Flying with Secret Nazi Technology - Bell X-5

The American Bell X5 revolutionized aircraft design and performance in the 1950s thanks to its unique capability to change the sweep of its wings during flight. However, the aircraft was not an original American idea but was actually inspired by a Nazi prototype.

The Bell X5 was an upgraded version of the World War II-era German model Messerschmitt P.1101, which was taken from the Luftwaffe at the end of the conflict.

The unfinished German aircraft could only change its wing sweepback prior to take-off, while the Bell X5 could do it mid-flight by a state-of-the-art automatic system. The aircraft was used by the United States Air Force to test the advantages that the wing sweep could generate in speed and maneuverability.

The Bell X5 flew during the Korean War as part of a joint effort between the US Air Force and the precursor of NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. And even though it demonstrated outstanding potential and paved the way for aircraft like the F14 Tomcat, the Mig 23/27, and the Panavia Tornado, several fatal incidents put the project at risk.
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