BELL X-14: Little Known Gateway To The Moon by Jack Schweibold

The U.S.A.’s “X” aircraft (X-1 thru X-15) were the stepping stones to space in the mid-20th century.  This week I had occasion to stumble across the only surviving Bell X-14.  In fact, it was the solitary unit built. A special mission test bed (the only X series without a canopy), it became the basic trainer for the first Apollo astronauts learning to touchdown on the moon’s surface. The ship is now proudly displayed by Fred Ropkey in his Armor Museum, Ropkey Private Airport, Crawfordsville, Indiana.

As a young test pilot for Allison Engine Division of General Motors, I learned that one of the most difficult aspects of flying pure engine thrust VTOL aircraft (POGO style) is that the pilot began and ended flight hovering on his back and looking at the ground during the landing phase through a rear-view mirror.  Most of us have trouble backing a hitched trailer down a driveway.  The POGO VTOL was a real handful on landing and the X-14 would be the first to solve that issue.  The X-14 was quickly assembled and crafted from existing airframe and engine components to better explore the VTOL envelope.  It’s major parts included:

• Beechcraft Bonanza wings
• Beechcraft T34 fuselage and landing gear
• Two horizontally mounted Viper engines equipped with thrust deflectors

The exhaust thrust deflectors were mounted at the Center of Gravity.  Hovering and transition to forward flight control were achieved through a system of movable vanes that controlled the direction of engine thrust.

The video above shows tethered flight in 1957 with first forward flight transition the following year.  The X-14’s top speed of 180mph and 20,000′ service ceiling were limited by non-mission specific airframe and engine components.  The ship was delivered to NASA as the X-14A and later updated with GE J85-GE-19 engines for better hover performance as the X-14B.  Twenty-five pilots (Harrier test pilots and Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong) were reported to have flown this aircraft which provided the U.S. a primary Lunar Orbiter training vehicle simulation for landing on the moon.

A month before Neil Armstrong passed away, he joyfully replied to my blog post article remembering his lunar landing.  His lunar landing known to have been made partly possible through his training in the X-14.  An excerpt of that article follows:

At the Annual National Aeronautics Association Dinner in Washington DC, I was scheduled to receive an award for the Longest Closed-Circuit Distance Record in a Helicopter. I was given a seat with other award recipients. By chance, I had the opportunity to sit at one of two tables for eight in front of a illustrious head table that included: Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Charles Lindbergh, General Jimmy Stewart and Bob Hope.  To be sure, they weren’t there to recognize this helicopter jock.  They were there to hear and honor our guest speaker who was also sitting at my table, Col. Neil Armstrong.  Neil had just completed his two week quarantine from being the first man to set foot on the moon.  He would be making his first public appearance since returning to Earth.

At the time, some of us wondered if Neil would take the opportunity to comment on one of the social topics of the hour: infamous atheist Ms. Madalyn Murray O’Hair had just badgered the U.S. Supreme Court into throwing prayer out of public schools.  Now she was back on her broom, taking advantage of the publicity of the moon landing, and petitioning the Supreme Court to kick Bible reading out of space.  The first Apollo Mission to orbit the Moon occurred last Christmas Eve and found the crew quoting Scripture, “In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. . . .”  Part of her thesis was supposedly that Neil Armstrong was believed to be one her fellow atheists.  Discussion at the table was already lively; I could hardly wait to hear his presentation!

Col. Armstrong described his descent from the Orbiter Vehicle as one continuous series of problems.  He also wasn’t able to look out either of his two side windows until the landing module was righting itself in the automatic mode.  “I glanced out and saw giant boulders . . . the size of cars and trucks,”  Neil vividly painted.  “Realizing I was on the edge of a crater, I elected to utilize my God-given right and take over in the manual mode to hover to a clear area.”  (He was a trained helicopter pilot)  He continued, “The final seconds fuel exhaustion warning sounded, I don’t know who landed the ship!” Col. Armstrong concluded.

I still don’t know what Neil’s religious beliefs are but that certainly didn’t sound like an atheist to us!  We never again heard Madelyn take on NASA.  Copyright 2005/2012 Jack Schweibold, Chapter 35, In the Safety of His Wings CLICK HERE

PS: Don’t miss seeing Fred Ropkey’s Military Armor Museum CLICK HERE. Fred is an ex-tank commander that still enjoys playing with his toys. He maintains a wonderful array of military might (most fully functional) ranging from every conceivable tank through a miniature submarine to the Bell X-14.  Take an easy off north at the Crawfordsville east exit of I74 in central Indiana; you will enjoy his personal tour.