Supersonic: the Bell X-1 DVD

The rocket powered Bell X-1 was the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, shattering the transonic barrier in October 1947.  Tied closely to the classic mythology of the American test pilot, the X-1 and her follow-on variants served as research platforms for well over a decade.  Our X-1 DVD package is almost three hours in length, and contains the following:

• "Supersonic: the Bell X-1," a twelve-minute long original film that serves as an overview of the X-1 research program and an introduction to the DVD content

• a 1948 United States Air Force briefing film covering the original X-1 aircraft and the early transonic research program

• The U.S. Air Force documentary "Flight to the Future," featuring the Bell X-1 and X-2, plus glimpses of the Douglas X-3, Northrop X-4, and Bell X-5

• An extended composite mission highlighting the early X-1

• footage of the first X-1 glide flights at Florida's Pinecastle Army Air Field

• exciting coverage of a 1949 X-1 ground launch, the only time this was done in the entire research program

• footage of an extended X-1A composite mission

• X-1B composite mission footage

• X-1E composite mission footage