N.I.B: The Nonthrop X-4
N.I.B: The Nonthrop X-4
Clip: 362682_1_1
Year Shot: 1949
(Actual Year)
Audio: No
Video: B/W
Tape Master: 1538
Original Film: 022-219-03
HD: N/A
Location: Muroc, California
Timecode: 00:45:48 - 00:46:35
Shaky, blurry and dull in contrast and imagery W/ D.O.S The Air Force's new research craft, the x-4, goes up for its first flight tests. Northrop pilot Charles Tucker flies the swept wing, semi-tailless plane powered by gas turbine engines. The x-4 will provide vital subsonic data. Jack Northrop a skilled and innovative designer who built the SX 4 research airplane (later the X-4) for the U.S military and the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The X-4 was developed for the study of flight characteristics of swept wing semi-tailless aircraft at transonic speeds. One aircraft was first flown by Northrop on December 16, 1948, and the second X-4 made its intial flight on June 7, 1949.