This is a 1/32 scale model of the Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft, it was the first piloted airplane to exceed the speed of sound in level flight, with American test pilot Chuck Yeager at the controls.
Yeager had famously nicknamed the X-1 “Glamorous Glennis” after his wife Glennis Dickhouse, and this was painted on the nose of the aircraft where it remains to this day at the National Air and Space Museum.
Above Video: This historic footage shows Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1 breaking the record, and forever cementing his place in the history books as a result.
The Bell X-1 was built as part of a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics–U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic research project and built by Bell Aircraft between 1944 and 1945, right on the tail-end of WWII.
The first manned supersonic flight took place on the 14th of October 1947 in the clear blue skies over the Mojave Desert in California. The X-1 was dropped from under a Boeing B-29 Superfortress that had been specially modified to carry it.
With Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager piloting, the X-1 would reach a top speed of Mach 1.06 (700 mph (1,100 km/h or 610 kn), breaking the sound barrier and establishing its place in aviation history – just 44 years after the Wright Brothers first powered flight in 1903.
The 1/32 scale model of the Bell X-1 rocket plane you see here was signed by Chuck Yeager, there’s even a picture of him autographing it, and it comes with a letter of authenticity from the Flight Test Historical Foundation.
Here we see Brigadier General Charles “Chuck” Yeager signing the model in his home. The model also comes with a letter of authenticity from the Flight Test Historical Foundation which you can read in full below.The stand that the model is attached to has a plaque on the front that provides the specifications of the X-1, as well as some biographical information about Yeager.
This model is now due being auctioned by Heritage Auctions online and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or place a bid yourself.
Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions
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