What Color Was The Bell X-1

By Rodney Williams

In the late 1980s I went to several model contest while living in Northern California. On several occasions there was the experimental rocket plane displayed in one of the jet categories. Yes indeed it was the "BELL X-1". As all modelers know, "I just had to have the kit and build the model". I can't remember who made the kit, nor exactly when I built it. I do know that it's 1/32 scale, and that I buiIt it almost "OOB". I do recall following the kit's painting instructions, and painted it a gloss orange color. I may have used a pre mixed paint like Testors, or mixed up the color to my liking. I took the model up to the IPMS/USA National Contest, which was held in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. in 1992. The model won an award...wow!!

Going back to the 1930s, '40s and the 1950s, I was an avid model builder, building stick flying models, and solid wooden models. I subscribed to several airplane magazines such as "FLYING, AIR PROGRESS, SKYWAYS, etc". I saved the magazines by the dozens. In 1950 I started putting all of my photos into my scrapbook.

These "priceless" photos have been in my scrapbook's for 50+ years. Within the last few months,( February & March 2005 ) I bought a new computer, a new 4.0 digital camera, and a new Umax Astra - 6700 scanner. I've been scanning away like crazy, and have taken new digitals of all my 50+ models.

Now to "WHAT COLOR WAS THE BELL X-1" Everyone knows that if you leave a photograph in direct sun light , the color will fade out real fast. Or just hang the photo up in any room, and the color will fade, but it will take longer. The same goes for any black and white photos, and or newsprint items. As we all know, during the late 1930s color photography was in it infancy. Color magazine printing goes by the same way.

My statement is: As my scanning proceeds, I got to the section in one of my scrapbook's where I have all my experimental jet and rocket plane photos. These photos have not been looked at for a few decades. I noticed that the color on the 3 photos of the Bell X-1 was rather a light orange. I rushed out to my model show case, and took out my model, then compared it to the photos. It was like, "DAY AND NIGHT" apart.

Now my question is: Did my magazine photos loose some of the color from a bright orange to the present day colors? I looked at other color photos in my scrapbook, and they do not seem to have faded. Next, I checked some of my model airplane scrapbooks from the 1980s & 1990s. I find a couple of Bell X-1 plastic models at the contest, (s) and they are painted with the bright orange, which is just like the color I have on my model.

I have read all the captions with my black and white prints, and they say nothing about the "orange" color on the rocket ship (s). By the way you must have notices that there were two Bell X-1s made. I see a tail number on one aircraft that reads 6063 and a number of 6062 on the other rocket plane. And don't forget to notice the the name of "Glamorous Glennis" has two separate designs, and the name is not on "6063".

Here's a bit of technical data from my scrapbook on the Bell X-1 : "Speed of Sound is no longer Bugaboo". At sea level "speed" travels at 760 m.p.h. They say that the rocket ship was designed to fly 1,700 m.p.h. at an altitude of 80,000 feet. At that speed you travel about 28.33 miles every minute. The rocket ship under its' own power could clime from a dead stop to 23,000 feet in 1:40 minutes. The rocket fuel lasted a mere four minutes, but at 1,700 m.p.h. it puts you down the road a long way. The aircraft was only 31 feet long, with a short 28 foot wingspan. They say 8 men flew the aircraft. However, they only mention test pilot "Yeager," as he is the pilot that flew it first during the month of October in 1947. The caption does not say which aircraft he flew. The X-1 was dropped from a standard B-29, using the factory installed D-4 Bomb shackles. They had to remove the bomb baydoors from the B-29. Some sort of ladder was installed in the B-29's bomb bay area so they could get down to the cockpit of the Bell X-1. A company by the name of "Reaction Motors, Inc". made the engine, which had a number of 6000C4.

Do you wonder why the X-1 did not have a swept wing design? The Germans proved that an aircraft such as the ME-262 could go faster with a swept wing than the standard wing the Bell attached to their rocket plane. Any kid could tell you that his paper airplane with the swept wing went faster than the other paper planes with a regular straight wing. Yeah!! I know, as we raced paper airplanes when I was a kid in the 1930s. The swept wing planes went faster and further.

I played with the color on my digital images of my model, and changed the color to a "look-a-like" color that matches my scrapbook photos.

In model terminology, here is the IPMS/USA rules concerning colors on your models: "It's not what color is on your model, but how well it was applied". This quotation is from a former famous IPMS/USA head judge. I've laid out the ground work, so some of you can rush out and do the research on the famous aircraft. "WHAT COLOR WAS ON THE BELL X-1 ?"

What Color Was The Bell X-1

By Rodney Williams

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