the world's first high-performance airplane to vary the sweepback of its wings in flight. It investigated the characteristics of variable sweep aircraft in flight and the feasibility of producing aircraft with this feature. The X-5 was based upon the design of a Messerschmitt P. 1101

  • Beech VC-6A

    In 1966 the U.S. Air Force purchased a standard Beechcraft King Air B90 with a special VIP interior, designated as the VC-6A, to support President Lyndon B. Johnson and his family. The aircraft was faster and more agile than other light transport aircraft and featured full pressurization for comfort

  • Boeing YQM-94A Compass Cope B

    The YQM-94A was a high altitude, long-range, Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) tested in the 1970s. It was designed for long-endurance photographic reconnaissance and electronic surveillance missions.Piloted from the ground, the YQM-94A received guidance signals through a radio link. A television and

  • Bell Helicopter Textron XV-3

    The product of a 1951 joint U.S. Air Force-U.S. Army initiative, the Bell XV-3 became the world's first successful Vertical Short TakeOff and Landing (VSTOL) tilt-rotor aircraft. By combining the takeoff and hovering capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft, the

  • Bell XGAM-63 Rascal

    Please note: This aircraft is in storage.The Rascal was an air-to-surface, supersonic guided missile tested in the 1950s. It was a “stand-off” nuclear weapon to be launched from Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers up to 100 miles away from the target.The first launch of a guided Rascal took place in

  • Boeing X-45A J-UCAS

    The pioneering X-45A demonstrated that highly autonomous uninhabited aircraft could be used to attack opposing surface-to-air defenses (called Suppression of Enemy Air Defense or SEAD).  Begun by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the program was later managed by the U.S. Air

  • Bensen X-25A Gyrocopter

    In early 1968, the U.S. Air Force ordered three X-25 type aircraft to test methods of improving the odds of a downed flyer’s escape. At the time, the USAF was suffering heavy losses in the Rolling Thunder air campaign over North Vietnam.The unpowered Bensen X-25 Discretionary Descent Vehicle (also

  • Barbed Wire

    Note: This item is currently in storage.This is one of five items that provide a special peek into the footlocker of a World War I American soldier. 1st Lt. Carroll DeWitt McClung was a pilot with the 28th Aero Squadron, 3rd Pursuit Group. He was trained as a pilot in the Nieuport aircraft and then

  • Bell X-1B

    The X-1B was one of a series of rocket-powered experimental airplanes designed to investigate supersonic flight problems. The X-1B’s flight research primarily related to aerodynamic heating and the use of small “reaction” rockets for directional control.The X-1B made its first powered flight in

  • Bell P-59B Airacomet

    Designed and built in great secrecy during World War II, the P-59 was America's first jet aircraft. Although it never saw combat, the Airacomet provided training for USAAF personnel and invaluable data for the development of higher performance jet airplanes.The P-59 was powered by two General