{"id":18297665,"date":"2026-08-30T23:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T23:29:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:29:06","slug":"bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Bell X-5: The First Wing to Sweep in Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every swing-wing jet that followed &mdash; the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/aeronave\/f-14-tomcat\/\">F-14 Tomcat<\/a>, the F-111, the Tornado, the B-1 &mdash; owes a debt to one small, awkward and rather dangerous research aircraft from the early 1950s. The Bell X-5 was the first aeroplane in the world that could change the sweep of its wings while it was flying.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It proved that variable-geometry wings worked. It also very nearly refused to come out of a spin, and it killed one of its pilots.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:6px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Datos r\u00e1pidos<\/p><table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Aeronave<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Bell X-5<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Motivo de fama<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">First aircraft to vary wing sweep in flight<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Sweep positions<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">20, 40 and 60 degrees<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Inspired by<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">The captured Messerschmitt P.1101<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Primer vuelo<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">20 June 1951 (Jean &ldquo;Skip&rdquo; Ziegler)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Motor<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">One Allison J35 turbojet<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Construido<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Two<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px 12px 4px 0;color:#555;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Legado<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:4px 0\">Paved the way for the F-111, F-14, Tornado and B-1<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A German idea, finished in America<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The X-5 traced its origins to a captured German design, the Messerschmitt P.1101, which could have its wing sweep reset &mdash; but only on the ground, with the aircraft parked. Bell&rsquo;s engineers, led by Robert Woods, took the idea further: they built a jet whose wings could sweep back and forth between 20, 40 and 60 degrees while airborne. To keep the aircraft balanced as the sweep changed, the entire wing assembly slid forward and back on rails.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1394376158  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:fJHy.d003\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/bell-x-5-sweep-positions.jpg\" alt=\"Bell X-5 wing sweep positions\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The X-5 shown at different wing-sweep angles. Changing sweep in flight shifted the balance of the aircraft, so the whole wing slid along rails to compensate. Photo: NASA \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bell test pilot Jean &ldquo;Skip&rdquo; Ziegler first flew the X-5 on 20 June 1951. The variable-sweep concept worked beautifully: swept forward for slow flight and landing, swept back for speed, exactly as intended.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YMDW9sj0qpw\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A vicious streak<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trouble was not the sweeping wing but the rest of the aeroplane. A flawed tail layout gave the X-5 a nasty, sometimes unrecoverable spin, especially with the wings swept fully back to 60 degrees. The pilots who flew it never quite trusted it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;The X-5 was not a comfortable airplane to fly. It was a terrible airplane in a spin. It took a long time to get that airplane out of a spin.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>A. Scott Crossfield<\/strong> &mdash; NACA research pilot<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fellow NACA pilot Stanley Butchart put the flying technique more bluntly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;You just had to know that and stay away from it.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Stanley P. Butchart<\/strong> &mdash; NACA research pilot, on the X-5&rsquo;s spin<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not everyone could. On 13 October 1953, US Air Force Major Raymond Popson entered a spin with the wings at 60 degrees and could not recover. He was killed, and the second of the two X-5s was destroyed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=870409091  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:fJHy.d003\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/bell-x-5-museum.jpg\" alt=\"Bell X-5 at the National Museum of the USAF\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The surviving X-5 is preserved at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Its data shaped every swing-wing jet that followed. Photo: U.S. Air Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The wing that changed everything<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite its dangers, the X-5 did its job. It confirmed the wind-tunnel predictions about variable-geometry wings and gave engineers real flight data on how a swing-wing aircraft behaved. Within two decades that knowledge had produced a whole generation of swing-wing combat aircraft. A young NACA pilot named Neil Armstrong even flew the surviving X-5, years before he flew to the Moon.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The X-5 was awkward, twitchy and never a weapon. But as a proof of concept, it was one of the most influential research aircraft ever built.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7Epz041OzAw\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sU2ts77Dp54\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sources: NASA Dryden\/Armstrong Fact Sheet; National Museum of the USAF; Wikipedia.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Publicaciones relacionadas<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/northrop-yb-49-ala-volante-b2-spirit\/\">El Northrop YB-49: El avi\u00f3n de ala volante que muri\u00f3 para que el B-2 pudiera vivir.<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/el-convair-b-58-hustler-el-primer-bombardero-supersonico\/\">El Convair B-58 Hustler: El primer bombardero supers\u00f3nico<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every swing-wing jet that followed &mdash; the F-14 Tomcat, the F-111, the Tornado, the B-1 &mdash; owes a debt to one small, awkward and rather dangerous research aircraft from the early 1950s. The Bell X-5 was the first aeroplane in the world that could change the sweep of its wings while it was flying. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":18297402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18297665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bell X-5: The First Wing to Sweep in Flight | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bell X-5 was the first aircraft to change its wing sweep in flight, proving the swing-wing concept behind the F-14, F-111 and Tornado - and it was deadly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bell X-5: The First Wing to Sweep in Flight | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bell X-5 was the first aircraft to change its wing sweep in flight, proving the swing-wing concept behind the F-14, F-111 and Tornado - and it was deadly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-30T21:28:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-30T21:29:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:fJHy.d003\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/bell-x-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1004\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\"},\"headline\":\"Bell X-5: The First Wing to Sweep in Flight\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-30T21:28:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-30T21:29:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":597,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/bell-x-5-first-variable-sweep-wing-flight\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/bell-x-5.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; 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