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Description
| Manufacturer: | Bell | |
| Base model: | X-22 | |
| Designation: | X-22 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1948-Present | |
| Basic role: | Research | |
| Crew: | 2 | |
Specifications
| Length: | 39' 7" | 12.0 m | |
| Height: | 20' 8" | 6.3 m | |
| Wingspan: | 39' 3" | 11.9 m | |
| Wingarea: | 850.0 sq ft | 78.9 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 11,458 lb | 5,196 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 18,016 lb | 8,170 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 4 | ||
| Powerplant: | General Electric YT58-GE-8D | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 1250 | ||
Performance
| Range: | 445 miles | 716 km | |
| Max Speed: | 255 mph | 410 km/h | 221 kt |
| Ceiling: | 27,800 ft | 8,473 m | |
Known serial numbers
Recent comments by our visitors
| Jerry L. Toms Washington, NC | The X-22 Research Aircraft was amazing to watch. During the 1970's, I had the pleasure and opportunity to fly as a chase pilot for some of the X-22 Research flights, and would carry a mission specialist with me in the chase aircraft... it could get pretty turbulent in close... but one of my favorite memories came years later when I attended an airborne law enforcement helicopter show in Buffalo. While having some barbeque outdoors, I was looking for a place to sit... an empty spot at a picnic table. I quietly listened as two persons from the West Coast were talking about the X-22 and their participation in its program from two different companies. I smiled. Then, as I recall, Jack Beilman was walking by in the crowd and they noticed... and then he acknowledged my presence randomly at the same picnic table. From across the country, randomly four persons involved in the X-22 program happened to land at the same picnic table in the Naval Park in Buffalo NY years later... Amazing coincidence. The more I learned about Mr. Beilman, the more I appreciated his work and accomplishments and what has been made possible from his leadership with the X-22. 05/09/2005 @ 16:27 [ref: 10163] |
| John D Wilson Chandler, AZ | The X22-A programs conducted by a very small staff of experts at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, New York represent some of the most productive research work accomplished for the United States. For those interested more X22-A information, I recommend reading the account given in the latest edition of The X-Planes - X-1 to X-45 by Jay Miller.
Mr Beilman is very modest. As the Program Manager, he was the driving force behind the X22-A program(s) success. He worked tirelessly to ensure that program objectives were met on time and within budget which led to a series of programs. You will notice a device on top of the tail of the X22-A. This is the sensing portion of a revolutionary airspeed measuring system called LORAS (Linear Omnidirectional Resolving Airspeed System). Mr Beilman invented this system. Arno Shelhorn designed and developed the electronic system. Mr Beilman , Arno Schelhorn, Bob Till, and Walt Stahl put the prototype system together and conducted tests with a pace car. Conventional airspeed systems are highly inaccurate at the low airspeed you encountered with helicopter flight. LORAS is very accurate at these regimes. The X22-A was noteworthy in that it was the first research plane developed to be a variable stability aircraft. Again, Mr Beilman, Shelhorn and Till were responsible for the development and manufacturing variable stability hardware and instrumentation systems on the aircraft. Also, Bob Till designed the telemetry down link system for the aircraft and instumentation data recovery van. Ron Huber and Tom Gavin designed instrumentation circuitry. Walt Stahl and John Shattuck were outstanding electronic technicians who fabricated much of the flight hardware. Also, Bob Till and Tom Gavin designed and developed the X-22A Fixed-Base Ground Simulator Facility using the near duplicate X-22A cockpit from BuNo 151520. The X-22A pilots were Nello Infanti, Chief Test Pilot, Rogers Smith, and G Warren Hall. Both Rogers Smith and Warren Hall later joined NASA as test pilots in California. Rogers Smith few many of the new X planes as well as the SR-71 Blackbird at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Warren Hall flew several unique research aircraft including the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA) and the X-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft (TRRA) at the NASA Ames Research Center. These outstanding pilots are recognized in the international aeronautics community as the finest handling qualities experts. Dr J Victor Lebacqsz, Bob Chen, Ed Aiken, Chip Chalk, Mike Parrag, Dave Key, John Schuler and Ed Rynaski were from the aeronautics side of the house. They analysed flight data and wrote several technical papers on the research learned from X22-A flight tests. Dr J Victor Lebacqsz was a key figure in the design and execution of numerous X22-A flight test experiments. He was a "hands on" person who always encouraged the staff to be the very best. I can remember him coming to the frigid Buffalo airport to help the technicians get the radar van up and running and assist in putting up landing targets. He also migrated to the NASA Ames Research Center and has since been appointed the NASA Administrator of Aeronautics in Washington, DC. Bob Chen, Dave Key and Ed Aiken also went to the NASA Ames Research Center in support of numerous helicopter research projects like the XV-15. Structural design work was done by Bill Close. The aircraft was maintained by an excellent crew led by Mr Bill Wilcox. Bill is tall, friendly and very competent. He ran a large department and had a big responsibility. He was able to resolve many pesky problems on this highly complex aircraft. Gerry Ewers was the crew chief and he, Don Dobmieir, Henry Chmura, and Dave Kosturbanik kept in in tip top shape. I remember the major overhauls when drive shafts were removed and maintenence performed. These men made many personal sacrifices over the years to see that the X22-A research machine was ready for duty. The Cornell Aeronautical lab headed by Ira Ross and the Flight Research Department headed by Walt Breuhaus was the home of some of the finest aviation research and staff anywhere in the country. Western New Yorkers can remember with pride, that the research accomplished at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory provided the information needed for our country to move into the subsequent decades. 12/21/2004 @ 18:17 [ref: 8927] |
| Richard Przybylski Martinsburg, WV | As a child I watch the X-22A fly a number of times. It was a site to see. I always thought that Niagara Falls would become the Aircraft capitol. It was not to be and Niagara Falls is falling apart. Now one of the X-22A's I saw fly is in a museum there in Niagara Falls. Be sure to visit it. 06/14/2004 @ 14:50 [ref: 7608] |
| Russ , WV | As a child I lived along the landing pattern to Niagara Falls Airport and was fascinated by the wide variety of military/civilian aircraft. One day while playing near my home my friends and I watched as this very strange looking aircraft crash landed in a nearby lot. We ran to the scene as the flight crew exited the aircraft. The X-22A, with it's 4 large ducted fans, was a very strange sight indeed!
I'll never forget it. 06/22/2003 @ 19:21 [ref: 6529] |
| P. LEONARD BRUSSELS, OTH | Hello,
I was astonished to find out that the X-22A had existed even before i was born. How can it be that such a genius aircraft was not produced to replaced the chinook. This X-22A is way bether. It is even better then the present V-22. Today it can even be improved very easilly by using JSF type blisks instead of ducted propelers and by making it an hybrid system. In this case four electric motors are running the blisks and the electricity is provided by a buffer battery permanently charged by an APU. In this case the efficiency will be way up and it can even operate in silence at certain times. If the free wold army is to have the very best equipment possible, then it is time to replace both the chinook and the C-130 with this new X-22 (improved version). P. LEONARD (Brussels, Belgium, Dec 18 2002) 12/18/2002 @ 10:01 [ref: 6214] |
| Randy Brown Detroit, MI | I was a "young man" when the X-22a was being tested and I was very impressed by it. I have always wanted to a make a model of it, but I don't think the model manufactures ever made one. My father worked for Bell Aerospace, and brought me a tie tack of a X-22a... That was simply awesome. It remains a fantastic chapter in aviation and I hope to visit the museum one day. I'd like to stay after-hours and spend 5 minutes in the pilot seat... 8^) 06/28/2002 @ 15:39 [ref: 5205] |
| A.R.CADY DELEVAN, NY | I worked in the hanger at bell where the x-22 was being readied for flight.
Pittsburg Metalurgical Co. housed their corp.aircraft there along with Hooker Chemical.Edward Mroz was our Crew chief.Ed discouraged us from any cameras in the hanger out of respect for our landlords. I did see an X-22 hover test that I believe lasted close to 60 miniuts or longer.Also in the hanger was Rocket belt tests ,the large and small hover-craft and a Huey that was roped of and under guard.I summized from later readings it was a troop sniffer device. 03/09/2001 @ 20:46 [ref: 1791] |
| John (Jack) L. Beilman Lancaster (Buffalo), NY | Some corrections to above data as well as some comments:
The Bell X-22A V/STOL Research Airplane (correct designation) was sponsored by the US Navy (Naval Air Systems Command) - not by the US Air Force. The "Tri-Service" Program of 1962 involved the Army, Navy and Air Force sponsorship of three different V/STOL concepts. Army sponsored the Curtiss X-19, Navy the X-22A and Air Force the LTV XC-142A. The X-19 and X-22A were each Dual-tandem Propeller Configurations with the X-19 propellers being unducted and the X-22A propellers being ducted. The XC-142A was a Tilt-wing configuration. The motivation for the Tri-Service Program was that it had long been recognized by aviation people, in Government and Industry,that it would be highly desirable to couple the vertical flight capabilities of helicopters with the higher speed flight capabilities of fixed-wing airplanes. Over many years there had been many uncorrelated experiments in this quest for a viable VSTOL flight vehicle. The Tri-Service Program was intended to provide the directed approach necessary to converge on the optimum solution by focusing on selected candidate configurations. The Navy selected ducted-fans for the X-22A because of potential carrier flight-deck operations and crew safety considerations.(Another correction - the "wing area" is 425 sq. ft. - not 850 sq.ft.) This can be confusing because the X-22A has both circular wings (the ducts) and a conventional wing at the rear of the fuselage. The contractually stated purpose of the X-22A was "(1) to provide an aircraft for flight research and evaluation of the unique and potentially advantageous dual tandem ducted propeller configuration and (more importantly) (2) through design specifications and program objectives, a highly versatile aircraft capable of general research on V/STOL handling qualities using a Variable Stability System designed and developed specifically for the X-22A." As it turned out, the Variable Stability System (VSS)was the most important research feature of the X-22A, extending its' useful research life to almost 20 years - far beyond the lives of the X-19 and XC-142A. The X-22A is STILL the only airplane that was ever DESIGNED to be a VSS airplane! The No.1 X-22A, tail No.1520, flew first on 3/17/66 and crashed on 8/8/66 on the 15th flight, after only 3.1 hours total flight time. Identical failures had occurred seconds apart in each of the two dual-redundant 3000 psi hydraulic flight-control systems! The airplane was a total loss. The second X-22A, tail No. 1521, flew first at Bell on 1/26/67, completing 182 developmental flights at Bell on 2/28/69. In July of 1970 the contract to conduct the flight research programs with the X-22A was awarded to the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (CAL). The X-22A then flew 300+ research flights through October 1984, accumulating more than 500 flights in total. In 1979 the X-22A was the first experimental airplane in the U.S. to be equipped with a Programmable "Head-Up-Display (HUD). This HUD greatly increased the capabilities of the X-22A for research, e.g. exploring different display symbologies and strategies for the simulated AV-8B in the landing approach under simulated Instrument Meteorlogical Conditions (IMC). USMC AV-8B were the pilots for this research. Many important lessons were learned from the X-22A research - too involved to discuss here. Howver it is afe to say that the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey is a beneficiary of both the X-22A and the Tri Service Program. The writer wrote the original proposal to the Navy for the X-22A VSS, then led a design team from CAL (including a CAL Test-Pilot) through the manufacturing and development phases and eventually became the Program Manager at CAL (later Calspan) for all of the flight research that was done with the X-22A throughout its'entire research life. 06/05/2000 @ 11:22 [ref: 272] |
| Louis Ricciuti Niagara Falls,, NY |
I am associated with the Niagara Aerospace Museum located in Niagara Falls New York. We are proud to house and display the Bell X-22A Serial # 1521. Western New York was the home and origin of many aerospace companies such as Bell Aircraft, Consolidated, Curtiss-Wright, Irwin Airchute (first mass produced parachute) and others. Area produced X-1 sound barrier breaking rocketplane, rocket belt, lunar ascent engines, first helicopter, Mach Three X-2, X-14, First Swept Wing X-5 and other firsts. We are a non-profit 501(c)3, state educationally chartered institution. Numerous exhibits and aircraft. Please visit us NIAGARA AEROSPACE MUSEUM 6929 Williams Road Summit Mall Niagara Falls, New York 14304 716-298-0850 Email NiagaraNet@aol.com 06/03/2000 @ 07:58 [ref: 264] |
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